M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

3 Joram son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.

² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

³ Yet he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not from them.

^4 [a]Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and paid in tribute to the king of Israel [annually] 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams, with the wool.

⁵ But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶ So King Joram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel.

⁷ And he sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to war against Moab? And he said, I will go; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.

⁸ Joram said, Which way shall we go up? Jehoshaphat answered, The way through the Wilderness of Edom.

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They made a circuit of seven days’ journey, but there was no water for the army or for the animals following them.

¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, Alas! The Lord has called [us] three kings together to be delivered into Moab’s hand!

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here by whom we may inquire of the Lord? One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, Elisha son of Shaphat, who served Elijah, is here.

¹² Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So Joram king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to Elisha.

¹³ And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your [wicked] father Ahab and your [wicked] mother Jezebel. But the king of Israel said to him, No, for the Lord has called [us] three kings together to be delivered into the hand of Moab.

¹⁴ And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts lives, before Whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you [King Joram].

¹⁵ But now bring me a minstrel. And while the minstrel played, the hand and power of the Lord came upon [Elisha].

¹⁶ And he said, Thus says the Lord: Make this [dry] brook bed full of trenches.

¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind or rain, yet that ravine shall be filled with water, so you, your cattle, and your beasts [of burden] may drink.

¹⁸ This is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will deliver the Moabites also into your hands.

¹⁹ You shall smite every fenced city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop all wells of water and mar every good piece of land with stones.

²⁰ In the morning, when the sacrifice was offered, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹ When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, young and old, gathered and drew up at the border.

²² When they rose up early next morning, and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water across from them as red as blood.

²³ And they said, This is blood; the kings have surely been fighting and have slain one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!

²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them. And they went forward, slaying the Moabites as they went.

²⁵ They beat down the cities [walls], and on every good piece of land every man cast a stone, covering it [with stones]. And they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until only the stones [of the walls of Moab’s capital city] of Kir-hareseth were left standing, and the slingers surrounded and took it.

²⁶ And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not.

²⁷ Then he [Moab’s king] took his eldest son, who was to reign in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall [in full view of the horrified enemy kings]. And there was great indignation, wrath, and bitterness against Israel; and they [his allies Judah and Edom] withdrew from [Joram] and returned to their own land.

3 Furthermore, brethren, do pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may speed on (spread rapidly and run its course) and be glorified (extolled) and triumph, even as [it has done] with you,

² And that we may be delivered from perverse (improper, unrighteous) and wicked (actively malicious) men, for not everybody has faith and is held by it.

³ Yet the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen [you] and set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil [one].

⁴ And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do the things which we suggest and with which we charge you.

⁵ May the Lord direct your hearts into [realizing and showing] the love of God and into the steadfastness and patience of Christ and ^[a]in waiting for His return.

⁶ Now we charge you, brethren, in the name and on the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) that you withdraw and keep away from every brother (fellow believer) who is slack in the performance of duty and is disorderly, living as a shirker and not walking in accord with the traditions and instructions that you have received from us.

⁷ For you yourselves know how it is necessary to imitate our example, for we were not disorderly or shirking of duty when we were with you [we were not idle].

⁸ Nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and struggle we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden or impose on any of you [for our support].

⁹ [It was] not because we do not have a right [to such support], but [we wished] to make ourselves an example for you to follow.

¹⁰ For while we were yet with you, we gave you this rule and charge: If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.

¹¹ Indeed, we hear that some among you are disorderly [that they are passing their lives in idleness, neglectful of duty], being busy with other people’s affairs instead of their own and doing no work.

¹² Now we charge and exhort such persons [as ^[b]ministers in Him exhorting those] in the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) that they work in quietness and earn their own food and other necessities.

¹³ And as for you, brethren, do not become weary or lose heart in doing right [but continue in well-doing without weakening].

¹⁴ But if anyone [in the church] refuses to obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

¹⁵ Do not regard him as an enemy, but simply admonish and warn him as [being still] a brother.

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace (the peace of His kingdom) at all times and in all ways [under all circumstances and conditions, whatever comes]. The Lord [be] with you all.

¹⁷ I, Paul, write you this final greeting with my own hand. This is the mark and sign [that it is not a forgery] in every letter of mine. It is the way I write [my handwriting and signature].

¹⁸ The grace (spiritual blessing and favor) of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) be with you all. Amen (so be it).

7 ^[a]In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions in his head as he was lying upon his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the gist of the matter.

² Daniel said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens [political and social agitations] were stirring up the great sea [the nations of the world].

³ And four great beasts came up out of the sea in succession, and different from one another.

⁴ The first [the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar] was like a lion and had eagle’s wings. I looked till the wings of it were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.^(A)

⁵ And behold another beast, a second one [the Medo-Persian empire], was like a bear, and it raised up itself on one side [or one dominion] and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, Arise, devour much flesh.

⁶ After this I looked, and behold, another [the Grecian empire of Alexander the Great], like a leopard which had four wings of a bird on its back. The beast had also four heads [Alexander’s generals, his successors], and dominion was given to it.^(B)

⁷ After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast [the Roman empire]—terrible, powerful and dreadful, and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and crushed and trampled what was left with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ten horns [symbolizing ten kings].^(C)

⁸ I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things.

⁹ I kept looking until thrones were placed [for the assessors with the Judge], and the Ancient of Days [God, the eternal Father] took His seat, Whose garment was white as snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame; its wheels were burning fire.^(D)

¹⁰ A stream of fire came forth from before Him; a thousand thousands ministered to Him and ten thousand times ten thousand rose up and stood before Him; the Judge was seated [the court was in session] and the books were opened.

¹¹ I looked then because of the sound of the great words which the horn was speaking. I watched until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

¹² And as for the rest of the beasts, their power of dominion was taken away; yet their lives were prolonged [for the duration of their lives was fixed] for a season and a time.

¹³ I saw in the night visions, and behold, ^[b]on the clouds of the heavens came One like a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.

¹⁴ And there was given Him [the Messiah] dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one which shall not be destroyed.^(E)

¹⁵ As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved and anxious within me, and the visions of my head alarmed and agitated me.

¹⁶ I came near to one of those who stood there and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.

¹⁷ These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.

¹⁸ But the saints of the Most High [God] shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.^(F)

¹⁹ Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast—which was different from all the others, exceedingly terrible and shocking, whose teeth were of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke and crushed, and trampled what was left with its feet—

²⁰ And about the ten horns [representing kings] that were on its head, and the other horn which came up later and before which three of [the horns] fell, the horn which had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things and which looked greater than the others.

²¹ As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them^(G)

²² Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High [God], and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.

²³ Thus [the angel] said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth, tread it down, and break it in pieces and crush it.

²⁴ And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise; and another shall arise after them, and he shall be different from the former ones, and he shall subdue and put down three kings.

²⁵ And he shall speak words against the Most High [God] and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change the time [of sacred feasts and holy days] and the law; and the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, two times, and half a time [three and one-half years].^(H)

²⁶ But the judgment shall be set [by the court of the Most High], and they shall take away his dominion to consume it [gradually] and to destroy it [suddenly] in the end.

²⁷ And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions shall serve and obey Him.

²⁸ Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my [waking] thoughts troubled and alarmed me much and my cheerfulness of countenance was changed in me; but I kept the matter [of the interpreting angel’s information] in my heart and mind.

Psalm 114

¹ When Israel came forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

² Judah became [God’s] sanctuary (the Holy Place of His habitation), and Israel His dominion.^(A)

³ The [Red] Sea looked and fled; the Jordan [River] was turned back.^(B)

⁴ The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.

⁵ What ails you, O [Red] Sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?

⁶ You mountains, that you skip like rams, and you little hills, like lambs?

⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,

⁸ Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.^(C)

Psalm 115

¹ Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name give glory, for Your mercy and loving-kindness and for the sake of Your truth and faithfulness!

² Why should the nations say, Where is now their God?

³ But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

⁴ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

⁵ They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

⁶ They have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not;

⁷ They have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither can they make a sound with their throats.

⁸ They who make idols are like them; so are all who trust in and lean on them.^(D)

⁹ O Israel, trust and take refuge in the Lord! [Lean on, rely on, and be confident in Him!] He is their Help and their Shield.

¹⁰ O house of Aaron [the priesthood], trust in and lean on the Lord! He is their Help and their Shield.

¹¹ You who [reverently] fear the Lord, trust in and lean on the Lord! He is their Help and their Shield.

¹² The Lord has been mindful of us, He will bless us: He will bless the house of Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron [the priesthood],

¹³ He will bless those who reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord, both small and great.^(E)

¹⁴ May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.

¹⁵ May you be blessed of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth!

¹⁶ The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth has He given to the children of men.

¹⁷ The dead praise not the Lord, neither any who go down into silence.

¹⁸ But we will bless (affectionately and gratefully praise) the Lord from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)