M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David and the Philistines

27 But David thought to himself, “Saul will catch me someday. The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines. Then he will give up looking for me in Israel. That way I can get away from him.”

² So David and his 600 men left Israel. They went to Achish son of Maoch. Achish was king of Gath. ³ David, his men and their families made their home in Gath with Achish. David had his two wives with him. Their names were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel. Abigail was the widow of Nabal. ⁴ Now Saul was told that David had run away to Gath. So he stopped looking for him.

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with me, give me a place in one of the country towns. I can live there. I don’t need to live in the royal city with you.”

⁶ That day Achish gave David the town of Ziklag. That is why Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. ⁷ David lived in the Philistine land a year and four months.

⁸ David and his men went to raid the people of Geshur, Girzi and Amalek. (These people had lived for a long time in the land that reached to Shur and Egypt.) ⁹ When David fought them, he killed all the men and women. He took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

¹⁰ Many times Achish would ask David, “Where did you go raiding today?” And David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah. Or he would say he had gone to the territory of the Jerahmeelites or of the Kenites. ¹¹ David never brought a man or woman alive to Gath. He thought, “If we bring anyone alive, he may tell Achish, ‘This is what David really did.’” David did this all the time he lived in the Philistine land. ¹² Achish trusted David. He said to himself, “David’s own people, the Israelites, now hate David very much. So David will serve me forever.”

About Food Offered to Idols

8 Now I will write about meat that is sacrificed to idols. We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs you up with pride, but love builds up. ² Whoever thinks he knows something does not yet know anything as he should. ³ But he who loves God is known by God.

⁴ So this is what I say about eating meat sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is really nothing in the world. And we know that there is only one God. ⁵ It is really not important if there are things called gods, in heaven or on earth. (And there are many things that people call “gods” and “lords.”) ⁶ But for us there is only one God. He is our Father. All things came from him, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord—Jesus Christ. All things were made through Jesus, and we also have life through him.

⁷ But not all people know this. Until now, some people have had the habit of worshiping idols. So now when they eat meat, they still feel as if it belongs to an idol. They are not sure that it is right to eat this meat. When they eat it, they feel guilty. ⁸ But food will not make us closer to God. Refusing to eat does not make us less pleasing to God. And eating does not make us better in God’s sight.

⁹ But be careful with your freedom. Your freedom may cause those who are weak in faith to fall into sin. ¹⁰ Suppose one of you who has knowledge eats in an idol’s temple.^[a] Someone who is weak in faith might see you eating there. This would encourage him to eat meat sacrificed to idols. But he really thinks it is wrong. ¹¹ So this weak brother is ruined because of your “knowledge.” And Christ died for this brother. ¹² When you sin against your brothers in Christ like this and cause them to do what they feel is wrong, you are also sinning against Christ. ¹³ So if the food I eat makes my brother fall into sin, I will never eat meat again. I will stop eating meat, so that I will not cause my brother to sin.

Prophecies Against the Mountains

6 Again the Lord spoke his word to me. The Lord said, ² “Human being, look toward the mountains of Israel. Prophesy against them. ³ Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. The Lord God says this to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: I will bring a sword against you. I will destroy your places of idol worship. ⁴ Your altars will be destroyed. Your incense altars will be broken down. Your people will be killed in front of your idols. ⁵ I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites before their idols. And I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ In all the places you live, cities will become empty. And the places of idol worship will be ruined. Your altars will become lonely ruins. Your idols will be broken and brought to an end. Your incense altars will be cut down. And the things you made will be wiped out. ⁷ Your people will be killed and fall among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.

⁸ “‘But I will leave some people alive. Some will not be killed by the nations when you are scattered among the foreign lands. ⁹ Then those who have escaped will remember me. They will be living among the nations where they have been taken as captives. They will remember how I was hurt because they were unfaithful to me. They had turned away from me. They will remember how I was hurt because they desired to worship their idols. They will hate themselves because of the evil things they did that I hate. ¹⁰ Then they will know that I am the Lord. I did not bring this terrible thing on them for no reason.

¹¹ “‘This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet. Say, “Oh!” because the people of Israel have done terrible things. So they will die by war, hunger and disease. ¹² The person who is far away will die by disease. The one who is nearby will die in war. The person who is still alive and has escaped these will die from hunger. So I will carry out my anger on them. ¹³ Their people will lie dead among their idols around the altars. They will be on every high hill, on all the mountain tops and under every green tree and leafy oak. These are the places where they offered sweet-smelling incense to their idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ I will use my power against them. I will make the land empty and wasted from the desert to Diblah, wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

A Prayer for Help

For the director of music. A maskil of the sons of Korah.