M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Shames Saul Again

26 The people of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said to him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah opposite Jeshimon.”

² So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to look for David there. ³ Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah opposite Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he heard Saul had followed him, ⁴ he sent out spies and learned for certain that Saul had come to Hakilah.

⁵ Then David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, were sleeping. Saul was sleeping in the middle of the camp with all the army around him.

⁶ David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into Saul’s camp with me?”

Abishai answered, “I’ll go with you.”

⁷ So that night David and Abishai went into Saul’s camp. Saul was asleep in the middle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the army were sleeping around Saul. ⁸ Abishai said to David, “Today God has handed your enemy over to you. Let me pin Saul to the ground with my spear. I’ll only have to do it once. I won’t need to hit him twice.”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Don’t kill Saul! No one can harm the Lord’s appointed king and still be innocent! ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord himself will punish Saul. Maybe Saul will die naturally, or maybe he will go into battle and be killed. ¹¹ But may the Lord keep me from harming his appointed king! Take the spear and water jug that are near Saul’s head. Then let’s go.”

¹² So David took the spear and water jug that were near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw them or knew about it or woke up, because the Lord had put them sound asleep.

¹³ David crossed over to the other side of the hill and stood on top of the mountain far from Saul’s camp. They were a long way away from each other. ¹⁴ David shouted to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Won’t you answer me, Abner?”

Abner answered, “Who is calling for the king? Who are you?”

¹⁵ David said, “You’re the greatest man in Israel. Isn’t that true? Why didn’t you guard your master the king? Someone came into your camp to kill your master the king! ¹⁶ You have not done well. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men should die. You haven’t guarded your master, the Lord’s appointed king. Look! Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”

¹⁷ Saul knew David’s voice. He said, “Is that your voice, David my son?”

David answered, “Yes, it is, my master and king.” ¹⁸ David also said, “Why are you chasing me, my master? What wrong have I done? What evil am I guilty of? ¹⁹ My master and king, listen to me. If the Lord made you angry with me, let him accept an offering. But if people did it, may the Lord curse them! They have made me leave the land the Lord gave me. They have told me, ‘Go and serve other gods.’ ²⁰ Now don’t let me die far away from the Lord’s presence. The king of Israel has come out looking for a flea! You’re just hunting a bird in the mountains!”

²¹ Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Today you respected my life, so I will not try to hurt you. I have been very stupid and foolish.”

²² David answered, “Here is your spear. Let one of your young men come here and get it. ²³ The Lord rewards us for the things we do right and for our loyalty to him. The Lord handed you over to me today, but I wouldn’t harm the Lord’s appointed king. ²⁴ As I respected your life today, may the Lord also respect my life and save me from all trouble.”

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “You are blessed, my son David. You will do great things and succeed.”

So David went on his way, and Saul went back home.

About Marriage

7 Now I will discuss the things you wrote me about. It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. ² But because sexual sin is a danger, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. ³ The husband should give his wife all that he owes her as his wife. And the wife should give her husband all that she owes him as her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have full rights over her own body; her husband shares them. And the husband does not have full rights over his own body; his wife shares them. ⁵ Do not refuse to give your bodies to each other, unless you both agree to stay away from sexual relations for a time so you can give your time to prayer. Then come together again so Satan cannot tempt you because of a lack of self-control. ⁶ I say this to give you permission to stay away from sexual relations for a time. It is not a command to do so. ⁷ I wish that everyone were like me, but each person has his own gift from God. One has one gift, another has another gift.

⁸ Now for those who are not married and for the widows I say this: It is good for them to stay unmarried as I am. ⁹ But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry. It is better to marry than to burn with sexual desire.

¹⁰ Now I give this command for the married people. (The command is not from me; it is from the Lord.) A wife should not leave her husband. ¹¹ But if she does leave, she must not marry again, or she should make up with her husband. Also the husband should not divorce his wife.

¹² For all the others I say this (I am saying this, not the Lord): If a Christian man has a wife who is not a believer, and she is happy to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³ And if a Christian woman has a husband who is not a believer, and he is happy to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴ The husband who is not a believer is made holy through his believing wife. And the wife who is not a believer is made holy through her believing husband. If this were not true, your children would not be clean, but now your children are holy.

¹⁵ But if those who are not believers decide to leave, let them leave. When this happens, the Christian man or woman is free. But God called us^[a] to live in peace. ¹⁶ Wife, you don’t know; maybe you will save your husband. And husband, you don’t know; maybe you will save your wife.

Live as God Called You

¹⁷ But in any case each one of you should continue to live the way God has given you to live—the way you were when God called you. This is a rule I make in all the churches. ¹⁸ If a man was already circumcised when he was called, he should not undo his circumcision. If a man was without circumcision when he was called, he should not be circumcised. ¹⁹ It is not important if a man is circumcised or not. The important thing is obeying God’s commands. ²⁰ Each one of you should stay the way you were when God called you. ²¹ If you were a slave when God called you, do not let that bother you. But if you can be free, then make good use of your freedom. ²² Those who were slaves when the Lord called them are free persons who belong to the Lord. In the same way, those who were free when they were called are now Christ’s slaves. ²³ You all were bought at a great price, so do not become slaves of people. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each of you should stay as you were when you were called, and stay there with God.

Questions About Getting Married

²⁵ Now I write about people who are not married. I have no command from the Lord about this; I give my opinion. But I can be trusted, because the Lord has shown me mercy. ²⁶ The present time is a time of trouble, so I think it is good for you to stay the way you are. ²⁷ If you have a wife, do not try to become free from her. If you are not married, do not try to find a wife. ²⁸ But if you decide to marry, you have not sinned. And if a girl who has never married decides to marry, she has not sinned. But those who marry will have trouble in this life, and I want you to be free from trouble.

²⁹ Brothers and sisters, this is what I mean: We do not have much time left. So starting now, those who have wives should live as if they had no wives. ³⁰ Those who are crying should live as if they were not crying. Those who are happy should live as if they were not happy. Those who buy things should live as if they own nothing. ³¹ Those who use the things of the world should live as if they were not using them, because this world in its present form will soon be gone.

³² I want you to be free from worry. A man who is not married is busy with the Lord’s work, trying to please the Lord. ³³ But a man who is married is busy with things of the world, trying to please his wife. ³⁴ He must think about two things—pleasing his wife and pleasing the Lord. A woman who is not married or a girl who has never married is busy with the Lord’s work. She wants to be holy in body and spirit. But a married woman is busy with things of the world, as to how she can please her husband. ³⁵ I am saying this to help you, not to limit you. But I want you to live in the right way, to give yourselves fully to the Lord without concern for other things.

³⁶ If a man thinks he is not doing the right thing with the girl he is engaged to, if she is almost past the best age to marry and he feels he should marry her, he should do what he wants. They should get married. It is no sin. ³⁷ But if a man is sure in his mind that there is no need for marriage, and has his own desires under control, and has decided not to marry the one to whom he is engaged, he is doing the right thing. ³⁸ So the man who marries his girl does right, but the man who does not marry will do better.

³⁹ A woman must stay with her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry any man she wants, but she must marry another believer. ⁴⁰ The woman is happier if she does not marry again. This is my opinion, but I believe I also have God’s Spirit.

Ezekiel Cuts His Hair

5 “Now, human, take a sharp sword, and use it like a barber’s razor to shave your head and beard. Then take scales and weigh and divide the hair. ² Burn one-third with fire in the middle of the city when the days of the attack on Jerusalem are over. Then take one-third and cut it up with the knife all around the city. And scatter one-third to the wind. This is how I will chase them with a sword. ³ Also take a few of these hairs and tie them in the folds of your clothes. ⁴ Take a few more and throw them into the fire and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the people of Israel.

⁵ “This is what the Lord God says: This is Jerusalem. I have put her at the center of the nations with countries all around her. ⁶ But she has refused to obey my laws and has been more evil than the nations. She has refused to obey my rules, even more than nations around her. The people of Jerusalem have rejected my laws and have not lived by my rules.

⁷ “So this is what the Lord God says: You have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You have not followed my rules or obeyed my laws. You have not even obeyed the laws of the nations around you.

⁸ “So this is what the Lord God says: I myself am against you, and I will punish you as the nations watch. ⁹ I will do things among you that I have not done before and that I will never do anything like again, because you do the things I hate. ¹⁰ So parents among you will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and will scatter to the winds all who are left alive. ¹¹ So the Lord God says: You have made my Temple unclean with all your evil idols and the hateful things you do. Because of this, as surely as I live, I will cut you off. I will have no pity, and I will show no mercy. ¹² A third of you will die by disease or be destroyed by hunger inside your walls. A third will fall dead by the sword outside your walls. And a third I will scatter in every direction as I chase them with a sword. ¹³ Then my anger will come to an end. I will use it up against them, and then I will be satisfied. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken. After I have carried out my anger against them, they will know how strongly I felt.

¹⁴ “I will make you a ruin and a shame among the nations around you, to be seen by all who pass by. ¹⁵ Then the nations around you will shame you and make fun of you. You will be a warning and a terror to them. This will happen when I punish you in my great anger. I, the Lord, have spoken. ¹⁶ I will send a time of hunger to destroy you, and then I will make your hunger get even worse, and I will cut off your supply of food. ¹⁷ I will send a time of hunger and wild animals against you, and they will kill your children. Disease and death will sweep through your people, and I will bring the sword against you to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Wishing to Be Near God

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

A Prayer for Protection