M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David spares Saul’s life a second time

26 The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah. “David is hiding on Hachilah’s hill, which faces Jeshimon,” they said. ² So Saul got up and went down to the Ziph wilderness to look for David there. He had three thousand handpicked soldiers from Israel with him. ³ Saul camped on Hachilah’s hill opposite Jeshimon beside the road, but David stayed in the wilderness. When David learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, ⁴ he sent spies and discovered that Saul had definitely arrived.

⁵ So David got up and went to the place where Saul camped, and saw the place where Saul and Abner, Ner’s son and Saul’s general, were sleeping. Saul was sleeping inside the camp with the troops camped all around him. ⁶ David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Joab’s brother Abishai, Zeruiah’s son, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”

“I’ll go down with you,” Abishai answered.

⁷ So David and Abishai approached the troops at night and found Saul lying there, asleep in the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the army were sleeping all around him.

⁸ Abishai said to David, “God has handed your enemy over to you today! Let me pin him to the ground with my spear. One stroke is all I need! I won’t need a second.”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Don’t kill him! No one can lift a hand against the Lord’s anointed and go unpunished. ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord lives,” David continued, “it will be the Lord who will strike him down, or his day will come and he will die, or he’ll fall in battle and be destroyed. ¹¹ The Lord forbid that I lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed! But go ahead and take the spear by Saul’s head and the water jug and let’s go!” ¹² So David took the spear and the water jug that were by Saul’s head, and he and Abishai left. No one saw them, no one knew they were there, and no one woke up. All of them remained asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord had come over them.

¹³ David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of a hill with considerable distance between them. ¹⁴ Then David shouted to the army and to Abner, Ner’s son, “Abner! Aren’t you going to answer me?”

“Who are you to shout to the king?” Abner asked.

¹⁵ David answered Abner, “You are a man, aren’t you? And you have no equal in Israel, right? Then why haven’t you kept watch over your master the king? One of the soldiers came to kill your master the king. ¹⁶ What you’ve done is terrible! As surely as the Lord lives, all of you are dead men because you didn’t keep close watch over your master, the Lord’s anointed. Have a look around! Where are the king’s spear and the water jug that were by his head?”

¹⁷ Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “David, my son, is that your voice?”

David said, “Yes it is, my master the king. ¹⁸ Why,” David continued, “is my master chasing me, his servant? What have I done and what wrong am I guilty of? ¹⁹ My master the king, please listen to what your servant has to say. If it is the Lord who has incited you against me, then let him accept an offering! But if human beings have done it, then let them be cursed before the Lord because they have now driven me off, keeping me from sharing in the Lord’s inheritance. ‘Go!’ they tell me. ‘Worship other gods!’ ²⁰ Don’t let my blood spill on the ground apart from the Lord’s presence, because the king of Israel has come out looking for a single flea^[a] like someone hunting a partridge^[b] in the mountains.”

²¹ Then Saul said, “I have sinned! David, my son, come back! Because you considered my life precious today, I won’t harm you again. I have acted foolishly and have made a huge mistake.”

²² “Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Allow one of your servants to come over and get it. ²³ Remember: The Lord rewards every person for their righteousness and loyalty, and I wasn’t willing to lift a hand against the Lord’s anointed, even though the Lord handed you over to me today. ²⁴ And just as I considered your life valuable today, may the Lord consider my life valuable, and may he deliver me from all trouble.”

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “Bless you, David, my son! You will accomplish much and will certainly succeed.” Then David went on his way, but Saul went back home.

Marriage and celibacy

7 Now, about what you wrote: “It’s good for a man not to have sex with a woman.” ² Each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband because of sexual immorality. ³ The husband should meet his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should do the same for her husband. ⁴ The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵ Don’t refuse to meet each other’s needs unless you both agree for a short period of time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come back together again so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ I’m saying this to give you permission; it’s not a command. ⁷ I wish all people were like me, but each has a particular gift from God: one has this gift, and another has that one.

⁸ I’m telling those who are single and widows that it’s good for them to stay single like me. ⁹ But if they can’t control themselves, they should get married, because it’s better to marry than to burn with passion. ¹⁰ I’m passing on the Lord’s command to those who are married: A wife shouldn’t leave her husband, ¹¹ but if she does leave him, then she should stay single or be reconciled to her husband. And a man shouldn’t divorce his wife.

¹² I’m telling everyone else (the Lord didn’t say this specifically): If a believer has a wife who doesn’t believe, and she agrees to live with him, then he shouldn’t divorce her. ¹³ If a woman has a husband who doesn’t believe and he agrees to live with her, then she shouldn’t divorce him. ¹⁴ The husband who doesn’t believe belongs to God because of his wife, and the wife who doesn’t believe belongs to God because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be contaminated by the world, but now they are spiritually set apart. ¹⁵ But if a spouse who doesn’t believe chooses to leave, then let them leave. The brother or sister isn’t tied down in these circumstances. God has called you to peace. ¹⁶ How do you know as a wife if you will save your husband? Or how do you know as a husband if you will save your wife?

¹⁷ Nevertheless, each person should live the kind of life that the Lord assigned when he called each one. This is what I teach in all the churches. ¹⁸ If someone was circumcised when called, he shouldn’t try to reverse it. If someone wasn’t circumcised when he was called, he shouldn’t be circumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing; not being circumcised is nothing. What matters is keeping God’s commandments. ²⁰ Each person should stay in the situation they were in when they were called. ²¹ If you were a slave when you were called, don’t let it bother you. But if you are actually able to be free, take advantage of the opportunity. ²² Anyone who was a slave when they were called by the Lord has the status of being the Lord’s free person. In the same way, anyone who was a free person when they were called is Christ’s slave. ²³ You were bought and paid for. Don’t become slaves of people. ²⁴ So then, brothers and sisters, each of you should stay with God in the situation you were in when you were called.

²⁵ I don’t have a command from the Lord about people who have never been married,^[a] but I’ll give you my opinion as someone you can trust because of the Lord’s mercy. ²⁶ So I think this advice is good because of the present crisis: Stay as you are. ²⁷ If you are married, don’t get a divorce. If you are divorced, don’t try to find a spouse. ²⁸ But if you do marry, you haven’t sinned; and if someone who hasn’t been married gets married, they haven’t sinned. But married people will have a hard time, and I’m trying to spare you that. ²⁹ This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: The time has drawn short. From now on, those who have wives should be like people who don’t have them. ³⁰ Those who are sad should be like people who aren’t crying. Those who are happy should be like people who aren’t happy. Those who buy something should be like people who don’t have possessions. ³¹ Those who use the world should be like people who aren’t preoccupied with it, because this world in its present form is passing away.

³² I want you to be free from concerns. A man who isn’t married is concerned about the Lord’s concerns—how he can please the Lord. ³³ But a married man is concerned about the world’s concerns—how he can please his wife. ³⁴ His attention is divided. A woman who isn’t married or who is a virgin is concerned about the Lord’s concerns so that she can be dedicated to God in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the world’s concerns—how she can please her husband. ³⁵ I’m saying this for your own advantage. It’s not to restrict you but rather to promote effective and consistent service to the Lord without distraction.

³⁶ If someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward an unmarried woman whom he knows, and if he has strong feelings and it seems like the right thing to do, he should do what he wants—he’s not sinning—they should get married. ³⁷ But if a man stands firm in his decision, and doesn’t feel the pressure, but has his own will under control, he does right if he decides in his own heart not to marry the woman. ³⁸ Therefore, the one who marries the unmarried woman does right, and the one who doesn’t get married will do even better. ³⁹ A woman is obligated to stay in her marriage as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wants, only it should be a believer in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But in my opinion, she will be happier if she stays the way she is. And I think that I have God’s Spirit too.

5 You, human one, take a sharp sword. Use it like a razor and shave your head and beard. Then use scales to divide the hair. ² At the end of the siege, burn one-third of it in the city. Strike another third with the sword left and right. Then scatter one-third to the wind and let loose^[a] the sword after it. ³ From that third, take a few strands and hide them in your garment. ⁴ From that hair, take yet another batch and throw it into the fire and burn it up. From there, fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

⁵ The Lord God proclaims: This is Jerusalem! I have set her in the middle of the nations and surrounding countries. ⁶ But she rebelled against my case laws and my regulations with greater treachery than these nations and surrounding countries, who also rejected my case laws and didn’t follow my regulations. ⁷ Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: You have become more turbulent than these nations around you because you haven’t obeyed my regulations or followed my case laws. You haven’t even followed the case laws of the nations around you! ⁸ So now the Lord God proclaims: I myself am now against you! I will impose the case law penalties on you in the sight of the nations. ⁹ Because of you, I will do what I’ve never done before and will never do again—all because of your detestable practices. ¹⁰ Therefore, parents among you will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will impose penalties from case laws on you and scatter all that is left of you to the winds. ¹¹ Therefore, as surely as I live, this is what the Lord God says: Because you made my sanctuary unclean with all your disgusting practices and detestable things, I myself will shave you. I will not shed a tear. You will have no compassion, even from me. ¹² One-third of you will die of plague and waste away by famine among you. One-third will fall by the sword all around you. And one-third I will scatter to all the winds, letting loose a sword to pursue them. ¹³ My anger will be complete. I will exhaust my wrath against them and take my revenge. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken against them in my zeal and consumed them in my wrath. ¹⁴ I will turn you into a desolation to the ridicule of the nations all around you, in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ You will become an object of ridicule, a mockery, and a horrifying lesson to the nations all around you, when I impose penalties from case laws against you in anger, wrath, and overflowing fury. I, the Lord, have spoken. ¹⁶ When I launch my deadly arrows of famine against you, I have released them for your destruction! I will add to your famine and completely cut off your food supply. ¹⁷ I will send famine and wild animals against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will come to you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.

BOOK II

(Psalms 42–72)

Psalm 42^[a]

For the music leader. A maskil^[b] of the Korahites.

Psalm 43