M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Again Spares Saul
26 The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah opposite Jeshimon?” 2 Then Saul got up and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
3 Now Saul was on the hill of Hakilah, which is opposite Jeshimon by the road, but David was staying in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had come to the wilderness after him, 4 David sent spies, and he learned that Saul had come for certain.[a] 5 Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul was lying down, as well as[b] Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul was lying in the encampment, and the army was encamping around him.)
6 David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah the brother of Joab, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul, in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai came to the army by night, and there was[c] Saul lying asleep in the encampment with[d] his spear thrust into the ground near his head, and Abner and the army were lying all around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has handed over your enemy into your hand today! So then, please let me pin him to the ground with the spear[e] one time,[f] and I will not strike him twice.”[g] 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy[h] him! For who has stretched out his hand against Yahweh’s anointed one and remained blameless?” 10 And David said, “As Yahweh lives,[i] certainly[j] Yahweh will strike him, or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down in the battle and perish.[k] 11 Yahweh forbid me[l] from stretching out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed one! So then, please take the spear that is near his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from near Saul’s head, and they went away. No one saw, no one knew, and no one awakened,[m] for all of them were sleeping because a deep sleep of Yahweh had fallen upon them.
13 Then David went to the other side and stood on the top of the hill at a distance; the distance was great between them. 14 David called out to the army and to Abner the son of Ner, “Will you not answer, Abner?” And Abner answered and said, “Who are you that you call to the king?” 15 So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why did you not keep watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy[n] your lord the king. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh lives,[o] surely you people deserve to die[p] since you have not kept watch over your lord, over Yahweh’s anointed one! So then, see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was near his head!” 17 Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.” 18 Then he said, “Why is my lord pursuing after his servant? For what have I done? And what evil is in my hand? 19 And so then, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant: If Yahweh has incited you against me, may he delight in an offering; but if it is mortals,[q] may they be accursed before[r] Yahweh, for they have driven me away today from sharing in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’ 20 And so then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from[s] the presence of Yahweh, for the king of Israel has gone out to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned! Come back, David my son, for I will not harm you again, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Look, I have acted like a fool and have made a terrible mistake.”[t] 22 David answered and said, “Here is the king’s spear; let one of the young men[u] come over and take it. 23 Yahweh repays to each one his righteousness and his faithfulness, for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but I was not willing to stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed. 24 Look, as your life was precious in my eyes this day, may my life be great in the eyes of Yahweh, and may he rescue me from all trouble.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will not only do many things, but also will always succeed!”[v] Then David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.
Concerning Christian Marriage
7 Now concerning the things about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to touch[a] a woman.” 2 But because of sexual immorality, let each man have[b] his own wife and let each woman have her own husband. 3 The husband must fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. And likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by agreement, for a time, in order that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then you should be together[c] again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self control. 6 But I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish all people could be like myself, but each one has his own gift from God, one in this way and another in that way.
8 Now I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with sexual desire.
10 To the married I command—not I, but the Lord—a wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if indeed she does separate, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 Now to the rest I say—not the Lord—if any brother has an unbelieving wife and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if any wife has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the brother, since otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. The brother or the sister is not bound in such cases. But God has called us[d] in peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17 But to each one as the Lord has apportioned. As God has called each one, thus let him live—and thus I order in all the churches. 18 Was anyone called after[e] being circumcised? He must not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called in uncircumcision? He must not become circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. 20 Each one in the calling in which he was called—in this he should remain. 21 Were you called while a slave? Do not let it be a concern to you. But if indeed you are able to become free, rather make use of it. 22 For the one who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedperson. Likewise the one who is called while free is a slave of Christ. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Each one in the situation in which he was called, brothers—in this he should remain with God.
Concerning the Unmarried
25 Now concerning virgins I do not have a command from the Lord, but I am giving an opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy. 26 Therefore, I consider this to be good because of the impending distress, that it is good for a man to be thus. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you marry, you have not sinned, and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you. 29 But I say this, brothers: the time is shortened, that from now on even those who have wives should be as if they do not have wives, 30 and those who weep as if they do not weep, and those who rejoice as if they do not rejoice, and those who buy as if they do not possess, 31 and those who make use of the world as if they do not make full use of it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
32 But I want you to be free from care. The unmarried person cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. 33 But the one who is married cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34 and he is divided. And the unmarried woman or the virgin cares for the things of the Lord, in order that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 35 Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not that I may put a restriction on you, but to promote appropriate and devoted service to the Lord without distraction.
36 But if anyone thinks he is behaving dishonorably concerning his virgin, if she is past her prime[f] and it ought to be thus, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin. Let them marry. 37 But he who stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but has authority concerning his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well. 38 So then, the one who marries[g] his own virgin does well, and the one who does not marry her will do better.
39 A wife is bound for as long a time as her husband lives. But if her husband dies[h], she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 But she is happier if she remains thus, according to my opinion—and I think I have the Spirit of God.
5 “And you, son of man,[a] take for yourself[b] a sword, sharp as a barber’s razor.[c] Take it for yourself, and you must cause it to pass over your head and over your beard, and you must take for yourself a set of scales for weighing, and you must divide them.[d] 2 A third you must burn with fire in the midst[e] of the city at the completion[f] of the days of the siege, and you must take a third, and you must strike it with the sword around it, and a third you must scatter to the wind, and I will draw a sword behind them. 3 And you must take from these a few in number, and you must tuck them in your hem. 4 And from them again you shall take some, and you must throw them in the middle of the fire, and you must burn them with fire; from it a fire will go out to all of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem in the midst of the nations where I have put her, and countries are around her. 6 But she has rebelled against my regulations to the point of wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they rejected my regulations, and as for my statutes, they did not walk in them. 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of your commotion more than the nations that are around you—you did not walk in my statutes, and you did not do my regulations, and according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you did not do. 8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look! I, even I,[g] am against you, and I will execute judgment in the midst of you before the eyes of the nations, 9 and I will do with you that which I have not done, and which I will not do again, because of all of your detestable things. 10 Therefore[h] parents[i] will eat children[j] in the midst of you, and children[k] will eat their parents,[l] and I will execute judgment in you, and I will scatter your entire remnant to every wind. 11 Therefore as surely as I live,[m] declares[n] the Lord Yahweh, Surely[o] because you have defiled my sanctuary with all of your vile idols and with all of your detestable things, now indeed I[p] will reduce, and my eye will not take pity, and surely I will show no compassion. 12 A third of you will die because of the plague, and because of the famine they will perish in the midst of you, and a third will fall through the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every direction of the wind, and I will draw the sword behind them. 13 And my anger will come to an end, and I will place my rage on them, and I will relent, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my passion when I fully vent my rage against them.[q] 14 And I will make you into a desolate place and into a disgrace among the nations that surround you before the eyes of every one who passes by.[r] 15 And it will be[s] an object of taunting[t] and an object of mockery, a warning and a horror to the nations that are around you whenever I execute judgments against you in anger and in wrath and in furious punishments! I, Yahweh, have spoken! 16 When I send my arrows of deadly famine against them, which will be as destruction that I will send in order to destroy you, I will increase famine against you, and I will break the supply of food[u] for you. 17 And I will send against you famine and fierce animals,[v] and they will make you childless; and plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I, Yahweh, I have spoken!”
Hope in God in the Midst of Despair
For the music director. A maskil of the sons of Korah.[a]
42 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?[b]
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These I remember and I pour out my soul within me:
that I would go with the multitude;
I led them in procession to the house[c] of God,
with a voice of rejoicing and thanksgiving,
a crowd celebrating a festival.
5 Why are you in despair,[d] O my soul,
and disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
for the salvation of his presence.
6 O my God, within me my soul is in despair;[e]
therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
and the heights of Hermon, from the mountain of Mizar.
7 Deep is calling to deep
at[f] the thunder of your waterfalls.
All your breakers and your waves
have passed over me.
8 By day Yahweh commands his loyal love,
and in the night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a shattering in my bones
my oppressors taunt me,
while they say to me all day,[g]
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you in despair,[h] O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I shall again praise him,
my salvation[i] and my God.
A Prayer for Rescue
43 Judge me, O God, and plead my case
against[j] an unfaithful[k] nation.
From a man of deceit and wickedness rescue me,
2 because you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send your light and your truth;
they shall lead[l] me.
They shall bring me to your holy mountain[m]
and to your dwelling places.
4 Then[n] I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my surpassing joy,[o]
and I will praise you with lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you in despair,[p] O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
my salvation[q] and my God.
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