M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Elijah Stops the Rain

17 ^(A) Elijah was a prophet from Tishbe in Gilead.^[a] One day he went to King Ahab and said, “I'm a servant of the living Lord, the God of Israel. And I swear in his name that it won't rain until I say so. There won't even be any dew on the ground.”

² Later, the Lord said to Elijah, ³ “Leave and go across the Jordan River so you can hide near Cherith Creek. ⁴ You can drink water from the creek, and eat the food I've told the ravens to bring you.”

⁵ Elijah obeyed the Lord and went to live near Cherith Creek. ⁶ Ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day, and he drank water from the creek. ⁷ But after a while, it dried up because there was no rain.

Elijah Helps a Widow in Zarephath

⁸ The Lord told Elijah, ^9 (B) “Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I've told a widow in that town to give you food.”

¹⁰ When Elijah came near the town gate of Zarephath, he saw a widow gathering sticks for a fire. “Would you please bring me a cup of water?” he asked. ¹¹ As she left to get it, he asked, “Would you also please bring me a piece of bread?”

¹² The widow answered, “In the name of the living Lord your God, I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour and a little olive oil. I'm on my way home now with these few sticks to cook what I have for my son and me. After that, we will starve to death.”

¹³ Elijah said, “Everything will be fine. Do what you said. Go home and fix something for you and your son. But first, please make a small piece of bread and bring it to me. ¹⁴ The Lord God of Israel has promised that your jar of flour won't run out and your bottle of oil won't dry up before he sends rain for the crops.”

¹⁵ The widow went home and did exactly what Elijah had told her. She and Elijah and her family had enough food for a long time. ¹⁶ The Lord kept the promise that his prophet Elijah had made, and she did not run out of flour or oil.

Elijah Brings a Boy Back to Life

¹⁷ Several days later, the son of the woman who owned the house^[b] got sick, and he kept getting worse, until finally he died.

¹⁸ The woman shouted at Elijah, “What have I done to you? I thought you were God's prophet. Did you come here to cause the death of my son as a reminder that I've sinned against God?”^[c]

¹⁹ “Bring me your son,” Elijah said. Then he took the boy from her arms and carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying. Elijah laid the boy on his bed ²⁰ and prayed, “Lord God, why did you do such a terrible thing to this woman? She's letting me stay here, and now you've let her son die.” ^21 (C) Elijah stretched himself out over the boy three times, while praying, “Lord God, bring this boy back to life!”

²² The Lord answered Elijah's prayer, and the boy started breathing again. ²³ Elijah picked him up and carried him downstairs. He gave the boy to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive.”

²⁴ “You are God's prophet!” the woman replied. “Now I know that you really do speak for the Lord.”

4 ^(A) Slave owners, be fair and honest with your slaves. Don't forget that you have a Master in heaven.

² Never give up praying. And when you pray, keep alert and be thankful. ³ Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ, even though I am in jail for doing this. ⁴ Please pray that I will make the message as clear as possible.

^5 (B) When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time. ^6 (C) Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.

Final Greetings

^7 (D)(E) Tychicus is the dear friend, who faithfully works and serves the Lord with us, and he will give you the news about me. ⁸ I am sending him to cheer you up by telling you how we are getting along. ^9 (F) Onesimus, the dear and faithful follower from your own group, is coming with him. The two of them will tell you everything that has happened here.

^10 (G) Aristarchus is in jail with me. He sends greetings to you, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have already been told to welcome Mark, if he visits you. ¹¹ Jesus, who is known as Justus, sends his greetings. These three men are the only Jewish followers who have worked with me for the kingdom of God. They have given me much comfort.

^12 (H) Your own Epaphras, who serves Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He always prays hard that you may fully know what the Lord wants you to do and that you may do it completely. ¹³ I have seen how much trouble he has gone through for you and for the followers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

^14 (I) Our dear doctor Luke sends you his greetings, and so does Demas.

¹⁵ Give my greetings to the followers at Laodicea, especially to Nympha and the church that meets in her home.

¹⁶ After this letter has been read to your people, be sure to have it read in the church at Laodicea. And you should read the letter that I have sent to them.^[a]

^17 (J) Remind Archippus to do the work that the Lord has given him to do.

¹⁸ I am signing this letter myself: PAUL.

Don't forget that I am in jail.

I pray that God will be kind to you.

The Stream Flowing from the Temple

47 ^(A) The man took me back to the temple, where I saw a stream flowing from under the entrance. It began in the south part of the temple, where it ran past the altar and continued east through the courtyard.

² We walked out of the temple area through the north gate and went around to the east gate. I saw the small stream of water flowing east from the south side of the gate.

³ The man walked east, then took out his measuring stick and measured 500 meters downstream. He told me to wade through the stream there, and the water came up to my ankles. ⁴ Then he measured another 500 meters downstream, and told me to wade through it there. The water came up to my knees. Another 500 meters downstream the water came up to my waist. ⁵ Another 500 meters downstream, the stream had become a river that could be crossed only by swimming. ⁶ The man said, “Ezekiel, son of man, pay attention to what you've seen.”

We walked to the riverbank, ⁷ where I saw dozens of trees on each side. ⁸ The man said:

This water flows eastward to the Jordan River valley and empties into the Dead Sea, where it turns the salt water into fresh water. ⁹ Wherever this water flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish, because it will bring life and fresh water to the Dead Sea. ¹⁰ From En-Gedi to Eneglaim, people will fish in the sea and dry their nets along the coast. There will be as many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But the marshes along the shore will remain salty, so that people can use the salt from them.

^12 (B) Fruit trees will grow all along this river and produce fresh fruit every month. The leaves will never dry out, because they will always have water from the stream that flows from the temple, and they will be used for healing people.

The Borders of the Land

^13-14 The Lord God said to the people of Israel:

When the land is divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the Joseph tribe^[a] will receive two shares. Divide the land equally, because I promised your ancestors that this land would someday belong to their descendants. These are the borders of the land:

¹⁵ The northern border will begin at the Mediterranean Sea, then continue eastward to Hethlon, to Lebo-Hamath, then across to Zedad, ¹⁶ Berothah,^[b] and Sibraim, which is on the border between the two kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath. The border will end at Hazer-Hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the northern border will run between the Mediterranean Sea and Hazar-Enon, which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath.^[c]

¹⁸ The eastern border will begin on the border between the two kingdoms of Hauran and Damascus. It will run south along the Jordan River, which separates the territories of Gilead and Israel, and it will end at the Dead Sea near the town of Tamar.^[d]

¹⁹ The southern border will begin at Tamar, then run southwest to the springs near Meribath-Kadesh. It will continue along the Egyptian Gorge and will end at the Mediterranean Sea.

²⁰ The western border will run north along the Mediterranean Sea to a point just west of Lebo-Hamath.

²¹ That is the land to be divided among the tribes of Israel. ²² It will belong to the Israelites and to any foreigners living among them whose children were born in Israel. These foreigners must be treated like any other Israelite citizen, and they will receive ²³ a share of the land given to the tribe where they live. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

(By David.)

The Lord's Wonderful Love