M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Widow’s Olive Oil

4 Now one of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two sons as slaves.”

² Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”

³ Then he said, “Go, ask for vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. ⁴ Then go in, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour the oil into all these vessels. When each is full, set it aside.”

⁵ So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons, and they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. ⁶ When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”

But he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” And the oil ceased.

⁷ Then she went and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and you and your children can live on the rest.”

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

⁸ One day Elisha passed through Shunem, and a noble woman was there who urged him to eat a meal. So whenever he passed through, he stopped there to eat a meal. ⁹ And she said to her husband, “I know that he is a holy man of God regularly passing through near us. ¹⁰ Let us make a little walled upper room and put for him there a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so when he comes to us he can stay there.”

¹¹ One day he came by there, and he turned aside to the upper room and lay down. ¹² He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she stood before him. ¹³ He said to him, “Say to her, Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king, or to the captain of the army?”

And she answered, “I am living among my people.”

¹⁴ He said, “What may be done for her?”

And Gehazi said, “Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the entrance. ¹⁶ He said, “At this season, when it is time, you will embrace a son.”

And she said, “No, my lord, man of God, do not lie to your servant.”

¹⁷ But the woman conceived and bore a son at that season, at the time that Elisha had told her.

¹⁸ When the child was older, he went out one day to his father with the reapers. ¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head, my head!”

And he said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, the boy sat on her knees until noon, and died. ²¹ She went up, and laid him down on the bed of the man of God, shut the door on him, and went out.

²² Then she called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may run to the man of God and return.”

²³ He said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither New Moon nor Sabbath.”

She said, “It will be all right.”

²⁴ Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on, and do not hold back for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she went and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

And when the man of God saw her far off, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, over there is the Shunammite woman. ²⁶ Now run to meet her, and say to her, Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?”

And she said, “It is all right.”

²⁷ When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she grabbed his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away. But the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, Do not give me false hope?”

²⁹ Then he said to Gehazi, “Prepare yourself, take my staff in your hand, and go. If you find anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him, and lay my staff on the face of the boy.”

³⁰ Then the boy’s mother said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I will not leave without you.” And he got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi passed through ahead of them and laid the staff on the face of the boy, but there was no sound or response. So he returned to meet him and told him, “The boy is not awake.”

³² When Elisha came into the house, he saw that the boy was dead, lying on his bed. ³³ So he went in, and shut the door on the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ He went up and lay on the child, put his face on his face, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. Then he bent over the child, and the child’s flesh warmed. ³⁵ Then he got down, walked once back and forth in the house, and went up, and bent over him; the boy sneezed seven times, and the boy opened his eyes.

³⁶ Then Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her, and she came to him. Then he said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷ Then she came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew

³⁸ When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, “Put on the big cooking pot, and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”

³⁹ One went out into the field to gather herbs. He found a wild vine and gathered from it wild gourds, filling his clothes, and came and split them into the pot of stew, but they did not recognize them. ⁴⁰ So they poured it out for the men to eat. But as they were eating the stew, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot.” They could not eat it.

⁴¹ But he said, “Then bring flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it for the people and let them eat.” And there was nothing bad in the pot.

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men

⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah, and he brought the man of God food from the first fruits—twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain—in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.”

⁴³ But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?”

He said, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They will eat and have some left.’ ” ⁴⁴ So he set it before them, they ate, and some was left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Salutation

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our Savior, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

² To Timothy, my true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Warning Against False Doctrine

³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, continue to remain at Ephesus so that you might command some to teach no other doctrine, ⁴ nor pay attention to fables and endless genealogies, which cause debates rather than godly edifying, which is in faith. ⁵ Now the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, and from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. ⁶ From this, some have lost their way and turned aside to empty talk, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, and understanding neither what they say nor what they affirm.

⁸ But we know that the law is good if someone uses it lawfully. ⁹ And we know that the law is not given for a righteous person, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and the profane, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for sodomites, for slave traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for anything else that is contrary to sound doctrine, ¹¹ according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

Thankfulness for Mercy

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful and appointed me to the ministry. ¹³ I was previously a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an insolent man. But I was shown mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴ The grace of our Lord overflowed with the faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, first, Jesus Christ might show all patience, as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the eternal, immortal, invisible King, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever. Amen.

¹⁸ This command I commit to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies that were previously given to you, that by them you might fight a good fight, ¹⁹ keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. ²⁰ Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. ² I saw in the vision, and while I was looking, I was at Susa in the palace which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision that I was by the canal of Ulai. ³ Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there stood before the river a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high. But one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. ⁴ I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward, so that no animal might stand before him; nor was there any that could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

⁵ As I was considering this, suddenly a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth and did not touch the ground. And the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. ⁶ He came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran to him in the fury of his power. ⁷ I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with rage against him, and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and stamped on him. And there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand. ⁸ Therefore the male goat grew very great. And when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and four conspicuous horns came up in its place toward the four winds of heaven.

The Little Horn

⁹ Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Pleasant Land. ¹⁰ It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground and stamped upon them. ¹¹ Indeed, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and from Him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. ¹² Because of rebellion, an army was given to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifice; and it cast truth to the ground. It practiced this and prospered.

¹³ Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said to that certain saint which spoke, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”

¹⁴ And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be cleansed properly.”

Gabriel Interprets the Vision

¹⁵ When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought for the meaning. Then there before me stood one who had the appearance of a man. ¹⁶ I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”

¹⁷ So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was afraid and fell upon my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision deals with the time of the end.”

¹⁸ Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face toward the ground. But he touched me and set me upright.

¹⁹ He said, “Listen, I will make you know what shall be in the final period of the indignation, for the end shall be at the appointed time. ²⁰ The ram which you saw having two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹ The rough goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. ²² Now the broken horn and the four horns that stood up in its place are four kingdoms that shall stand up out of his nation, but not with his power.

²³ “In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king will arise, having a fierce countenance, skilled in intrigue. ²⁴ His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. And he shall destroy wonderfully and shall prosper and practice his will and shall destroy the mighty men and the holy people. ²⁵ By his cunning, he shall cause deceit to succeed under his hand, and he shall magnify himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in a time of peace. He shall also rise up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken, not by human hands.

²⁶ “And the vision of the evenings and the mornings, which was told, is true. Therefore shut up the vision, for it deals with many days in the future.”

²⁷ Then I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for some days. Afterward I rose up again and did the king’s business. So I was astonished at the vision, but there was none to explain it.

Psalm 116