2 Kings 1

• 1. After King Ahab's death, the nation of Moab declared its independence from Israel.
• 2. One day Israel's new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria, and he was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.
• 3. But the angel of the LORD told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, "Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, `Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will get well? Is there no God in Israel?
• 4. Now, therefore, this is what the LORD says: You will never leave the bed on which you are lying, but you will surely die.'" So Elijah went to deliver the message.
• 5. When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have you returned so soon?"
• 6. They replied, "A man came up to us and said, `Go back to the king and give him this message from the LORD: Why are you sending men to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will get well? Is there no God in Israel? Now, since you have done this, you will never leave the bed on which you are lying, but you will surely die.'"
• 7. "Who was this man?" the king demanded. "What did he look like?"
• 8. They replied, "He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.It was Elijah from Tishbe!" the king exclaimed.
• 9. Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, "Man of God, the king has commanded you to come along with us."
• 10. But Elijah replied to the captain, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all.
• 11. So the king sent another captain with fifty men. The captain said to him, "Man of God, the king says that you must come down right away."
• 12. Elijah replied, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!" And again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed them all.
• 13. Once more the king sent a captain with fifty men. But this time the captain fell to his knees before Elijah. He pleaded with him, "O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants.
• 14. See how the fire from heaven has destroyed the first two groups. But now please spare my life!"
• 15. Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Don't be afraid. Go with him." So Elijah got up and went to the king.
• 16. And Elijah said to the king, "This is what the LORD says: Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will get well? Is there no God in Israel? Now, since you have done this, you will never leave the bed on which you are lying, but you will surely die."
• 17. So Ahaziah died, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah. Since Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him, his brother Joram became the next king. This took place in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
• 18. The rest of the events in Ahaziah's reign are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

2 Thessalonians 1

• 1. This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. It is written to the church in Thessalonica, you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 2. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
• 3. Dear brothers and sisters, we always thank God for you, as is right, for we are thankful that your faith is flourishing and you are all growing in love for each other.
• 4. We proudly tell God's other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering.
• 5. But God will use this persecution to show his justice. For he will make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering,
• 6. and in his justice he will punish those who persecute you.
• 7. And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels,
• 8. in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.
• 9. They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power
• 10. when he comes to receive glory and praise from his holy people. And you will be among those praising him on that day, for you believed what we testified about him.
• 11. And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you worthy of the life to which he called you. And we pray that God, by his power, will fulfill all your good intentions and faithful deeds.
• 12. Then everyone will give honor to the name of our Lord Jesus because of you, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the undeserved favor of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Daniel 5

• 1. A number of years later, King Belshazzar gave a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.
• 2. While Belshazzar was drinking, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, so that he and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
• 3. So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
• 4. They drank toasts from them to honor their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
• 5. At that very moment they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king's palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote,
• 6. and his face turned pale with fear. Such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him.
• 7. The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, "Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will wear a gold chain around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!"
• 8. But when all the king's wise men came in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant.
• 9. So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned ashen white. His nobles, too, were shaken.
• 10. But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, "Long live the king! Don't be so pale and afraid about this.
• 11. There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar's reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom as though he himself were a god. Your predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon.
• 12. This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has a sharp mind and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means."
• 13. So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, "Are you Daniel, who was exiled from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar?
• 14. I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom.
• 15. My wise men and enchanters have tried to read this writing on the wall, but they cannot.
• 16. I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will wear a gold chain around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom."
• 17. Daniel answered the king, "Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means.
• 18. Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar.
• 19. He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace.
• 20. But when his heart and mind were hardened with pride, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.
• 21. He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of an animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.
• 22. "You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself.
• 23. For you have defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone--gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!
• 24. So God has sent this hand to write a message.
• 25. "This is the message that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.
• 26. This is what these words mean: Mene means `numbered'--God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
• 27. Tekel means `weighed'--you have been weighed on the balances and have failed the test.
• 28. Parsin means `divided'--your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
• 29. Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
• 30. That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.
• 31. And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

New Living Translation: 293 of 365 days.