M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
War Between Israel and Moab
3 Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria. He began to rule in Jehoshaphat’s eighteenth year as king of Judah. Joram ruled 12 years. 2 Joram did what the Lord said was wrong. But he was not like his father and mother. He removed the stone pillars his father had made for Baal. 3 But he continued to do the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. And Joram did not stop doing these same sins.
4 Mesha king of Moab raised sheep. He had to give 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 male sheep to the king of Israel. 5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab turned against the king of Israel. 6 So King Joram went out from Samaria and gathered all Israel. 7 He sent messengers to Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He said, “The king of Moab has turned against me. Will you go with me against Moab in battle?”
Jehoshaphat said, “I will go with you. I am ready to join you. My soldiers and my horses are ready to join with your army.”
8 Jehoshaphat asked, “Which way should we go to attack?”
Joram answered, “Through the Desert of Edom.”
9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They marched seven days. There was no more water for the army or for their animals that were with them. 10 The king of Israel said, “How terrible this is! Has the Lord called us three kings together so the Moabites can defeat us?”
11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet of the Lord here? We can ask the Lord through a prophet.”
An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah’s servant.”
12 Jehoshaphat said, “He speaks the Lord’s truth.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to see Elisha.
13 Elisha spoke to the king of Israel. He said, “I have nothing to do with you! Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother!”
The king of Israel said to Elisha, “No. The Lord has called us three kings together to let the Moabites defeat us.”
14 Elisha said, “I serve the Lord of heaven’s armies. As surely as he lives, I tell you the truth. I wouldn’t even look at you or notice you if Jehoshaphat king of Judah were not here. I respect him! 15 Now bring me someone who plays the harp.”
While the harp was being played, the Lord gave Elisha power. 16 Then Elisha said, “The Lord says to dig holes in the valley. 17 He says that you won’t see wind or rain. But the valley will be filled with water. Then you, your cattle and other animals will drink. 18 This is easy for the Lord to do. He will also let you defeat Moab. 19 You will destroy every strong, walled city and every important town. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all springs of water. You will ruin every good field with rocks.”
20 The next morning, about the time the sacrifice was offered, there was water! It came from the direction of Edom and filled the valley.
21 All the Moabites had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. They gathered everyone old enough to put on armor. And they waited at the border. 22 But when the Moabites got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. They saw the water across from them. It looked as red as blood. 23 The Moabites said, “This is blood! Surely the kings have fought and killed each other! Come, Moabites, let’s take what is valuable from the dead bodies!”
24 The Moabites came to the camp of the Israelites. But the Israelites came out and fought them until they ran away. The Israelites went on into the land to fight the Moabites. 25 They tore down the cities. They threw rocks on every good field and filled it. They stopped up all the springs of water. And they cut down all the good trees. Kir Hareseth was the only city with its stones still in place. But the men with slings surrounded Kir Hareseth and conquered it, too.
26 The king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him. So he took 700 men with swords to break through to the king of Edom. But they could not break through. 27 Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have become king after him. And he offered his son as a burnt offering on the wall. So there was great anger against the Israelites. They left and went back to their own land.
Pray for Us
3 And now, brothers, pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s teaching will continue to spread quickly. And pray that people will give honor to that teaching, just as happened with you. 2 And pray that we will be protected from bad and evil people. (Not all people believe in the Lord.)
3 But the Lord is faithful. He will give you strength and protect you from the Evil One. 4 The Lord makes us feel sure that you are doing the things we told you. And we know that you will continue to do those things. 5 We pray that the Lord will lead your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s patience.
The Duty to Work
6 Brothers, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ we command you to stay away from any believer who refuses to work. People who refuse to work are not following the teaching that we gave them. 7 You yourselves know that you should live as we live. We were not lazy when we were with you. 8 And when we ate another person’s food, we always paid for it. We worked and worked so that we would not be a trouble to any of you. We worked night and day. 9 We had the right to ask you to help us. But we worked to take care of ourselves so that we would be an example for you to follow. 10 When we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If anyone will not work, he will not eat.”
11 We hear that some people in your group refuse to work. They do nothing. And they busy themselves in other people’s lives. 12 We command those people to work quietly and earn their own food. In the Lord Jesus Christ we beg them to do this. 13 Brothers, never become tired of doing good.
14 If anyone does not obey what we tell you in this letter, then remember who he is. Do not associate with him. Then maybe he will feel ashamed. 15 But do not treat him as an enemy. Warn him as a brother.
Final Words
16 We pray that the Lord of peace will give you peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with all of you.
17 I am Paul, and I end this letter now in my own handwriting. All my letters have this to show they are from me. This is the way I write.
18 May our Lord Jesus Christ show all of you his grace.
Daniel’s Dream About Four Animals
7 In Belshazzar’s first year as king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream. He saw visions as he was lying on his bed. Daniel wrote down what he had dreamed.
2 Daniel said: “I saw my vision at night. In the vision the wind was blowing from all four directions. These winds made the sea very rough. 3 I saw four huge animals come up from the sea. Each animal was different from the others.
4 “The first animal looked like a lion. But it had wings like an eagle. I watched this animal until its wings were torn off. It was lifted from the ground so that it stood up on two feet like a man. And it was given the mind of a man.
5 “And then I saw a second animal before me. It looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides. And it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat all the meat you want!’
6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another animal. This animal looked like a leopard. And the leopard had four wings on its back. The wings looked like a bird’s wings. This animal had four heads. It was given power to rule.
7 “After that, in my vision at night I continued looking. There in front of me was a fourth animal. This animal looked cruel and terrible and very strong. It had large iron teeth. It crushed and ate what it killed. Then it walked on whatever was left. This fourth animal was different from all the animals I had seen before it. It had ten horns.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, another horn grew up among them. It was a little horn. It had eyes like a person’s eyes. It also had a mouth. And the mouth was bragging. The little horn pulled out three of the other horns.
9 “As I looked,
thrones were put in their places.
And God, the Eternal One, sat on his throne.
His clothes were white like snow.
And the hair on his head was white like wool.
His throne was made from fire.
And the wheels of his throne were blazing with fire.
10 A river of fire was flowing
from in front of him.
Many thousands of angels were serving him.
Millions of angels stood before him.
Court was ready to begin.
And the books were opened.
11 “I kept on looking because the little horn was bragging. I kept watching until finally the fourth animal was killed. Its body was destroyed, and it was thrown into the burning fire. 12 (The power and rule of the other animals had been taken from them. But they were permitted to live for a certain period of time.)
13 “In my vision at night I looked. There in front of me was someone who looked like a human being. He was coming with clouds in the sky. He came near God, who has been alive forever. And he was led to God. 14 The one who looked like a human being was given the power to rule. He was also given glory and royal power. All peoples, nations and men who spoke every language will serve him. His rule will last forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed.
The Meaning of the Dream
15 “I, Daniel, was worried. The visions that went through my mind frightened me. 16 I came near one of those standing there. I asked him what all this meant.
“So he told me. He explained to me what these things meant. 17 He said, ‘The four great animals are four kingdoms. Those four kingdoms will come from the earth. 18 But the people who belong to the Most High God will receive the power to rule. And they will have the power to rule forever. They will have it from now on.’
19 “Then I wanted to know what the fourth animal meant. It was different from all the other animals. It was very terrible. It had iron teeth and bronze claws. It was the animal that crushed and ate what it killed. And it walked on whatever was left. 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head. And I wanted to know about the little horn that grew there. It had pulled out three of the other ten horns. It looked greater than the others. And it had eyes and a mouth that kept bragging. 21 As I watched, the little horn began making war against God’s people. And the horn kept killing them 22 until God, who has been alive forever, came. He judged in favor of the people who belong to the Most High God. And the time came for them to receive the power to rule.
23 “And he explained this to me: ‘The fourth animal is a fourth kingdom that will come on the earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms. It will destroy people all over the world. It will walk on and crush the whole earth. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this fourth kingdom. After those ten kings are gone, another king will come. He will be different from the kings who ruled before him. He will defeat three of the other kings. 25 This king will say things against the Most High God. And he will hurt and kill God’s people. He will try to change times and laws that have already been set. The people that belong to God will be in that king’s power for three and one-half years.
26 “‘But the court will decide what should happen. And the power of the king will be taken away. His kingdom will be completely destroyed. 27 Then the people who belong to the Most High God will have the power to rule. They will rule over all the kingdoms under heaven with power and greatness. Their power to rule will last forever. And people from all the other kingdoms will respect and serve them.’
28 “And that was the end of the dream. I, Daniel, was very afraid. My face became very white from fear. But I kept everything to myself.”
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 The Israelites went out of Egypt.
The people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place.
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away.
The Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord.
Tremble in the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water.
He changed a hard rock into a spring of water.
The One True God
115 It does not belong to us, Lord.
The praise belongs to you
because of your love and loyalty.
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he wants.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
And no sounds come from their throats.
8 The people who make idols and trust them
are all like them.
9 Family of Israel, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
10 Family of Aaron, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
11 You people who fear the Lord should trust him.
He is your helper and your protection.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the family of Israel.
He will bless the family of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who fear him,
from the smallest to the greatest.
14 May the Lord give you many children.
And may he give them children also.
15 May the Lord bless you.
He made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord.
But he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord.
Those in the grave are silent.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.