1 Kings 20

• 1. Now King Ben-hadad of Aram mobilized his army, supported by the chariots and horses of thirty-two allied kings. They went to besiege Samaria, the Israelite capital, and launched attacks against it.
• 2. Ben-hadad sent messengers into the city to relay this message to King Ahab of Israel: "This is what Ben-hadad says:
• 3. `Your silver and gold are mine, and so are the best of your wives and children!'"
• 4. "All right, my lord," Ahab replied. "All that I have is yours!"
• 5. Soon Ben-hadad's messengers returned again and said, "This is what Ben-hadad says: `I have already demanded that you give me your silver, gold, wives, and children.
• 6. But about this time tomorrow I will send my officials to search your palace and the homes of your people. They will take away everything you consider valuable!'"
• 7. Then Ahab summoned all the leaders of the land and said to them, "Look how this man is stirring up trouble! I already agreed when he sent the message demanding that I give him my wives and children and silver and gold."
• 8. "Don't give in to any more demands," the leaders and people advised.
• 9. So Ahab told the messengers from Ben-hadad, "Say this to my lord the king: `I will give you everything you asked for the first time, but this last demand of yours I simply cannot meet.'" So the messengers returned to Ben-hadad with the response.
• 10. Then Ben-hadad sent this message to Ahab: "May the gods bring tragedy on me, and even worse than that, if there remains enough dust from Samaria to provide more than a handful for each of my soldiers."
• 11. The king of Israel sent back this answer: "A warrior still dressing for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won."
• 12. This reply of Ahab's reached Ben-hadad and the other kings as they were drinking in their tents. "Prepare to attack!" Ben-hadad commanded his officers. So they prepared to attack the city.
• 13. Then a prophet came to see King Ahab and told him, "This is what the LORD says: Do you see all these enemy forces? Today I will hand them all over to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD."
• 14. Ahab asked, "How will he do it?" And the prophet replied, "This is what the LORD says: The troops of the provincial commanders will do it.Should we attack first?" Ahab asked. "Yes," the prophet answered.
• 15. So Ahab mustered the troops of the 232 provincial commanders. Then he called out the rest of his army of seven thousand men.
• 16. About noontime, as Ben-hadad and the thirty-two allied kings were still in their tents getting drunk,
• 17. the troops of the provincial commanders marched out of the city. As they approached, Ben-hadad's scouts reported to him, "Some troops are coming from Samaria."
• 18. "Take them alive," Ben-hadad commanded, "whether they have come for peace or for war."
• 19. But by now Ahab's provincial commanders had led the army out to fight.
• 20. Each Israelite soldier killed his Aramean opponent, and suddenly the entire Aramean army panicked and fled. The Israelites chased them, but King Ben-hadad and a few others escaped on horses.
• 21. However, the other horses and chariots were destroyed, and the Arameans were killed in a great slaughter.
• 22. Afterward the prophet said to King Ahab, "Get ready for another attack by the king of Aram next spring."
• 23. After their defeat, Ben-hadad's officers said to him, "The Israelite gods are gods of the hills; that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains.
• 24. Only this time replace the kings with field commanders!
• 25. Recruit another army like the one you lost. Give us the same number of horses, chariots, and men, and we will fight against them in the plains. There's not a shadow of a doubt that we will beat them." So King Ben-hadad did as they suggested.
• 26. The following spring he called up the Aramean army and marched out against Israel, this time at Aphek.
• 27. Israel then mustered its army, set up supply lines, and moved into the battle. But the Israelite army looked like two little flocks of goats in comparison to the vast Aramean forces that filled the countryside!
• 28. Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, "This is what the LORD says: The Arameans have said that the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the plains. So I will help you defeat this vast army. Then you will know that I am the LORD."
• 29. The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day.
• 30. The rest fled behind the walls of Aphek, but the wall fell on them and killed another 27,000. Ben-hadad fled into the city and hid in a secret room.
• 31. Ben-hadad's officers said to him, "Sir, we have heard that the kings of Israel are very merciful. So let's humble ourselves by wearing sackcloth and putting ropes on our heads. Then perhaps King Ahab will let you live."
• 32. So they put on sackcloth and ropes and went to the king of Israel and begged, "Your servant Ben-hadad says, `Please let me live!'" The king of Israel responded, "Is he still alive? He is my brother!"
• 33. The men were quick to grasp at this straw of hope, and they replied, "Yes, your brother Ben-hadad!Go and get him," the king of Israel told them. And when Ben-hadad arrived, Ahab invited him up into his chariot!
• 34. Ben-hadad told him, "I will give back the towns my father took from your father, and you may establish places of trade in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Then Ahab said, "I will let you go under these conditions." So they made a treaty, and Ben-hadad was set free.
• 35. Meanwhile, the LORD instructed one of the group of prophets to say to another man, "Strike me!" But the man refused to strike the prophet.
• 36. Then the prophet told him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me." And sure enough, when he had gone, a lion attacked and killed him.
• 37. Then the prophet turned to another man and said, "Strike me!" So he struck the prophet and wounded him.
• 38. The prophet waited for the king beside the road, having placed a bandage over his eyes to disguise himself.
• 39. As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, "Sir, I was in the battle, and a man brought me a prisoner. He said, `Guard this man; if for any reason he gets away, you will either die or pay a fine of seventy-five pounds of silver!'
• 40. But while I was busy doing something else, the prisoner disappeared!Well, it's your own fault," the king replied. "You have determined your own judgment."
• 41. Then the prophet pulled the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.
• 42. And the prophet told him, "This is what the LORD says: Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed, now you must die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people."
• 43. So the king of Israel went home to Samaria angry and sullen.

1 Thessalonians 3

• 1. Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided that I should stay alone in Athens,
• 2. and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our co-worker for God and our brother in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith,
• 3. and to keep you from becoming disturbed by the troubles you were going through. But, of course, you know that such troubles are going to happen to us Christians.
• 4. Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come--and they did, as you well know.
• 5. That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the Tempter had gotten the best of you and that all our work had been useless.
• 6. Now Timothy has just returned, bringing the good news that your faith and love are as strong as ever. He reports that you remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you.
• 7. So we have been greatly comforted, dear brothers and sisters, in all of our own crushing troubles and suffering, because you have remained strong in your faith.
• 8. It gives us new life, knowing you remain strong in the Lord.
• 9. How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy in the presence of God.
• 10. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may still be missing in your faith.
• 11. May God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus make it possible for us to come to you very soon.
• 12. And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you.
• 13. As a result, Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy when you stand before God our Father on that day when our Lord Jesus comes with all those who belong to him.

Daniel 2

• 1. One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that disturbed him so much that he couldn't sleep.
• 2. He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king,
• 3. he said, "I have had a dream that troubles me. Tell me what I dreamed, for I must know what it means."
• 4. Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, "Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means."
• 5. But the king said to the astrologers, "I am serious about this. If you don't tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be demolished into heaps of rubble!
• 6. But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!"
• 7. They said again, "Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means."
• 8. The king replied, "I can see through your trick! You are trying to stall for time because you know I am serious about what I said.
• 9. If you don't tell me the dream, you will be condemned. You have conspired to tell me lies in hopes that something will change. But tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can tell me what it means."
• 10. The astrologers replied to the king, "There isn't a man alive who can tell Your Majesty his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer!
• 11. This is an impossible thing the king requires. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live among people."
• 12. The king was furious when he heard this, and he sent out orders to execute all the wise men of Babylon.
• 13. And because of the king's decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.
• 14. When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion.
• 15. He asked Arioch, "Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?" So Arioch told him all that had happened.
• 16. Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time so he could tell the king what the dream meant.
• 17. Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened.
• 18. He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.
• 19. That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven,
• 20. saying, "Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he alone has all wisdom and power.
• 21. He determines the course of world events; he removes kings and sets others on the throne. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.
• 22. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he himself is surrounded by light.
• 23. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded."
• 24. Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, who had been ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, "Don't kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream."
• 25. Then Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king and said, "I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream!"
• 26. The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), "Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?"
• 27. Daniel replied, "There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can tell the king such things.
• 28. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.
• 29. "While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. The revealer of mysteries has shown you what is going to happen.
• 30. And it is not because I am wiser than any living person that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wanted you to understand what you were thinking about.
• 31. "Your Majesty, in your vision you saw in front of you a huge and powerful statue of a man, shining brilliantly, frightening and awesome.
• 32. The head of the statue was made of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze,
• 33. its legs were of iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and clay.
• 34. But as you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain by supernatural means. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits.
• 35. The whole statue collapsed into a heap of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. The pieces were crushed as small as chaff on a threshing floor, and the wind blew them all away without a trace. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
• 36. "That was the dream; now I will tell Your Majesty what it means.
• 37. Your Majesty, you are a king over many kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.
• 38. He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.
• 39. "But after your kingdom comes to an end, another great kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third great kingdom, represented by the bronze belly and thighs, will rise to rule the world.
• 40. Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth great kingdom, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes.
• 41. The feet and toes you saw that were a combination of iron and clay show that this kingdom will be divided.
• 42. Some parts of it will be as strong as iron, and others as weak as clay.
• 43. This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But this will not succeed, just as iron and clay do not mix.
• 44. "During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed; no one will ever conquer it. It will shatter all these kingdoms into nothingness, but it will stand forever.
• 45. That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain by supernatural means, crushing to dust the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. "The great God has shown Your Majesty what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain."
• 46. Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground before Daniel and worshiped him, and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him.
• 47. The king said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret."
• 48. Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.
• 49. At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king's court.

New Living Translation: 290 of 365 days.