1 Kings 20, 1 Thessalonians 3, Daniel 2, Psalm 106

1 Kings 20,

1 Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he went up and besieged Samaria and attacked it.
 
2 He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, saying, "This is what Ben-Hadad says:
 
3 'Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.' "
 
4 The king of Israel answered, "Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours."
 
5 The messengers came again and said, "This is what Ben-Hadad says: 'I sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children.
 
6 But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you value and carry it away.' "
 
7 The king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, "See how this man is looking for trouble! When he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him."
 
8 The elders and the people all answered, "Don't listen to him or agree to his demands."
 
9 So he replied to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king, 'Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.' " They left and took the answer back to Ben-Hadad.
 
10 Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful."
 
11 The king of Israel answered, "Tell him: 'One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.' "
 
12 Ben-Hadad heard this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he ordered his men: "Prepare to attack." So they prepared to attack the city.
 
13 Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, "This is what the LORD says: 'Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
 
14 "But who will do this?" asked Ahab. The prophet replied, "This is what the LORD says: 'The young officers of the provincial commanders will do it.' " "And who will start the battle?" he asked. The prophet answered, "You will."
 
15 So Ahab summoned the young officers of the provincial commanders, 232 men. Then he assembled the rest of the Israelites, 7,000 in all.
 
16 They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.
 
17 The young officers of the provincial commanders went out first. Now Ben-Hadad had dispatched scouts, who reported, "Men are advancing from Samaria."
 
18 He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive."
 
19 The young officers of the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them
 
20 and each one struck down his opponent. At that, the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen.
 
21 The king of Israel advanced and overpowered the horses and chariots and inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans.
 
22 Afterward, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again."
 
23 Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, "Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they.
 
24 Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers.
 
25 You must also raise an army like the one you lost-horse for horse and chariot for chariot-so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they." He agreed with them and acted accordingly.
 
26 The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
 
27 When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.
 
28 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, "This is what the LORD says: 'Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.' "
 
29 For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day.
 
30 The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
 
31 His officials said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life."
 
32 Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says: 'Please let me live.' " The king answered, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."
 
33 The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. "Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!" they said. "Go and get him," the king said. When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot.
 
34 "I will return the cities my father took from your father," Ben-Hadad offered. "You may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab said, "On the basis of a treaty I will set you free." So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.
 
35 By the word of the LORD one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, "Strike me with your weapon," but the man refused.
 
36 So the prophet said, "Because you have not obeyed the LORD, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you." And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.
 
37 The prophet found another man and said, "Strike me, please." So the man struck him and wounded him.
 
38 Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes.
 
39 As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, "Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, 'Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.'
 
40 While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared." "That is your sentence," the king of Israel said. "You have pronounced it yourself."
 
41 Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.
 
42 He said to the king, "This is what the LORD says: 'You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.' "
 
43 Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria.

1 Thessalonians 3,

1 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.
 
2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
 
3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.
 
4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.
 
5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
 
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.
 
7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
 
8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.
 
9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?
 
10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
 
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.
 
12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
 
13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Daniel 2,

1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep.
 
2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king,
 
3 he said to them, "I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means."
 
4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it."
 
5 The king replied to the astrologers, "This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.
 
6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me."
 
7 Once more they replied, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it."
 
8 Then the king answered, "I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided:
 
9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me."
 
10 The astrologers answered the king, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.
 
11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men."
 
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.
 
13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
 
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact.
 
15 He asked the king's officer, "Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?" Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel.
 
16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
 
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
 
18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
 
19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven
 
20 and said: "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
 
21 He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
 
22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
 
23 I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king."
 
24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him."
 
25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means."
 
26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?"
 
27 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,
 
28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:
 
29 "As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.
 
30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
 
31 "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue-an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.
 
32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
 
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
 
34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
 
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
 
36 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.
 
37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;
 
38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
 
39 "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.
 
40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron-for iron breaks and smashes everything-and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.
 
41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.
 
42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.
 
43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
 
44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
 
45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands-a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."
 
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.
 
47 The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."
 
48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.
 
49 Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

Psalm 106

1 Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
 
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise?
 
3 Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
 
4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
 
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
 
6 We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
 
7 When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
 
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known.
 
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.
 
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
 
11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
 
12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
 
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel.
 
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test.
 
15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.
 
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.
 
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
 
18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
 
19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
 
20 They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
 
21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
 
22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
 
23 So he said he would destroy them-had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.
 
24 Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.
 
25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD.
 
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert,
 
27 make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
 
28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
 
29 they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
 
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
 
31 This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
 
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
 
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips.
 
34 They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
 
35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
 
36 They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
 
37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
 
38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
 
39 They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
 
40 Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance.
 
41 He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
 
42 Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
 
43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
 
44 But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;
 
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
 
46 He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.
 
47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
 
48 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD.