M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Obadiah Meets Elijah
18 Now it happened (A)after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and (B)I will provide rain on the face of the earth.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab summoned Obadiah, (C)who was in charge of the household. (Now Obadiah [a](D)feared the Lord greatly; 4 for (E)when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and (F)provided them with bread and water.) 5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the river valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” 6 So they divided the land between them to [b]survey it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, (G)and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, Elijah my master?” 8 And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” 9 But he said, “What [c]sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab, to put me to death? 10 (H)As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my master has not sent word to search for you; and whenever they say, ‘He is not here,’ he makes the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. 11 Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here!”’ 12 And it will come about when I leave you (I)that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to where I do not know; so when I come and inform Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, though I, your servant, have [d]feared the Lord from my youth. 13 (J)Has it not been reported to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred [e]prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? 14 Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; he will then kill me!” 15 Then Elijah said, “(K)As surely as the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly present myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him; then Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, (L)Ahab said to him, “Is this you, the cause of disaster to Israel?” 18 He said, “I have not brought disaster to Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because (M)you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and (N)you have followed the Baals. 19 Now then, send orders and gather to me all Israel at (O)Mount Carmel, (P)together with 450 prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of [f](Q)the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
God or Baal on Mount Carmel
20 So Ahab sent orders among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “(R)How long are you going to [g]struggle with the two choices? (S)If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him so much as a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I (T)alone am left as a prophet of the Lord, while Baal’s prophets are (U)450 men. 23 Now have them give us two oxen; and have them choose the one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and (V)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people replied, “[h]That is a good idea.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose the one ox for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under the ox.” 26 Then they took the ox which [i]was given them and they prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was (W)no voice and no one answered. And they [j]limped about the altar which [k]they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah ridiculed them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, since he is a god; undoubtedly he is attending to business, or is on the way, or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep, and will awaken.” 28 So they cried out with a loud voice, and (X)cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until blood gushed out on them. 29 When midday was past, they raved (Y)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and [l]no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come forward to me.” So all the people came forward to him. And (Z)he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “(AA)Israel shall be your name.” 32 And with the stones he built an altar in (AB)the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two [m]measures of seed. 33 (AC)Then he laid out the wood, and he cut the ox in pieces and placed it on the wood. 34 And he said, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” so they did it a second time. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” so they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.
Elijah’s Prayer
36 Then (AD)at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “(AE)Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that (AF)You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that (AG)I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back.” 38 Then the (AH)fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and the stones and the dust; and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell on their faces; and they said, “(AI)The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God!” 40 Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to (AJ)the brook Kishon, (AK)and slaughtered them there.
41 Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of (AL)Carmel; and he (AM)bent down to the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, but he said, “There is nothing.” Yet Elijah said, “Go back” seven times. 44 And when he returned the seventh time, he said, “Behold, (AN)a cloud as small as a person’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And Elijah said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot horses and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.’” 45 Meanwhile the sky became dark with clouds and wind came up, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to (AO)Jezreel. 46 Then (AP)the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and (AQ)he [n]belted his cloak around his waist and [o]outran Ahab [p]to Jezreel.
Giving Thanks for These Believers
1 (A)Paul, (B)Silvanus, and (C)Timothy,
To the (D)church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: (E)Grace to you and peace.
2 (F)We always give thanks to God for all of you, (G)making mention of you in our prayers; 3 constantly keeping in mind your (H)work of faith and labor of (I)love and [a](J)perseverance of hope [b]in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of (K)our God and Father, 4 knowing, (L)brothers and sisters, beloved by God, (M)His choice of you; 5 for our (N)gospel did not come to you in word only, but also (O)in power and in the Holy Spirit and with (P)full conviction; just as you know (Q)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes. 6 You also became (R)imitators of us and of the Lord, (S)having received (T)the word during great affliction with the (U)joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in (V)Macedonia and (W)Achaia. 8 For (X)the word of the Lord has (Y)sounded forth from you, not only in (Z)Macedonia and (AA)Achaia, but (AB)in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us [c]as to the kind of (AC)reception we had with you, and how you (AD)turned to God (AE)from [d]idols to serve [e](AF)a living and true God, 10 and to (AG)wait for His Son from [f]heaven, whom He (AH)raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who (AI)rescues us from (AJ)the wrath to come.
Division of the Land
48 “Now (A)these are the names of the tribes: from the northern extremity, [a]beside the way of Hethlon to [b]Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, toward the north [c]beside Hamath, [d]running from east to west, (B)Dan, one portion. 2 Beside the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, (C)Asher, one portion. 3 Beside the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, (D)Naphtali, one portion. 4 Beside the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, (E)Manasseh, one portion. 5 Beside the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, (F)Ephraim, one portion. 6 Beside the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, (G)Reuben, one portion. 7 Beside the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, (H)Judah, one portion.
8 “And beside the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the [e]allotment which you shall [f]set apart, twenty-five thousand [g]cubits in width, and in length like one of the portions, from the east side to the west side; and the (I)sanctuary shall be in the middle of it. 9 The allotment that you shall set apart to the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width.
Portion for the Priests
10 The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the (J)priests, toward the north twenty-five thousand cubits in length, toward the west ten thousand in width, toward the east ten thousand in width, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length; and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in its midst. 11 It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the (K)sons of Zadok, who have [h]taken the responsibility I gave them, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray as the (L)Levites went astray. 12 It shall be an allotment to them from the allotment of the land, a most holy reserve, by the border of the Levites. 13 And alongside the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. The entire length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits and the width ten thousand. 14 Moreover, they (M)shall not sell or exchange any of it, or allow this [i]choice portion of land to pass to others; for it is holy to the Lord.
15 “The remainder, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand [j]in length, shall be for (N)common use for the city, for homes and for [k]open spaces; and the city shall be in its midst. 16 And these shall be its measurements: the north side, 4,500 cubits, the south side (O)4,500 cubits, the east side 4,500 cubits, and the west side, 4,500 cubits. 17 The city shall have [l]open spaces: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250 cubits, on the east 250 cubits, and on the west 250 cubits. 18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment shall be ten thousand cubits toward the east and ten thousand toward the west; and it shall be [m]alongside the holy allotment. And its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 And the workers of the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. 20 The whole allotment shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand cubits; you shall [n]set apart the holy allotment, a [o]square, with the [p]property of the city.
Portion for the Prince
21 “The (P)remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy allotment and of the [q]property of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand cubits of the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. And the holy allotment and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it. 22 And exclusive of the [r]property of the Levites and the [s]property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall belong to the prince.
Portion for Other Tribes
23 “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, (Q)Benjamin, one portion. 24 Beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, (R)Simeon, one portion. 25 Beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, (S)Issachar, one portion. 26 Beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, (T)Zebulun, one portion. 27 Beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, (U)Gad, one portion. 28 And beside the border of Gad, at the south side toward the south, the border shall be from (V)Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the (W)Great Sea. 29 This is the (X)land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for an inheritance, and these are their several portions,” declares the Lord [t]God.
The City Gates
30 “Now these are the exits of the city: on the (Y)north side, 4,500 cubits by measurement, 31 [u]shall be the gates of the city, [v](Z)named for the tribes of Israel, three gates toward the north: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; and the gate of Levi, one. 32 On the east side, 4,500 cubits, [w]shall be three gates: the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; and the gate of Dan, one. 33 On the south side, 4,500 cubits by measurement, [x]shall be three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; and the gate of Zebulun, one. 34 On the west side, 4,500 cubits, shall be three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; and the gate of Naphtali, one. 35 The city shall be eighteen thousand cubits all around; and the (AA)name of the city from that day shall be, ‘[y]The (AB)Lord is there.’”
The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
104 (A)Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord my God, You are very great;
You are (B)clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 Covering Yourself with (C)light as with a cloak,
(D)Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
3 [a]He (E)lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
[b]He makes the (F)clouds His chariot;
[c]He walks on the (G)wings of the wind;
4 [d]He makes [e](H)the winds His messengers,
[f]Flaming (I)fire His ministers.
5 He (J)established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not [g]totter forever and ever.
6 You (K)covered it with the deep sea as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 They fled from Your (L)rebuke,
At the (M)sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down
To the (N)place which You established for them.
9 You set a (O)boundary so that they will not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10 [h]He sends forth (P)springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
11 They (Q)give drink to every animal of the field;
The (R)wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky (S)dwell [i]beside them;
They [j]lift up their voices from among the branches.
13 [k]He (T)waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
(U)The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 [l]He causes the (V)grass to grow for the [m]cattle,
And (W)vegetation for the labor of mankind,
So that [n]they may produce [o]food (X)from the earth,
15 And (Y)wine, which makes a human heart cheerful,
(Z)So that he makes his face gleam with oil,
And [p]food, which (AA)sustains a human heart.
16 The trees of the Lord [q]drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the (AB)birds build their nests,
And the (AC)stork, whose home is the juniper trees.
18 The high mountains are for the (AD)wild goats;
The (AE)cliffs are a refuge for the (AF)rock hyrax.
19 He made the moon (AG)for the seasons;
The (AH)sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You (AI)appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the (AJ)animals of the forest [r]prowl about.
21 The (AK)young lions roar for their prey
[s]And (AL)seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw,
And they lie down in their (AM)dens.
23 A person goes out to (AN)his work
And to his labor until evening.
24 Lord, how (AO)many are Your works!
[t]In (AP)wisdom You have made them all;
The (AQ)earth is full of Your [u]possessions.
25 [v]There is the (AR)sea, great and [w]broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
26 The (AS)ships move along there,
And [x](AT)Leviathan, which You have formed to have fun in it.
27 They all (AU)wait for You
To (AV)give them their food in [y]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (AW)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (AX)hide Your face, they are terrified;
You (AY)take away their breath, they perish
And (AZ)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [z](BA)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 May the (BB)glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord (BC)rejoice in His works;
32 [aa]He (BD)looks at the earth, and it (BE)trembles;
He (BF)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [ab]I will sing to the Lord [ac](BG)as long as I live;
[ad]I will (BH)sing praise to my God [ae]while I have my being.
34 May my (BI)praise be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (BJ)rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners be (BK)removed from the earth
And may the (BL)wicked be no more.
(BM)Bless the Lord, my soul.
[af](BN)Praise [ag]the Lord!
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.