M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

20 And Ben-Hadad king of Aram hath gathered all his force, and thirty and two kings [are] with him, and horse and chariot, and he goeth up and layeth siege against Samaria, and fighteth with it,

² and sendeth messengers unto Ahab king of Israel, to the city,

³ and saith to him, `Thus said Ben-Hadad, `Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy sons -- the best -- are mine.'

⁴ And the king of Israel answereth and saith, `According to thy word, my lord, O king: I [am] thine, and all that I have.'

⁵ And the messengers turn back and say, `Thus spake Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent unto thee, saying, Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons, to me thou dost give;

⁶ for if, at this time to-morrow, I send my servants unto thee then they have searched thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and it hath been, every desirable thing of thine eyes they place in their hand, and have taken away.'

⁷ And the king of Israel calleth to all the elders of the land, and saith, `Know, I pray you, and see that evil this [one] is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him.'

⁸ And all the elders and all the people say unto him, `Do not hearken, nor consent.'

⁹ And he saith to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, `Say to my lord the king, All that thou didst send for unto thy servant at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do;' and the messengers go and take him back word.

¹⁰ And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, `Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who [are] at my feet.'

¹¹ And the king of Israel answereth and saith, `Speak ye: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing [his armour].'

¹² And it cometh to pass at the hearing of this word -- and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the booths -- that he saith unto his servants, `Set yourselves;' and they set themselves against the city.

¹³ And lo, a certain prophet hath come nigh unto Ahab king of Israel, and saith, `Thus said Jehovah, `Hast thou seen all this great multitude? lo, I am giving it into thy hand to-day, and thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.'

¹⁴ And Ahab saith, `By whom?' and he saith, `Thus said Jehovah, By the young men of the heads of the provinces;' and he saith, `Who doth direct the battle?' and he saith, `Thou.'

¹⁵ And he inspecteth the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred, two and thirty, and after them he hath inspecteth the whole of the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand,

¹⁶ and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking -- drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings, helping him.

¹⁷ And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sendeth, and they declare to him, saying, `Men have come out of Samaria.'

¹⁸ And he saith, `If for peace they have come out -- catch them alive; and if for battle they have come out -- alive catch them.'

¹⁹ And these have gone out of the city -- the young men of the heads of the provinces -- and the force that [is] after them,

²⁰ and smite each his man, and Aram fleeth, and Israel pursueth them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapeth on a horse, and the horsemen;

²¹ and the king of Israel goeth out, and smiteth the horses, and the charioteers, and hath smitten among the Aramaeans a great smiting.

²² And the prophet cometh nigh unto the king of Israel, and saith to him, `Go, strengthen thyself, and know and see that which thou dost, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against thee.'

²³ And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, `Gods of hills [are] their gods, therefore they were stronger than we; and yet, we fight with them in the plain -- are we not stronger than they?

²⁴ `And this thing do thou: turn aside the kings each out of his place, and set captains in their stead;

²⁵ and thou, number to thee a force as the force that is fallen from thee, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we fight with them in the plain; are we not stronger than they?' and he hearkeneth to their voice, and doth so.

²⁶ And it cometh to pass at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad inspecteth the Aramaeans, and goeth up to Aphek, to battle with Israel,

²⁷ and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Aramaeans have filled the land.

²⁸ And there cometh nigh a man of God, and speaketh unto the king of Israel, and saith, `Thus said Jehovah, Because that the Aramaeans have said, God of hills [is] Jehovah, and He [is] not God of valleys -- I have given the whole of this great multitude into thy hand, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.'

²⁹ And they encamp one over-against another seven days, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draweth near, and the sons of Israel smite Aram -- a hundred thousand footmen in one day.

³⁰ And those left flee to Aphek, unto the city, and the wall falleth on twenty and seven chief men who are left, and Ben-Hadad hath fled, and cometh in unto the city, into the innermost part.

³¹ And his servants say unto him, `Lo, we pray thee, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel -- that they are kind kings; let us put, we pray thee, sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we go out unto the king of Israel; it may be he doth keep thee alive.'

³² And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes [are] on their heads, and they come in unto the king of Israel, and say, `Thy servant Ben-Hadad hath said, Let me live, I pray thee;' and he saith, `Is he yet alive? he [is] my brother.'

³³ And the men observe diligently, and hasten, and catch it from him, and say, `Thy brother Ben-Hadad;' and he saith, `Go ye in, bring him;' and Ben-Hadad cometh out unto him, and he causeth him to come up on the chariot.

³⁴ And he saith unto him, `The cities that my father took from thy father, I give back, and streets thou dost make for thee in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria;' -- `and I, with a covenant, send thee away;' and he maketh with him a covenant, and sendeth him away.

³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of Jehovah, `Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man refuseth to smite him,

³⁶ and he saith to him, `Because that thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, lo, thou art going from me, and the lion hath smitten thee;' and he goeth from him, and the lion findeth him, and smiteth him.

³⁷ And he findeth another man, and saith, `Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man smiteth him, smiting and wounding,

³⁸ and the prophet goeth and standeth for the king on the way, and disguiseth himself with ashes on his eyes.

³⁹ And it cometh to pass -- the king is passing by -- that he hath cried unto the king, and saith, `Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, and lo, a man hath turned aside and bringeth in unto me a man, and saith, Keep this man; if he be at all missing, then hath thy life been for his life, or a talent of silver thou dost weigh out;

⁴⁰ and it cometh to pass, thy servant is working hither and thither, and he is not!' and the king of Israel saith unto him, Right [is] thy judgment; thou hast determined [it].'

⁴¹ And he hasteth and turneth aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerneth him, that he [is] of the prophets,

⁴² and he saith unto him, `Thus said Jehovah, Because thou hast sent away the man I devoted, out of [thy] hand, even thy life hath been for his life, and thy people for his people;'

⁴³ and the king of Israel goeth unto his house, sulky and wroth, and cometh in to Samaria.

3 Wherefore no longer forbearing, we thought good to be left in Athens alone,

² and did send Timotheus -- our brother, and a ministrant of God, and our fellow-workman in the good news of the Christ -- to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith,

³ that no one be moved in these tribulations, for yourselves have known that for this we are set,

⁴ for even when we were with you, we said to you beforehand, that we are about to suffer tribulation, as also it did come to pass, and ye have known [it];

⁵ because of this also, I, no longer forbearing, did send to know your faith, lest he who is tempting did tempt you, and in vain might be our labour.

⁶ And now Timotheus having come unto us from you, and having declared good news to us of your faith and love, and that ye have a good remembrance of us always, desiring much to see us, as we also [to see] you,

⁷ because of this we were comforted, brethren, over you, in all our tribulation and necessity, through your faith,

⁸ because now we live, if ye may stand fast in the Lord;

⁹ for what thanks are we able to recompense to God for you, for all the joy with which we do joy because of you in the presence of our God?

¹⁰ night and day exceedingly beseeching, that we might see your face, and perfect the things lacking in your faith.

¹¹ And our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you,

¹² and you the Lord cause to increase and to abound in the love to one another, and to all, even as we also to you,

¹³ to the establishing your hearts blameless in sanctification before our God and Father, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

2 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed hath Nebuchadnezzar dreams, and his spirit doth move itself, and his sleep hath been against him;

² and the king saith to call for scribes, and for enchanters, and for sorcerers, and for Chaldeans, to declare to the king his dreams. And they come in and stand before the king;

³ and the king saith to them, `A dream I have dreamed, and moved is my spirit to know the dream.'

⁴ And the Chaldeans speak to the king [in] Aramaean, `O king, to the ages live, tell the dream to thy servants, and the interpretation we do shew.'

⁵ The king hath answered and said to the Chaldeans, `The thing from me is gone; if ye do not cause me to know the dream and its interpretation, pieces ye are made, and your houses are made dunghills;

⁶ and if the dream and its interpretation ye do shew, gifts, and fee, and great glory ye receive from before me, therefore the dream and its interpretation shew ye me.'

⁷ They have answered a second time, and are saying, `Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and the interpretation we do shew.

⁸ The king hath answered and said, `Of a truth I know that time ye are gaining, because that ye have seen that the thing is gone from me,

⁹ [so] that, if the dream ye do not cause me to know -- one is your sentence, seeing a word lying and corrupt ye have prepared to speak before me, till that the time is changed, therefore the dream tell ye to me, then do I know that its interpretation ye do shew me.'

¹⁰ The Chaldeans have answered before the king, and are saying, `There is not a man on the earth who is able to shew the king's matter; therefore, no king, chief, and ruler, hath asked such a thing as this of any scribe, and enchanter, and Chaldean;

¹¹ and the thing that the king is asking [is] precious, and others are there not that do shew it before the king, save the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.'

¹² Therefore the king hath been angry and very wroth, and hath said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon;

¹³ And the sentence hath gone forth, and the wise men are being slain, and they have sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

¹⁴ Then Daniel hath replied [with] counsel and discretion to Arioch chief of the executioners of the king, who hath gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁵ He hath answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, `Wherefore [is] the sentence so urgent from before the king?' Then Arioch hath made the thing known to Daniel,

¹⁶ and Daniel hath gone up, and sought of the king that he would give him time to shew the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷ Then Daniel to his house hath gone, and to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, he hath made the thing known,

¹⁸ and to seek mercies from before the God of the heavens concerning this secret, that they destroy not Daniel and his companions with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹ Then to Daniel, in a vision of the night, the secret hath been revealed. Then hath Daniel blessed the God of the heavens.

²⁰ Daniel hath answered and said, `Let the name of God be blessed from age even unto age, for wisdom and might -- for they are His.

²¹ And He is changing times and seasons, He is causing kings to pass away, and He is raising up kings; He is giving wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those possessing understanding.

²² He is revealing deep and hidden things; He hath known what [is] in darkness, and light with Him hath dwelt.

²³ Thee, O God of my fathers, I am thanking and praising, for wisdom and might Thou hast given to me; and now, Thou hast caused me to know that which we have sought from Thee, for the king's matter Thou hast caused us to know.'

²⁴ Therefore Daniel hath gone up unto Arioch, whom the king hath appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he hath gone, and thus hath said to him, `The wise men of Babylon thou dost not destroy, bring me up before the king, and the interpretation to the king I do shew.'

²⁵ Then Arioch in haste hath brought up Daniel before the king, and thus hath said to him -- `I have found a man of the sons of the Removed of Judah, who the interpretation to the king doth make known.'

²⁶ The king hath answered and said to Daniel, whose name [is] Belteshazzar, `Art thou able to cause me to know the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?'

²⁷ Daniel hath answered before the king and said, `The secret that the king is asking, the wise men, the enchanters, the scribes, the soothsayers, are not able to shew to the king;

²⁸ but there is a God in the heavens, a revealer of secrets, and He hath made known to king Nebuchadnezzar that which [is] to be in the latter end of the days. `Thy dream and the visions of thy head on thy bed are these:

²⁹ Thou, O king, thy thoughts on thy bed have come up [concerning] that which [is] to be after this, and the Revealer of secrets hath caused thee to know that which [is] to be.

³⁰ As to me -- not for [any] wisdom that is in me above any living hath this secret been revealed to me; but for the intent that the interpretation to the king they make known, and the thoughts of thy heart thou dost know.

³¹ `Thou, O king, wast looking, and lo, a certain great image. This image [is] mighty, and its brightness excellent; it is standing over-against thee, and its appearance [is] terrible.

³² This image! its head [is] of good gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass;

³³ its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron, and part of them of clay.

³⁴ Thou wast looking till that a stone hath been cut out without hands, and it hath smitten the image on its feet, that [are] of iron and of clay, and it hath broken them small;

³⁵ then broken small together have been the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, and they have been as chaff from the summer threshing-floor, and carried them away hath the wind, and no place hath been found for them: and the stone that smote the image hath become a great mountain, and hath filled all the land.

³⁶ This [is] the dream, and its interpretation we do tell before the king.

³⁷ `Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of the heavens a kingdom, strength, and might, and glory, hath given to thee;

³⁸ and whithersoever sons of men are dwelling, the beast of the field, and the fowl of the heavens, He hath given into thy hand, and hath caused thee to rule over them all; thou [art] this head of gold.

³⁹ And after thee doth rise up another kingdom lower than those, and another third kingdom of brass, that doth rule overall the earth.

⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom is strong as iron, because that iron is breaking small, and making feeble, all [things], even as iron that is breaking all these, it beateth small and breaketh.

⁴¹ As to that which thou hast seen: the feet and toes, part of them potter's clay, and part of them iron, the kingdom is divided: and some of the standing of the iron [is] to be in it, because that thou hast seen the iron mixed with miry clay.

⁴² As to the toes of the feet, part of them iron, and part of them clay: some part of the kingdom is strong, and some part of it is brittle.

⁴³ Because thou hast seen iron mixed with miry clay, they are mixing themselves with the seed of men: and they are not adhering one with another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

⁴⁴ `And in the days of these kings raise up doth the God of the heavens a kingdom that is not destroyed -- to the age, and its kingdom to another people is not left: it beateth small and endeth all these kingdoms, and it standeth to the age.

⁴⁵ Because that thou hast seen that out of the mountain cut hath been a stone without hands, and it hath beaten small the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king that which [is] to be after this; and the dream [is] true, and its interpretation stedfast.

⁴⁶ Then hath king Nebuchadnezzar fallen on his face, and to Daniel he hath done obeisance, and present, and sweet things, he hath said to pour out to him.

⁴⁷ The king hath answered Daniel and said, `Of a truth [it is] that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since thou hast been able to reveal this secret.'

⁴⁸ Then the king hath made Daniel great, and many great gifts he hath given to him, and hath caused him to rule over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the perfects over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁴⁹ And Daniel hath sought from the king, and he hath appointed over the work of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and Daniel [is] in the gate of the king.

106 Praise ye Jah, give thanks to Jehovah, For good, for to the age, [is] His kindness.

² Who doth utter the mighty acts of Jehovah? Soundeth all His praise?

³ O the happiness of those keeping judgment, Doing righteousness at all times.

⁴ Remember me, O Jehovah, With the favour of Thy people, Look after me in Thy salvation.

⁵ To look on the good of Thy chosen ones, To rejoice in the joy of Thy nation, To boast myself with Thine inheritance.

⁶ We have sinned with our fathers, We have done perversely, we have done wickedly.

⁷ Our fathers in Egypt, Have not considered wisely Thy wonders, They have not remembered The abundance of Thy kind acts, And provoke by the sea, at the sea of Suph.

⁸ And He saveth them for His name's sake, To make known His might,

⁹ And rebuketh the sea of Suph, and it is dried up, And causeth them to go Through depths as a wilderness.

¹⁰ And He saveth them from the hand Of him who is hating, And redeemeth them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹ And waters cover their adversaries, One of them hath not been left.

¹² And they believe in His words, they sing His praise,

¹³ They have hasted -- forgotten His works, They have not waited for His counsel.

¹⁴ And they lust greatly in a wilderness, And try God in a desert.

¹⁵ And He giveth to them their request, And sendeth leanness into their soul.

¹⁶ And they are envious of Moses in the camp, Of Aaron, Jehovah's holy one.

¹⁷ Earth openeth, and swalloweth up Dathan, And covereth over the company of Abiram.

¹⁸ And fire burneth among their company, A flame setteth on fire the wicked.

¹⁹ They make a calf in Horeb, And bow themselves to a molten image,

²⁰ And change their Honour Into the form of an ox eating herbs.

²¹ They have forgotten God their saviour, The doer of great things in Egypt,

²² Of wonderful things in the land of Ham, Of fearful things by the sea of Suph.

²³ And He saith to destroy them, Unless Moses, His chosen one, Had stood in the breach before Him, To turn back His wrath from destroying.

²⁴ And they kick against the desirable land, They have not given credence to His word.

²⁵ And they murmur in their tents, They have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah.

²⁶ And He lifteth up His hand to them, To cause them to fall in a wilderness,

²⁷ And to cause their seed to fall among nations, And to scatter them through lands.

²⁸ And they are coupled to Baal-Peor, And eat the sacrifices of the dead,

²⁹ And they provoke to anger by their actions, And a plague breaketh forth upon them,

³⁰ And Phinehas standeth, and executeth judgment, And the plague is restrained,

³¹ And it is reckoned to him to righteousness, To all generations -- unto the age.

³² And they cause wrath by the waters of Meribah, And it is evil to Moses for their sakes,

³³ For they have provoked his spirit, And he speaketh wrongfully with his lips.

³⁴ They have not destroyed the peoples, As Jehovah had said to them,

³⁵ And mix themselves among nations, and learn their works,

³⁶ And serve their idols, And they are to them for a snare.

³⁷ And they sacrifice their sons And their daughters to destroyers,

³⁸ And they shed innocent blood -- Blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they have sacrificed to idols of Canaan, And the land is profaned with blood.

³⁹ And they are defiled with their works, And commit whoredom in their habitual doings.

⁴⁰ And the anger of Jehovah Is kindled against His people, And He doth abominate His inheritance.

⁴¹ And giveth them into the hand of nations, And those hating them rule over them,

⁴² And their enemies oppress them, And they are humbled under their hand.

⁴³ Many times He doth deliver them, And they rebel in their counsel, And they are brought low in their iniquity.

⁴⁴ And He looketh on their distress When He heareth their cry,

⁴⁵ And remembereth for them His covenant, And is comforted, According to the abundance of His kindness.

⁴⁶ And He appointeth them for mercies Before all their captors.

⁴⁷ Save us, O Jehovah our God, and gather us from the nations, To give thanks to Thy holy name, To glory in Thy praise.

⁴⁸ Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, From the age even unto the age. And all the people said, `Amen, praise Jah!'