2 Kings 2, 2 Thessalonians 2, Daniel 6, Psalm 112, 113

2 Kings 2,

1 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
 
2 Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.
 
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it."
 
4 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.
 
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," he replied, "but do not speak of it."
 
6 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on.
 
7 Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.
 
8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
 
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
 
10 "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours-otherwise not."
 
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
 
12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
 
13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
 
14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
 
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
 
16 "Look," they said, "we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley." "No," Elisha replied, "do not send them."
 
17 But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, "Send them." And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him.
 
18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"
 
19 The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."
 
20 "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.
 
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.' "
 
22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.
 
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!"
 
24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
 
25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

2 Thessalonians 2,

1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers,
 
2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
 
3 Don"t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
 
4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
 
5 Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
 
6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
 
7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
 
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
 
9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
 
10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
 
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
 
12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
 
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
 
14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
 
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
 
17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Daniel 6,

1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom,
 
2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.
 
3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
 
4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.
 
5 Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God."
 
6 So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: "O King Darius, live forever!
 
7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den.
 
8 Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered-in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed."
 
9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.
 
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
 
11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.
 
12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: "Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?" The king answered, "The decree stands-in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed."
 
13 Then they said to the king, "Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day."
 
14 When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
 
15 Then the men went as a group to the king and said to him, "Remember, O king, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed."
 
16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"
 
17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed.
 
18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
 
19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den.
 
20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"
 
21 Daniel answered, "O king, live forever!
 
22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."
 
23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
 
24 At the king's command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions' den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
 
25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language throughout the land: "May you prosper greatly!
 
26 "I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. "For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.
 
27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the 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.

Psalm 112, 113

1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.
 
2 His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
 
3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
 
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
 
5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.
 
6 Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.
 
7 He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
 
8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
 
9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
 
10 The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

1 Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
 
2 Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore.
 
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.
 
4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens.
 
5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high,
 
6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
 
7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
 
8 he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.
 
9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.