M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
29 The Philistine army now mobilized at Aphek, and the Israelis camped at the springs in Jezreel. 2 As the Philistine captains were leading out their troops by battalions and companies, David and his men marched at the rear with King Achish.
3 But the Philistine commanders demanded, “What are these Israelis doing here?”
And King Achish told them, “This is David, the runaway servant of King Saul of Israel. He’s been with me for years, and I’ve never found one fault in him since he arrived.”
4 But the Philistine leaders were angry. “Send them back!” they demanded. “They aren’t going into the battle with us—they’ll turn against us. Is there any better way for him to reconcile himself with his master than by turning against us in the battle? 5 This is the same man the women of Israel sang about in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands!’”
6 So Achish finally summoned David and his men.
“I swear by the Lord,” he told them, “you are some of the finest men I’ve ever met, and I think you should go with us, but my commanders say no. 7 Please don’t upset them, but go back quietly.”
8 “What have I done to deserve this treatment?” David demanded. “Why can’t I fight your enemies?”
9 But Achish insisted, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re as perfect as an angel of God. But my commanders are afraid to have you with them in the battle. 10 Now get up early in the morning and leave as soon as it is light.”
11 So David headed back into the land of the Philistines while the Philistine army went on to Jezreel.
30 Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their city of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had raided the city and burned it to the ground, 2 carrying off all the women and children. 3 As David and his men looked at the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, 4 they wept until they could weep no more. 5 (David’s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, were among those who had been captured.) 6 David was seriously worried, for in their bitter grief for their children, his men began talking of killing him. But David took strength from the Lord.
7 Then he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the ephod!” So Abiathar brought it.
8 David asked the Lord, “Shall I chase them? Will I catch them?”
And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them; you will recover everything that was taken from you!”
9-10 So David and his six hundred men set out after the Amalekites. When they reached Besor Brook, two hundred of the men were too exhausted to cross, but the other four hundred kept going. 11-12 Along the way they found an Egyptian youth in a field and brought him to David. He had not had anything to eat or drink for three days and nights, so they gave him part of a fig cake, two clusters of raisins, and some water, and his strength soon returned.
13 “Who are you and where do you come from?” David asked him.
“I am an Egyptian—the servant of an Amalekite,” he replied. “My master left me behind three days ago because I was sick. 14 We were on our way back from raiding the Cherethites in the Negeb, and had raided the south of Judah and the land of Caleb, and had burned Ziklag.”
15 “Can you tell me where they went?” David asked.
The young man replied, “If you swear by God’s name that you will not kill me or give me back to my master, then I will guide you to them.”
16 So he led them to the Amalekite encampment. They were spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of loot they had taken from the Philistines and from the men of Judah. 17 David and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them all that night and the entire next day until evening. No one escaped except four hundred young men who fled on camels. 18-19 David got back everything they had taken. The men recovered their families and all of their belongings, and David rescued his two wives. 20 His troops rounded up all the flocks and herds and drove them on ahead of them. “These are all yours personally, as your reward!” they told David.
21 When they reached Besor Brook and the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go on, David greeted them joyfully. 22 But some of the ruffians among David’s men declared, “They didn’t go with us, so they can’t have any of the loot. Give them their wives and their children and tell them to be gone.”
23 But David said, “No, my brothers! The Lord has kept us safe and helped us defeat the enemy. 24 Do you think that anyone will listen to you when you talk like this? We share and share alike—those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment.”
25 From then on David made this a law for all of Israel, and it is still followed.
26 When he arrived at Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to the elders of Judah. “Here is a present for you, taken from the Lord’s enemies,” he wrote them. 27-31 The gifts were sent to the elders in the following cities where David and his men had been: Bethel, South Ramoth, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Racal, the cities of the Jerahmeelites, the cities of the Kenites, Hormah, Borashan, Athach, Hebron.
10 For we must never forget, dear brothers, what happened to our people in the wilderness long ago. God guided them by sending a cloud that moved along ahead of them; and he brought them all safely through the waters of the Red Sea. 2 This might be called their “baptism”—baptized both in sea and cloud!—as followers of Moses—their commitment to him as their leader. 3-4 And by a miracle God sent them food to eat and water to drink[a] there in the desert; they drank the water that Christ gave them. He was there with them as a mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment. 5 Yet after all this most of them did not obey God, and he destroyed them in the wilderness.
6 From this lesson we are warned that we must not desire evil things as they did, 7 nor worship idols as they did. (The Scriptures tell us, “The people sat down to eat and drink and then got up to dance” in worship of the golden calf.)
8 Another lesson for us is what happened when some of them sinned with other men’s wives, and 23,000 fell dead in one day. 9 And don’t try the Lord’s patience—they did and died from snake bites. 10 And don’t murmur against God and his dealings with you as some of them did, for that is why God sent his Angel to destroy them.
11 All these things happened to them as examples—as object lessons to us—to warn us against doing the same things; they were written down so that we could read about them and learn from them in these last days as the world nears its end.
12 So be careful. If you are thinking, “Oh, I would never behave like that”—let this be a warning to you. For you too may fall into sin. 13 But remember this—the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.
14 So, dear friends, carefully avoid idol worship of every kind.
15 You are intelligent people. Look now and see for yourselves whether what I am about to say is true. 16 When we ask the Lord’s blessing upon our drinking from the cup of wine at the Lord’s Table, this means, doesn’t it, that all who drink it are sharing together the blessing of Christ’s blood? And when we break off pieces of the bread from the loaf to eat there together, this shows that we are sharing together in the benefits of his body. 17 No matter how many of us there are, we all eat from the same loaf, showing that we are all parts of the one body of Christ. 18 And the Jewish people, all who eat the sacrifices, are united by that act.
19 What am I trying to say? Am I saying that the idols to whom the heathen bring sacrifices are really alive and are real gods, and that these sacrifices are of some value? No, not at all. 20 What I am saying is that those who offer food to these idols are united together in sacrificing to demons, certainly not to God. And I don’t want any of you to be partners with demons when you eat the same food, along with the heathen, that has been offered to these idols. 21 You cannot drink from the cup at the Lord’s Table and at Satan’s table, too. You cannot eat bread both at the Lord’s Table and at Satan’s table.
22 What? Are you tempting the Lord to be angry with you? Are you stronger than he is?
23 You are certainly free to eat food offered to idols if you want to; it’s not against God’s laws to eat such meat, but that doesn’t mean that you should go ahead and do it. It may be perfectly legal, but it may not be best and helpful. 24 Don’t think only of yourself. Try to think of the other fellow, too, and what is best for him.
25 Here’s what you should do. Take any meat you want that is sold at the market. Don’t ask whether or not it was offered to idols, lest the answer hurt your conscience. 26 For the earth and every good thing in it belongs to the Lord and is yours to enjoy.
27 If someone who isn’t a Christian asks you out to dinner, go ahead; accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is on the table and don’t ask any questions about it. Then you won’t know whether or not it has been used as a sacrifice to idols, and you won’t risk having a bad conscience over eating it. 28 But if someone warns you that this meat has been offered to idols, then don’t eat it for the sake of the man who told you, and of his conscience. 29 In this case his feeling about it is the important thing, not yours.
But why, you may ask, must I be guided and limited by what someone else thinks? 30 If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why let someone spoil everything just because he thinks I am wrong? 31 Well, I’ll tell you why. It is because you must do everything for the glory of God, even your eating and drinking. 32 So don’t be a stumbling block to anyone, whether they are Jews or Gentiles or Christians. 33 That is the plan I follow, too. I try to please everyone in everything I do, not doing what I like or what is best for me but what is best for them, so that they may be saved.
8 Then, late in August of the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,[a] as I was talking with the elders of Judah in my home, the power of the Lord God fell upon me. 2 I saw what appeared to be a Man; from his waist down, he was made of fire; from his waist up, he was all amber-colored brightness. 3 He put out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. And the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and seemed to transport me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate, where the large idol was that had made the Lord so angry. 4 Suddenly the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.
5 He said to me, “Son of dust, look toward the north.” So I looked and, sure enough, north of the altar gate in the entrance stood the idol.
6 And he said: “Son of dust, do you see what they are doing? Do you see what great sins the people of Israel are doing here, to push me from my Temple? But come, and I will show you greater sins than these!”
7 Then he brought me to the door of the Temple court, where I could see an opening in the wall.
8 “Now dig into the wall,” he said. I did and uncovered a door to a hidden room.
9 “Go in,” he said, “and see the wickedness going on in there!”
10 So I went in. The walls were covered with pictures of all kinds of snakes, lizards, and hideous creatures, besides all the various idols worshiped by the people of Israel. 11 Seventy elders of Israel were standing there along with Jaazaniah (son of Shaphan) worshiping the pictures. Each of them held a censer of burning incense, so there was a thick cloud of smoke above their heads.
12 Then the Lord said to me: “Son of dust, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in their minds? For they say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has gone away!’” 13 Then he added, “Come, and I will show you greater sins than these!”
14 He brought me to the north gate of the Temple, and there sat women weeping for Tammuz,[b] their god.
15 “Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I will show you greater evils than these!”
16 Then he brought me into the inner court of the Temple, and there at the door, between the porch and the bronze altar, were about twenty-five men standing with their backs to the Temple of the Lord, facing east, worshiping the sun!
17 “Have you seen this?” he asked. “Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these terrible sins, leading the whole nation into idolatry, thumbing their noses at me and arousing my fury against them? 18 Therefore, I will deal with them in fury. I will neither pity nor spare. And though they scream for mercy, I will not listen.”
46 God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. 2 And so we need not fear even if the world blows up and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!
4 There is a river of joy flowing through the city of our God—the sacred home of the God above all gods. 5 God himself is living in that city; therefore it stands unmoved despite the turmoil everywhere. He will not delay his help. 6 The nations rant and rave in anger—but when God speaks, the earth melts in submission and kingdoms totter into ruin.
7 The Commander of the armies of heaven is here among us. He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us.
8 Come, see the glorious things that our God does, how he brings ruin upon the world 9 and causes wars to end throughout the earth, breaking and burning every weapon. 10 “Stand silent! Know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation in the world!”
11 The Commander of the heavenly armies is here among us! He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us!
47 Come, everyone, and clap for joy! Shout triumphant praises to the Lord! 2 For the Lord, the God above all gods, is awesome beyond words; he is the great King of all the earth. 3 He subdues the nations before us 4 and will personally select his choicest blessings for his Jewish people[a]—the very best for those he loves.
5 God has ascended with a mighty shout, with trumpets blaring. 6-7 Sing out your praises to our God, our King. Yes, sing your highest praises to our King, the King of all the earth. Sing thoughtful praises! 8 He reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne. 9 The Gentile rulers of the world have joined with us in praising him—praising[b] the God of Abraham—for the battle shields of all the armies of the world are his trophies. He is highly honored everywhere.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.