2 Kings 1, 2 Thessalonians 1, Daniel 5, Psalm 110, 111

2 Kings 1,

1 After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel.
 
2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury."
 
3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?'
 
4 Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!' " So Elijah went.
 
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have you come back?"
 
6 "A man came to meet us," they replied. "And he said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, "This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!" ' "
 
7 The king asked them, "What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?"
 
8 They replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist." The king said, "That was Elijah the Tishbite."
 
9 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "Man of God, the king says, 'Come down!' "
 
10 Elijah answered the captain, "If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.
 
11 At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king says, 'Come down at once!' "
 
12 "If I am a man of God," Elijah replied, "may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
 
13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. "Man of God," he begged, "please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants!
 
14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!"
 
15 The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.
 
16 He told the king, "This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!"
 
17 So he died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.
 
18 As for all the other events of Ahaziah's reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

2 Thessalonians 1,

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
 
2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
 
4 Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
 
5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.
 
6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you
 
7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
 
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
 
9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
 
10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
 
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
 
12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Daniel 5,

1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.
 
2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.
 
3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.
 
4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
 
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.
 
6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.
 
7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom."
 
8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.
 
9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.
 
10 The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. "O king, live forever!" she said. "Don't be alarmed! Don't look so pale!
 
11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father-your father the king, I say-appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.
 
12 This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to 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 before the king, and the king said to him, "Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?
 
14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.
 
15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.
 
16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom."
 
17 Then Daniel answered the king, "You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
 
18 "O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.
 
19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.
 
20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.
 
21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
 
22 "But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this.
 
23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.
 
24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
 
25 "This is the inscription that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin
 
26 "This is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
 
27 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
 
28 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
 
29 Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
 
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain,
 
31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

Psalm 110, 111

1 The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
 
2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.
 
3 Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.
 
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
 
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
 
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
 
7 He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

1 Praise the LORD. I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
 
2 Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.
 
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever.
 
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
 
5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
 
6 He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations.
 
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
 
8 They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.
 
9 He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever-holy and awesome is his name.
 
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.