Monday
Ezekiel 37
The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones.
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He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out.
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Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
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Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!
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This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!
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I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
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So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons.
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Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
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Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
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So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
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Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’
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Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lordsays: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
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When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord.
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I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
Tuesday
Ezekiel 37
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Again a message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’
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Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood.
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When your people ask you what your actions mean,
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say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’
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“Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them.
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And give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered.
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I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms.
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They will never again pollute themselves with their idols and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy. I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.
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“My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees.
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They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever.
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And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers,[
d
] and I will put my Temple among them forever.
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I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
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And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy.”
Wednesday
Daniel 6
Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province.
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The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests.
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Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.
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Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.
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So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”
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So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius!
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We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions.
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And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
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So King Darius signed the law.
Thursday
Daniel 6
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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.
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Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help.
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So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?”
“Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
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Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”
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Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.
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In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.”
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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 serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
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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.
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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.
Friday
Daniel 6
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Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den.
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When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
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Daniel answered, “Long live the king!
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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.”
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The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.
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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.
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Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:
“Peace and prosperity to you!
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“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.
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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.”
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So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.[
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]
