2 Kings 2

• 1. When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.
• 2. And Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the LORD has told me to go to Bethel." But Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!" So they went on together to Bethel.
• 3. The group of prophets from Bethel came to Elisha and asked him, "Did you know that the LORD is going to take your master away from you today?Quiet!" Elisha answered. "Of course I know it."
• 4. Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the LORD has told me to go to Jericho." But Elisha replied again, "As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you." So they went on together to Jericho.
• 5. Then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and asked him, "Did you know that the LORD is going to take your master away from you today?Quiet!" he answered again. "Of course I know it."
• 6. Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the LORD has told me to go to the Jordan River." But again Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you." So they went on together.
• 7. Fifty men from the group of prophets also went and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped beside the Jordan River.
• 8. Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!
• 9. When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, "What can I do for you before I am taken away?" And Elisha replied, "Please let me become your rightful successor."
• 10. "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah replied. "If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won't."
• 11. As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between them, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.
• 12. Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and charioteers of Israel!" And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his robe in two.
• 13. Then Elisha picked up Elijah's cloak and returned to the bank of the Jordan River.
• 14. He struck the water with the cloak and cried out, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.
• 15. When the group of prophets from Jericho saw what happened, they exclaimed, "Elisha has become Elijah's successor!" And they went to meet him and bowed down before him.
• 16. "Sir," they said, "just say the word and fifty of our strongest men will search the wilderness for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has left him on some mountain or in some valley.No," Elisha said, "don't send them."
• 17. But they kept urging him until he was embarrassed, and he finally said, "All right, send them." So fifty men searched for three days but did not find Elijah.
• 18. Elisha was still at Jericho when they returned. "Didn't I tell you not to go?" he asked.
• 19. Now the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. "We have a problem, my lord," they told him. "This town is located in beautiful natural surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive."
• 20. Elisha said, "Bring me a new bowl with salt in it." So they brought it to him.
• 21. Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, "This is what the LORD says: I have made this water wholesome. It will no longer cause death or infertility. "
• 22. And sure enough! The water has remained wholesome ever since, just as Elisha said.
• 23. Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. "Go away, you baldhead!" they chanted. "Go away, you baldhead!"
• 24. Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them.
• 25. From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel and finally returned to Samaria.

2 Thessalonians 2

• 1. And now, brothers and sisters, let us tell you about the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered together to meet him.
• 2. Please don't be so easily shaken and troubled by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Even if they claim to have had a vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us, don't believe them.
• 3. Don't be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed--the one who brings destruction.
• 4. He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
• 5. Don't you remember that I told you this when I was with you?
• 6. And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.
• 7. For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.
• 8. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
• 9. This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
• 10. He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them.
• 11. So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies.
• 12. Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do.
• 13. As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth.
• 14. He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 15. With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on everything we taught you both in person and by letter.
• 16. May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in his special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope,
• 17. comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say.

Daniel 6

• 1. Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a prince to rule over each province.
• 2. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the princes and to watch out for the king's interests.
• 3. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and princes. Because of his great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.
• 4. Then the other administrators and princes began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs, but they couldn't find anything to criticize. He was faithful and honest and always responsible.
• 5. So they concluded, "Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the requirements of his religion."
• 6. So the administrators and princes went to the king and said, "Long live King Darius!
• 7. We administrators, prefects, princes, advisers, and other officials have unanimously agreed that Your Majesty should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human--except to Your Majesty--will be thrown to the lions.
• 8. And let Your Majesty issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked."
• 9. So King Darius signed the law.
• 10. But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
• 11. The officials went together to Daniel's house and found him praying and asking for God's help.
• 12. So they went back to the king and reminded him about his law. "Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human--except to Your Majesty--will be thrown to the lions?Yes," the king replied, "that decision stands; it is a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked."
• 13. Then they told the king, "That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is paying no attention to you or your law. He still prays to his God three times a day."
• 14. Hearing this, the king was very angry with himself for signing the law, and he tried to find a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.
• 15. In the evening the men went together to the king and said, "Your Majesty knows that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed."
• 16. So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, "May your God, whom you worship continually, rescue you."
• 17. A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel from the lions.
• 18. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn't sleep at all that night.
• 19. Very early the next morning, the king hurried out to the lions' den.
• 20. When he got there, he called out in anguish, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you worship continually, able to rescue you from the lions?"
• 21. Daniel answered, "Long live the king!
• 22. My God sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty."
• 23. The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him because he had trusted in his God.
• 24. Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions' den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.
• 25. Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: "Peace and prosperity to you!
• 26. "I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end.
• 27. He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."
• 28. So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

New Living Translation: 294 of 365 days.