2 Kings 7

• 1. Elisha replied, "Hear this message from the LORD! This is what the LORD says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of fine flour will cost only half an ounce of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only half an ounce of silver. "
• 2. The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, "That couldn't happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven!" But Elisha replied, "You will see it happen, but you won't be able to eat any of it!"
• 3. Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates. "Why should we sit here waiting to die?" they asked each other.
• 4. "We will starve if we stay here, and we will starve if we go back into the city. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway."
• 5. So that evening they went out to the camp of the Arameans, but no one was there!
• 6. For the Lord had caused the whole army of Aram to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. "The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us!" they cried out.
• 7. So they panicked and fled into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, and they fled for their lives.
• 8. When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating, drinking wine, and carrying out silver and gold and clothing and hiding it.
• 9. Finally, they said to each other, "This is not right. This is wonderful news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some terrible calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let's go back and tell the people at the palace."
• 10. So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had happened--that they had gone out to the Aramean camp and no one was there! The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there was not a single person around.
• 11. Then the gatekeepers shouted the news to the people in the palace.
• 12. The king got out of bed in the middle of the night and told his officers, "I know what has happened. The Arameans know we are starving, so they have left their camp and have hidden in the fields. They are expecting us to leave the city, and then they will take us alive and capture the city."
• 13. One of his officers replied, "We had better send out scouts to check into this. Let them take five of the remaining horses. If something happens to them, it won't be a greater loss than if they stay here and die with the rest of us."
• 14. So two chariots with horses were prepared, and the king sent scouts to see what had happened to the Aramean army.
• 15. They went all the way to the Jordan River, following a trail of clothing and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their mad rush to escape. The scouts returned and told the king about it.
• 16. Then the people of Samaria rushed out and plundered the Aramean camp. So it was true that five quarts of fine flour were sold that day for half an ounce of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain were sold for half an ounce of silver, just as the LORD had promised.
• 17. The king appointed his officer to control the traffic at the gate, but he was knocked down and trampled to death as the people rushed out. So everything happened exactly as the man of God had predicted when the king came to his house.
• 18. The man of God had said to the king, "By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of fine flour will cost half an ounce of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost half an ounce of silver."
• 19. The king's officer had replied, "That couldn't happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven!" And the man of God had said, "You will see it happen, but you won't be able to eat any of it!"
• 20. And so it was, for the people trampled him to death at the gate!

1 Timothy 4

• 1. Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons.
• 2. These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead.
• 3. They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanksgiving by people who know and believe the truth.
• 4. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it. We may receive it gladly, with thankful hearts.
• 5. For we know it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
• 6. If you explain this to the brothers and sisters, you will be doing your duty as a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is fed by the message of faith and the true teaching you have followed.
• 7. Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.
• 8. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.
• 9. This is true, and everyone should accept it.
• 10. We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe the truth, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and particularly of those who believe.
• 11. Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them.
• 12. Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
• 13. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
• 14. Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you.
• 15. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.
• 16. Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you.

Daniel 11

• 1.
• 2. "Now then, I will reveal the truth to you. Three more Persian kings will reign, to be succeeded by a fourth, far richer than the others. Using his wealth for political advantage, he will stir up everyone to war against the kingdom of Greece.
• 3. "Then a mighty king will rise to power who will rule a vast kingdom and accomplish everything he sets out to do.
• 4. But at the height of his power, his kingdom will be broken apart and divided into four parts. It will not be ruled by the king's descendants, nor will the kingdom hold the authority it once had. For his empire will be uprooted and given to others.
• 5. "The king of the south will increase in power, but one of this king's own officials will become more powerful than he and will rule his kingdom with great strength.
• 6. "Some years later, an alliance will be formed between the king of the north and the king of the south. The daughter of the king of the south will be given in marriage to the king of the north to secure the alliance, but she will lose her influence over him, and so will her father. She will be given up along with her supporters.
• 7. But when one of her relatives becomes king of the south, he will raise an army and enter the fortress of the king of the north and defeat him.
• 8. When he returns again to Egypt, he will carry back their idols with him, along with priceless gold and silver dishes. For some years afterward he will leave the king of the north alone.
• 9. "Later the king of the north will invade the realm of the king of the south but will soon return to his own land.
• 10. However, the sons of the king of the north will assemble a mighty army that will advance like a flood and carry the battle as far as the enemy's fortress.
• 11. Then the king of the south, in great anger, will rally against the vast forces assembled by the king of the north and will defeat them.
• 12. After the enemy army is swept away, the king of the south will be filled with pride and will have many thousands of his enemies killed. But his success will be short lived.
• 13. "A few years later, the king of the north will return with a fully equipped army far greater than the one he lost.
• 14. At that time there will be a general uprising against the king of the south. Lawless ones among your own people will join them in order to fulfill the vision, but they will not succeed.
• 15. Then the king of the north will come and lay siege to a fortified city and capture it. The best troops of the south will not be able to stand in the face of the onslaught.
• 16. "The king of the north will march onward unopposed; none will be able to stop him. He will pause in the glorious land of Israel, intent on destroying it.
• 17. He will make plans to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will form an alliance with the king of the south. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom from within, but his plan will fail.
• 18. "After this, he will turn his attention to the coastal cities and conquer many. But a commander from another land will put an end to his insolence and will cause him to retreat in shame.
• 19. He will take refuge in his own fortresses but will stumble and fall, and he will be seen no more.
• 20. "His successor will be remembered as the king who sent a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor, but after a very brief reign, he will die, though neither in battle nor open conflict.
• 21. "The next to come to power will be a despicable man who is not directly in line for royal succession. But he will slip in when least expected and take over the kingdom by flattery and intrigue.
• 22. Before him great armies will be swept away, including a covenant prince.
• 23. By making deceitful promises, he will make various alliances. With a mere handful of followers, he will become strong.
• 24. Without warning he will enter the richest areas of the land and do something that none of his predecessors ever did--distribute among his followers the plunder and wealth of the rich. He will plot the overthrow of strongholds, but this will last for only a short while.
• 25. "Then he will stir up his courage and raise a great army against the king of the south. The king of the south will go to battle with a mighty army, but to no avail, for plots against him will succeed.
• 26. Those of his own household will bring his downfall. His army will be swept away, and many will be killed.
• 27. Seeking nothing but each other's harm, these kings will plot against each other at the conference table, attempting to deceive each other. But it will make no difference, for an end will still come at the appointed time.
• 28. "The king of the north will then return home with great riches. On the way he will set himself against the people of the holy covenant, doing much damage before continuing his journey.
• 29. "Then at the appointed time he will once again invade the south, but this time the result will be different.
• 30. For warships from western coastlands will scare him off, and he will withdraw and return home. But he will vent his anger against the people of the holy covenant and reward those who forsake the covenant.
• 31. His army will take over the Temple fortress, polluting the sanctuary, putting a stop to the daily sacrifices, and setting up the sacrilegious object that causes desecration.
• 32. He will flatter those who have violated the covenant and win them over to his side. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him.
• 33. "Those who are wise will give instruction to many. But for a time many of these teachers will die by fire and sword, or they will be jailed and robbed.
• 34. While all these persecutions are going on, a little help will arrive, though many who join them will not be sincere.
• 35. And some who are wise will fall victim to persecution. In this way, they will be refined and cleansed and made pure until the time of the end, for the appointed time is still to come.
• 36. "The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and claiming to be greater than every god there is, even blaspheming the God of gods. He will succeed--until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined will surely take place.
• 37. He will have no regard for the gods of his ancestors, or for the god beloved of women, or for any other god, for he will boast that he is greater than them all.
• 38. Instead of these, he will worship the god of fortresses--a god his ancestors never knew--and lavish on him gold, silver, precious stones, and costly gifts.
• 39. Claiming this foreign god's help, he will attack the strongest fortresses. He will honor those who submit to him, appointing them to positions of authority and dividing the land among them as their reward.
• 40. "Then at the time of the end, the king of the south will attack him, and the king of the north will storm out against him with chariots, cavalry, and a vast navy. He will invade various lands and sweep through them like a flood.
• 41. He will enter the glorious land of Israel, and many nations will fall, but Moab, Edom, and the best part of Ammon will escape.
• 42. He will conquer many countries, and Egypt will not escape.
• 43. He will gain control over the gold, silver, and treasures of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians will be his servants.
• 44. "But then news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in great anger to destroy many as he goes.
• 45. He will halt between the glorious holy mountain and the sea and will pitch his royal tents there, but while he is there, his time will suddenly run out, and there will be no one to help him.

New Living Translation: 299 of 365 days.