M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Philistines Reject David

29 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the children of Israel were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. ² The lords of the Philistines were advancing by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were advancing in the rear with Achish. ³ Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years? And I have found no fault in him since the day of his desertion to this day.”

⁴ But the princes of the Philistines became angry with him. And the princes of the Philistines said to him, “Make this man return and let him go again to his place which you have appointed him. He will not go down with us in battle, lest he might be an adversary to us in the battle. For with what could he make himself acceptable to his master, if not with the heads of these men? ⁵ Is this not David, whom they sing for in dances saying,

⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the camp has been pleasing in my sight. For I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day. However, you are not acceptable in the eyes of the lords. ⁷ Therefore now, return and go in peace, that you do not displease the lords of the Philistines.”

⁸ David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant, from the day which I came before you to this day, that I may not come and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹ And Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight like an angel of God. However the lords of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us in battle.’ ¹⁰ Therefore rise up early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you. And when you have risen early in the morning and it is light, then depart.”

¹¹ So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning and return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David Defeats the Amalekites

30 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the south as far as Ziklag. They had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire. ² They had taken as captives all the women who were there. They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way.

³ David and his men came to the city, and they found it burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters taken captive. ⁴ So David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no strength in them to weep. ⁵ Now David’s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶ David was greatly distressed, for the people talked of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in spirit, each over his sons and daughters. But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Please bring the ephod to me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸ David inquired at the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue after this raiding party? Will I overtake them?”

And He answered him, “Pursue them, for you will surely overtake them and will surely recover all.”

⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him. And they came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind remained. ¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross over the brook Besor remained behind.

¹¹ They found an Egyptian in the field and took him to David. He gave him bread and he ate, and they made him drink water. ¹² And they gave him a part of a cake of figs and two cakes of raisins. When he had eaten, his spirit came back to him, for he had not eaten bread or drunk any water for three days and nights.

¹³ Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?”

And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite. And my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. ¹⁴ We raided the south of the Kerethites, the south of Judah, and the south of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.”

¹⁵ David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this raiding party?”

And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will bring you down to this raiding party.”

¹⁶ When he brought him down, they were spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷ David struck them from twilight until the evening of the next day, and no man escaped except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. ¹⁸ So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ Now there was nothing missing, from the smallest thing to the greatest, neither sons, nor daughters, or plunder, or anything which they had taken. David brought back all of it. ²⁰ And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before the other livestock. And they said, “This is David’s spoil.”

²¹ Then David came to the two hundred men, who were too exhausted to follow David, whom they left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people, he greeted them. ²² Then all the wicked and worthless ones from the men who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the spoil that we have rescued, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.”

²³ Then David said, “You will not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, for He has preserved us, and has delivered into our hand the raiding party that came against us. ²⁴ And who will listen to you in this matter? Indeed as the share is of the one going down to battle, so will be the share of the one staying with the equipment. They will share equally.” ²⁵ So it was so from that day forward, that he set it as a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶ When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift to you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord”: ²⁷ to those who were in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negev, and in Jattir; ²⁸ to those who were in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, ²⁹ and in Rakal; to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites; ³⁰ to those who were in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athak ³¹ and in Hebron; and to those who were in all the other places where David and his men had roamed.

Warning Against Idolatry

10 I would not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³ all ate the same spiritual food; ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. ⁵ But with many of them God was not well pleased, and they were overthrown in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted. ⁷ Neither be idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to revel.”^{[a] 8} Neither let us commit sexual immorality as some of them committed, when twenty-three thousand fell in one day. ⁹ Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents. ¹⁰ Neither murmur, as some of them also murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer.

¹¹ Now all these things happened to them for examples. They are written as an admonition to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come. ¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, and He will not permit you to be tempted above what you can endure, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.

¹⁴ So, my beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ For we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.

¹⁸ Consider Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? ¹⁹ What am I saying then, that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? ²⁰ But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. ²² Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

Do All to the Glory of God

²³ “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.

²⁵ Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no question for the sake of conscience, ²⁶ for “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”^[b]

²⁷ If any of those who do not believe invite you to a feast, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for the sake of conscience. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, “This was offered in sacrifice to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of him that mentioned it and for the sake of conscience, for “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”^{[c] 29} Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? ³⁰ If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?

³¹ Therefore, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. ³² Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God, ³³ just as I try to please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Abominations in the Temple

8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house and the elders of Judah sat before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. ² Then I looked, and there was a likeness as the appearance of a man. From His loins and downward was the appearance of fire. And from His loins and upward was the appearance of brightness, as the appearance of glowing metal. ³ He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. ⁴ The glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

⁵ Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and northward at the gate of the altar was this image of jealousy in the entrance.

⁶ He said furthermore to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do, even the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, so that I should go far off from My sanctuary? But yet you shall see still greater abominations.”

⁷ Then He brought me to the door of the court. And when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. ⁸ So He said to me, “Son of man, now dig in the wall.” And when I had dug in the wall, there was a door.

⁹ He said to me, “Enter and notice the wicked abominations that they do here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and saw every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall all around. ¹¹ There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.

¹² Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” ¹³ He also said to me, “Yet again you shall see greater abominations that they do.”

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the door of the gate of the house of the Lord which was toward the north. And women sat there weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵ Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Yet again you shall see greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶ He brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east. And they worshipped the sun toward the east.

¹⁷ Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence and have continually provoked Me to anger. And they put the branch to their nose. ¹⁸ Therefore I will indeed deal in fury. My eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

Psalm 46

For the Music Director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

Psalm 47

For the Music Director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.