M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Spares Saul’s Life

24 Now ^(A)when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, ^(B)he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” ² Then ^(C)Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³ He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul ^(D)went in to ^[a]relieve himself. Now ^(E)David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. ⁴ The men of David said to him, “Behold, ^(F)this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; ^(G)I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good ^[b]to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. ⁵ It came about afterward that ^(H)David’s ^[c]conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. ⁶ So he said to his men, “^(I)Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” ⁷ David ^[d]persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, ^[e]left the cave, and went on his way.

⁸ Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, ^(J)David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. ⁹ David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks ^[f]to harm you’? ^10 (K)Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and ^(L)some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ Now, ^(M)my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or ^[g]rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you ^(N)are lying in wait for my life to take it. ^12 (O)May the Lord judge between ^[h]you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘^(P)Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? ^(Q)A dead dog, ^(R)a single flea? ^15 (S)The Lord therefore be judge and decide between ^[i]you and me; and may He see and ^(T)plead my cause and ^[j]deliver me from your hand.”

¹⁶ When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “^(U)Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ^17 (V)He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for ^(W)you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. ¹⁸ You have declared today that you have done good to me, that ^(X)the Lord delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. ¹⁹ For if a man ^(Y)finds his enemy, will he let him go away ^[k]safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰ Now, behold, ^(Z)I know that you will surely be king, and that ^(AA)the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. ²¹ So now ^(AB)swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my ^[l]descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.” ²² David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to ^(AC)the stronghold.

Immorality Rebuked

5 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has ^(A)his father’s wife. ^2 [a]You ^(B)have become ^[b]arrogant and ^[c]have not ^(C)mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be ^(D)removed from your midst.

³ For I, on my part, though ^(E)absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. ^4 (F)In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and ^[d]I with you in spirit, ^(G)with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ I have decided to ^(H)deliver such a one to ^(I)Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in ^(J)the day of the Lord ^[e]Jesus.

^6 (K)Your boasting is not good. ^(L)Do you not know that ^(M)a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? ⁷ Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our ^(N)Passover also has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us celebrate the feast, ^(O)not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote you in my letter ^(P)not to associate with immoral people; ¹⁰ I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with ^(Q)idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. ¹¹ But ^[f]actually, I wrote to you not to associate ^[g]with any so-called ^(R)brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or ^(S)an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging ^(T)outsiders? ^(U)Do you not judge those who are within the church? ¹³ But those who are outside, God ^[h]judges. ^(V)Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Ezekiel’s Commission

3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; ^(A)eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I ^(B)opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. ³ He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and ^(C)fill your ^[a]body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ^(D)ate it, and it was sweet as ^(E)honey in my mouth.

⁴ Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^[b]go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. ⁵ For ^(F)you are not being sent to a people of ^[c](G)unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, ⁶ nor to many peoples of ^[d]unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. ^[e]But I have sent you to them ^[f]who should listen to you; ⁷ yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are ^(H)not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is ^[g]stubborn and obstinate. ⁸ Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like ^[h]emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My ^(I)words which I will speak to you and listen ^[i]closely. ^11 [j]Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or ^[k]not, ‘Thus says the Lord ^[l]God.’”

¹² Then the ^(J)Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great ^(K)rumbling sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord ^[m]in His place.” ¹³ And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the ^(L)wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. ¹⁴ So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and ^(M)the hand of the Lord was strong on me. ¹⁵ Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there ^(N)seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.

^16 (O)At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you a ^(P)watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, ^(Q)warn them from Me. ¹⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his ^(R)blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹ Yet if you have ^(S)warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have ^(T)delivered yourself. ²⁰ Again, ^(U)when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an ^(V)obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ However, if you have ^(W)warned ^[n]the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”

²² The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will ^(X)speak to you.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the ^(Y)glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory which ^(Z)I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. ²⁴ The ^(AA)Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. ²⁵ As for you, son of man, they will ^(AB)put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. ²⁶ Moreover, ^(AC)I will make your tongue stick to ^[o]the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But ^(AD)when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord ^[p]God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; ^(AE)for they are a rebellious house.

The Vanity of Life.

For the choir director, for ^[a]Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.