M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Lord Judges Ahaziah

1 After King Ahab died, Moab refused to remain under Israel’s control. ² Ahaziah had fallen through the window of his upstairs room in Samaria. He had hurt himself. So he sent messengers to ask the god named Baal-Zebub for advice. Baal-Zebub was the god of the city of Ekron. Ahaziah said to the messengers, “Go and ask Baal-Zebub whether I will get well again.”

³ But the angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah, who was from Tishbe. The angel said, “Go up to see the messengers of Ahaziah, the king of Samaria. Tell them, ‘You are on your way to ask Baal-Zebub for advice. He is the god of Ekron. Are you going there to pray to that god? Do you think there is no God in Israel?’ ⁴ The Lord says to Ahaziah, ‘You will never leave the bed you are lying on. You can be sure that you will die!’ ” So Elijah went to see the messengers.

⁵ They returned to the king. He asked them, “Why have you come back?”

⁶ “A man met us on our way there,” they replied. “He said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you. Tell him, “The Lord says, ‘You are sending messengers to ask Baal-Zebub for advice. He is the god of Ekron. Are you going there to pray to that god? Do you think there is no God in Israel? You will never leave the bed you are lying on. You can be sure that you will die!’ ” ’ ”

⁷ The king asked the messengers, “What kind of man came to see you? Who told you these things?”

⁸ They replied, “He was wearing clothes made out of hair. He had a leather belt around his waist.”

The king said, “That was Elijah from Tishbe.”

⁹ Then Ahaziah sent a captain to Elijah. The captain had his group of 50 fighting men with him. Elijah was sitting on top of a hill. The captain went up to him. He said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’ ”

¹⁰ Elijah answered the captain, “If I’m really a man of God, may fire come down from heaven! May it burn up you and your 50 men!” Then fire came down from heaven. It burned up the captain and his men.

¹¹ After that happened, the king sent another captain to Elijah. The captain had his 50 men with him. He said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down at once!’ ”

¹² Elijah replied, “If I’m really a man of God, may fire come down from heaven! May it burn up you and your 50 men!” Then the fire of God came down from heaven. It burned up the captain and his 50 men.

¹³ So the king sent a third captain with his 50 men. The captain went up to Elijah. He fell on his knees in front of him. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life! Please have respect for the lives of these 50 men! ¹⁴ Fire has come down from heaven. It has burned up the first two captains and all their men. But please have respect for my life!”

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down along with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down to the king with the captain.

¹⁶ Elijah told the king, “The Lord says, ‘You have sent messengers to ask Baal-Zebub for advice. He is the god of Ekron. Did you go there to pray to that god for advice? Do you think there is no God in Israel? You will never leave the bed you are lying on. You can be sure that you will die!’ ” ¹⁷ So King Ahaziah died. It happened just as the Lord had said it would. He had spoken that message through Elijah.

Ahaziah didn’t have any sons. So Joram, his younger brother, became the next king after him. It was the second year of Jehoram, the king of Judah. Jehoram was the son of Jehoshaphat. ¹⁸ All the other events of Ahaziah’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. Silas and Timothy join me in writing.

We are sending this letter to you, the members of the church in Thessalonica. You belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Prays and Gives Thanks

³ Brothers and sisters, we should always thank God for you. That is only right, because your faith is growing more and more. We also thank God that the love you all have for one another is increasing. ⁴ So among God’s churches we brag about the fact that you don’t give up easily. We brag about your faith in all the suffering and testing you are going through.

⁵ All of this proves that when God judges, he is fair. So you will be considered worthy to enter God’s kingdom. You are suffering for his kingdom. ⁶ God is fair. He will pay back trouble to those who give you trouble. ⁷ He will help you who are troubled. And he will also help us. All these things will happen when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come in blazing fire. He will come with his powerful angels. ⁸ He will punish those who don’t know God. He will punish those who don’t obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be destroyed forever. They will be shut out of heaven. They will never see the glory of the Lord’s strength. ¹⁰ All these things will happen when he comes. On that day his glory will be seen in his holy people. Everyone who has believed will be amazed when they see him. This includes you, because you believed the witness we gave you.

¹¹ Keeping this in mind, we never stop praying for you. Our God has chosen you. We pray that he will make you worthy of his choice. We pray he will make every good thing you want to do come true. We pray that he will do this by his power. We pray that he will make perfect all that you have done by faith. ¹² We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus will receive glory through what you have done. We also pray that you will receive glory through what he has done. We pray all these things in keeping with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A Hand Writes on the Palace Wall

5 King Belshazzar gave a huge banquet. He invited a thousand of his nobles to it. He drank wine with them. ² While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to his servants. He commanded them to bring in some gold and silver cups. They were the cups his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar had them brought in so everyone could drink from them. That included the king himself, his nobles, his wives and his concubines. ³ So the servants brought in the gold cups. The cups had been taken from God’s temple in Jerusalem. The king and his nobles drank from them. So did his wives and concubines. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised their gods. The statues of those gods were made out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood or stone.

⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared. They wrote something on the plaster of the palace wall. It happened near the lampstand. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶ His face turned pale. He was so afraid that his legs became weak. And his knees were knocking together.

⁷ The king sent for those who try to figure things out by using magic. He also sent for those who study the heavens. All of them were wise men in Babylon. Then the king spoke to them. He said, “I want one of you to read this writing. I want you to tell me what it means. Whoever does this will be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain will be put around his neck. And he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸ Then all the king’s wise men came in. But they couldn’t read the writing. They couldn’t tell him what it meant. ⁹ So King Belshazzar became even more terrified. His face grew more pale. And his nobles were bewildered.

¹⁰ The queen heard the king and his nobles talking. So she came into the dining hall. “King Belshazzar, may you live forever!” she said. “Don’t be afraid! Don’t look so pale! ¹¹ I know a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. He has understanding and wisdom and good sense just like the gods. He was chief of those who tried to figure things out by using magic. And he was in charge of those who studied the heavens. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him to that position. ¹² King Nebuchadnezzar did this because he saw what the man could do. This man’s name is Daniel. Your father called him Belteshazzar. He has a clever mind and knowledge and understanding. He is also able to tell what dreams mean. He can explain riddles and solve hard problems. Send for him. He’ll tell you what the writing means.”

¹³ So Daniel was brought to the king. The king said to him, “Are you Daniel? Are you one of the prisoners my father the king brought here from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you. I’ve also heard that you have understanding and good sense and special wisdom. ¹⁵ The wise men and those who practice magic were brought to me. They were asked to read this writing and tell me what it means. But they couldn’t. ¹⁶ I have heard that you are able to explain things and solve hard problems. I hope you can read this writing and tell me what it means. If you can, you will be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain will be put around your neck. And you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king. He said, “You can keep your gifts for yourself. You can give your rewards to someone else. But I will read the writing for you. I’ll tell you what it means.

¹⁸ “Your Majesty, the Most High God was good to your father Nebuchadnezzar. He gave him authority and greatness and glory and honor. ¹⁹ God gave him a high position. Then people from every nation became afraid of the king. That was true no matter what language they spoke. The king put to death anyone he wanted to. He spared anyone he wanted to spare. He gave high positions to anyone he wanted to. And he brought down anyone he wanted to bring down. ²⁰ But his heart became very stubborn and proud. So he was removed from his royal throne. His glory was stripped away from him. ²¹ He was driven away from people. He was given the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys. He ate grass just as an ox does. His body became wet with the dew of heaven. He stayed that way until he recognized that the Most High God rules over all kingdoms on earth. He puts anyone he wants to in charge of them.

²² “But you knew all that, Belshazzar. After all, you are Nebuchadnezzar’s son. In spite of that, you are still proud. ²³ You have taken your stand against the Lord of heaven. You had your servants bring cups from his temple to you. You and your nobles drank wine from them. So did your wives and concubines. You praised your gods. The statues of those gods are made out of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood or stone. They can’t see or hear or understand anything. But you didn’t honor God. He holds in his hand your very life and everything you do. ²⁴ So he sent the hand that wrote on the wall.

²⁵ “Here is what was written.

mene, mene, tekel, parsin

²⁶ “And here is what these words mean.

“The word Mene means that God has limited the time of your rule. He has brought it to an end.

²⁷ “The word Tekel means that you have been weighed on scales. And you haven’t measured up to God’s standard.

²⁸ “The word Peres means that your authority over your kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹ Then Belshazzar commanded his servants to dress Daniel in purple clothes. So they did. They put a gold chain around his neck. And he was made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ That very night Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, was killed. ³¹ His kingdom was given to Darius the Mede. Darius was 62 years old.

A psalm of David.