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• October 1

  For three weeks of mourning, Daniel ate no rich food, no meat or wine, and did not anoint himself with oil.

  Dan 10:3I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.
  Topic: Fasting
• October 2

  In Babylon, Daniel and his three friends were given new names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

  Dan 1:7The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
• October 3

  Paul asks Timothy to bring the cloak he left with Carpus at Troas — and his scrolls, especially the parchments.

  2 Tim 4:13When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
• October 4

  The Valley of Siddim by the Salt Sea was full of tar pits. Lumps of bitumen still float up from the Dead Sea, and Greek and Roman writers called it the “Asphalt Lake.”

  Gen 14:10Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some men fell into the pits, but the survivors fled to the hill country.
• October 5

  For his great Passover, King Josiah gave the people 30,000 lambs and young goats and 3,000 bulls from his own flocks and herds.

  2 Chr 35:7From his own flocks and herds Josiah contributed 30,000 lambs and goats plus 3,000 bulls for the Passover offerings for all the people who were present.
• October 6

  Hebron, Numbers notes, was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt — the city the Greeks called Tanis, in the Nile delta.

  Num 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
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• October 7

  The Persian king in the Book of Esther ruled 127 provinces, reaching as far as India.

  Esth 1:1This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
• October 8

  Every year Hannah made a little robe for her son Samuel and brought it to him when she came with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

  1 Sam 2:19Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
• October 9

  Zelophehad died with no sons, so his five daughters asked Moses for their father’s land — and they received it.

  Num 27:7“The daughters of Zelophehad speak correctly. You certainly must give them property as an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and transfer their father’s inheritance to them.
• October 10

  Part of the Book of Daniel is written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. The switch comes just as the astrologers begin answering the king “in Aramaic.”

  Dan 2:4Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “O king, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
• October 11

  Date palms made Jericho “the City of Palms.” In 2005 a date seed about 2,000 years old, found at Masada, was sprouted and grew into a tree.

  Deut 34:3the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.
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• October 12

  Zebedee’s fishing boat was worked by hired men as well as by his sons James and John — a family business large enough to pay workers.

  Mark 1:20Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.
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• October 13

  The son of Paul’s sister heard of a plot to kill Paul and went into the barracks to warn him.

  Acts 23:16But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
• October 14

  From the top of Mount Gerizim, Jotham told a fable: the trees wanted a king, but the olive, the fig, and the vine refused, and only the thornbush accepted.

  Judg 9:7–15When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out: “Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, and may God listen to you. One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us.’ But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, to hold sway over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the grapevine, ‘Come and reign over us.’ But the grapevine replied, ‘Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’ Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and reign over us.’ But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’
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• October 15

  To pay the king of Assyria 1,000 talents of silver, King Menahem took 50 shekels from each wealthy man. At 3,000 shekels to the talent, that means about 60,000 men.

  2 Kgs 15:19–20Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom. Menahem exacted this money from each of the wealthy men of Israel—fifty shekels of silver from each man—to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and did not remain in the land.
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• October 16

  At the dedication of Jerusalem’s rebuilt wall, two great choirs walked along the top of the wall in opposite directions and met at the temple; the joy was heard far away.

  Neh 12:31Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great thanksgiving choirs. One was to proceed along the top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.
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• October 17

  Patmos, where John says he was, is a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea, only about 34 square kilometers, some 100 km from Ephesus in a straight line.

  Rev 1:9I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
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• October 18

  The dove was not the first bird Noah sent out of the ark: before it, he sent out a raven.

  Gen 8:7and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.
  Topic: Ravens
• October 19

  Held in the courtyard of the guard, Jeremiah was given a loaf from the city’s bakers every day until all the bread in Jerusalem was gone.

  Jer 37:21So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
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• October 20

  A giant who fought at Gath had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot — 24 in all.

  2 Sam 21:20And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,
• October 21

  Four of the five poems of Lamentations are alphabet acrostics, each stanza starting with the next Hebrew letter. In the third poem, each letter begins three lines in a row.

  Lam 3:1–3I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light. Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long.
• October 22

  Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men, went down into a pit in winter and killed a lion there. Lions lived in the land then, as several Bible stories tell.

  2 Sam 23:20And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.
  Topic: Snow
• October 23

  To take Paul safely from Jerusalem to Caesarea, a Roman commander sent him off at night with 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen and 200 more armed men — 470 in all.

  Acts 23:23Then he called two of his centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea in the third hour of the night.
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• October 24

  Clay tablets from Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon list rations of oil for Jehoiachin, “king of Judah,” and for “the five sons of the king of Judah” — written while he was a captive there.

  2 Kgs 24:15Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
• October 25

  A note in the Book of Psalms reads: “Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse” — yet more psalms of David come later in the book.

  Ps 72:20Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse.
• October 26

  Traders carried their stone weights in a bag. The Law forbade keeping two sets, one heavy and one light, or two measures, one large and one small.

  Deut 25:13–15You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small. You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  Topic: Trade and Merchants
• October 27

  Enoch lived 365 years — the shortest life in the list of ten generations from Adam to Noah — and then he was no more, because God took him.

  Gen 5:23So Enoch lived a total of 365 years.
• October 28

  Paul left Malta on an Alexandrian ship that bore the sign of the Twin Brothers — Castor and Pollux, whom Greek and Roman sailors took as their protectors.

  Acts 28:11After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered in the island. It had the Twin Brothers as a figurehead.
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• October 29

  Job says the ostrich laughs at the horse and its rider. It is the fastest runner of all birds, at about 70 km/h; the Arabian ostrich of the Middle East died out in the 20th century.

  Job 39:18Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
• October 30

  The Persian king displayed the riches of his kingdom for 180 days, then gave a feast in the palace courtyard for the people of the city of Susa.

  Esth 1:4–5And for a full 180 days he displayed the glorious riches of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness. At the end of this time, in the garden court of the royal palace, the king held a seven-day feast for all the people in the citadel of Susa, from the least to the greatest.
  Topic: Feasts and Banquets
• October 31

  Amos said he was no prophet and no prophet’s son, but a herdsman who tended sycamore-fig trees.

  Amos 7:14“I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.