M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord Condemns Ahaziah
1 1-2 Soon after King Ahab of Israel died, the country of Moab rebelled against his son King Ahaziah.[a]
One day, Ahaziah fell through the wooden slats around the porch on the flat roof of his palace in Samaria, and he was badly injured. So he sent some messengers to the town of Ekron[b] with orders to ask the god Baalzebub if he would get well.
3 About the same time, an angel from the Lord sent Elijah the prophet from Tishbe to say to the king's messengers, “Ahaziah has rejected Israel's own God by sending you to ask Baalzebub about his injury. 4 Tell him that because he has done this, he's on his deathbed!” And Elijah did what he was told.
5 When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, he asked, “Why are you back so soon?”
6 “A man met us along the road with a message for you from the Lord,” they answered. “The Lord wants to know why you sent us to ask Baalzebub about your injury and why you don't believe there's a God in Israel. The man also told us that the Lord says you're going to die.”
7 “What did the man look like?” Ahaziah asked.
8 (A) “He was hairy[c] and had a leather belt around his waist,” they answered.
“It must be Elijah!” replied Ahaziah. 9 So at once he sent an army officer and 50 soldiers to meet Elijah.
Elijah was sitting on top of a hill[d] at the time. The officer went up to him and said, “Man of God,[e] the king orders you to come down and talk with him.”
10 (B) “If I am a man of God,” Elijah answered, “God will send down fire on you and your 50 soldiers.” Fire immediately came down from heaven and burned up the officer and his men.
11 Ahaziah sent another officer and 50 more soldiers to Elijah. The officer said, “Man of God, the king orders you to come see him at once.”
12 “If I am a man of God,” Elijah answered, “fire will destroy you and your 50 soldiers.” And God sent down fire[f] from heaven on the officer and his men.
13 Ahaziah sent a third army officer and 50 more soldiers. This officer went up to Elijah, then he got down on his knees and begged, “Man of God, please be kind to me and these 50 servants of yours. Let us live! 14 Fire has already wiped out the other officers and their soldiers. Please don't let it happen to me.”
15 The angel from the Lord said to Elijah, “Go with him and don't be afraid.” So Elijah got up and went with the officer.
16 When Elijah arrived, he told Ahaziah, “The Lord wants to know why you sent messengers to Ekron to ask Baalzebub about your injury. Don't you believe there's a God in Israel? Ahaziah, because you did that, the Lord says you will die.”
17 Ahaziah died, just as the Lord had said. But since Ahaziah had no sons, Joram[g] his brother[h] then became king. This happened in the second year that Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was king of Judah.[i] 18 Everything else Ahaziah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.
1 (A) From Paul, Silas,[a] and Timothy.
To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
When Christ Returns
3 My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time. 4 This is why we brag about you to all of God's churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.
5 All this shows that God judges fairly and is making you fit to share in his kingdom for which you are suffering. 6 It is only right for God to punish everyone who is causing you trouble, 7 but he will give you relief from your troubles. God will do the same for us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with his powerful angels 8 and with a flaming fire.
Our Lord Jesus will punish anyone who doesn't know God and won't obey his message. 9 (B) Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength. 10 This will happen on the day when the Lord returns to be praised and honored by all who have faith in him and belong to him. This includes you, because you believed what we said.
11 God chose you, and we keep praying that God will make you worthy of being his people. We pray for God's power to help you do all the good things you hope to do and your faith makes you want to do. 12 Then, because of the undeserved grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, you will bring honor to the name of our Lord Jesus, and he will bring honor to you.
King Belshazzar's Banquet
5 One evening, King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his highest officials, and he drank wine with them. 2 He got drunk and ordered his servants to bring in the gold and silver cups his father Nebuchadnezzar[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar wanted the cups, so that he and all his wives and officials could drink from them.
3-4 (A) When the gold cups were brought in, everyone at the banquet drank from them and praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 Suddenly a human hand was seen writing on the plaster wall of the palace. The hand was just behind the lampstand, and the king could see it writing. 6 He was so frightened that his face turned pale, his knees started shaking, and his legs became weak.
7 The king called in his advisors, who claimed they could talk with the spirits of the dead and understand the meanings found in the stars. He told them, “The man who can read this writing and tell me what it means will become the third most powerful man in my kingdom. He will wear robes of royal purple and a gold chain around his neck.”
8 All of King Belshazzar's highest officials came in, but not one of them could read the writing or tell what it meant, 9 and they were completely puzzled. Now the king was more afraid than ever before, and his face turned white as a ghost.
10 When the queen heard the king and his officials talking, she came in and said:
Your Majesty, I hope you live forever! Don't be afraid or look so pale. 11 In your kingdom there is a man who has been given special powers by the holy gods. When your father Nebuchadnezzar was king, this man was known to be as smart, intelligent, and wise as the gods themselves. Your father put him in charge of all who claimed they could talk with the spirits or understand the meanings in the stars or tell about the future. 12 He also changed the man's name from Daniel to Belteshazzar. Not only is he wise and intelligent, but he can explain dreams and riddles and solve difficult problems. Send for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.
13 When Daniel was brought in, the king said:
So you are Daniel, one of the captives my father brought back from Judah! 14 I was told that the gods have given you special powers and that you are intelligent and very wise. 15 Neither my advisors nor the men who talk with the spirits of the dead could read this writing or tell me what it means. 16 But I have been told that you understand everything and that you can solve difficult problems. Now then, if you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will become the third most powerful man in my kingdom. You will wear royal purple robes and have a gold chain around your neck.
17 Daniel answered:
Your Majesty, I will read the writing and tell you what it means. But you may keep your gifts or give them to someone else. 18 Sir, the Most High God made your father a great and powerful man and brought him much honor and glory. 19 God did such great things for him that people of all nations and races shook with fear.
Your father had the power of life or death over everyone, and he could honor or ruin anyone he chose. 20 But when he became proud and stubborn, his glorious kingdom was taken from him. 21 His mind became like that of an animal, and he was forced to stay away from people and live with wild donkeys. Your father ate grass like an ox, and he slept outside where his body was soaked with dew. He was forced to do this until he learned that the Most High God rules all kingdoms on earth and chooses their kings.
22 King Belshazzar, you knew all of this, but you still refused to honor the Lord who rules from heaven. 23 Instead, you turned against him and ordered the cups from his temple to be brought here, so that you and your wives and officials could drink wine from them. You praised idols made of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, even though they cannot see or hear or think. You refused to worship the God who gives you breath and controls everything you do. 24 That's why he sent the hand to write this message on the wall.
25-28 The words written there are mene, which means “numbered,” tekel, which means “weighed,” and parsin,[b] which means “divided.” God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has brought it to an end. He has weighed you on his balance scales, and you fall short of what it takes to be king. So God has divided your kingdom between the Medes and the Persians.
29 Belshazzar gave a command for Daniel to be made the third most powerful man in his kingdom and to be given a purple robe and a gold chain.
30 That same night, the king was killed. 31 Then Darius the Mede, who was 62 years old, took over his kingdom.
(A psalm by David.)
The Lord Gives Victory
1 (A) The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right side,[a]
until I make your enemies
into a footstool for you.”
2 The Lord will let your power
reach out from Zion,
and you will rule
over your enemies.
3 Your glorious power
will be seen on the day
you begin to rule.
You will wear the sacred robes
and shine like the morning sun
in all of your strength.[b]
4 (B) The Lord has made a promise
that will never be broken:
“You will be a priest forever,
just like Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right side,
and when he gets angry
he will crush
the other kings.
6 He will judge the nations
and crack their skulls,
leaving piles of dead bodies
all over the earth.
7 He will drink from any stream
that he chooses, while winning
victory after victory.[c]
Praise the Lord for All He Has Done
1 Shout praises to the Lord!
With all my heart
I will thank the Lord
when his people meet.
2 The Lord has done
many wonderful things!
Everyone who is pleased
with God's marvelous deeds
will keep them in mind.
3 Everything the Lord does
is glorious and majestic,
and his power to bring justice
will never end.
4 The Lord God is famous
for his wonderful deeds,
and he is kind and merciful.
5 He gives food to his worshipers
and always keeps his agreement
with them.
6 He has shown his mighty power
to his people
and has given them the lands
of other nations.
7 God is always honest and fair,
and his laws can be trusted.
8 They are true and right
and will stand forever.
9 God rescued his people,
and he will never break
his agreement with them.
He is fearsome and holy.
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