M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Again Spares Saul’s Life
26 The Ziphites(A) went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding(B) on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?(C)”
2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search(D) there for David. 3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah(E) facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, 4 he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.
5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner(F) son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.
6 David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite(G) and Abishai(H) son of Zeruiah,(I) Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”
“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.
7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed(J) and be guiltless?(K) 10 As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike(L) him, or his time(M) will come and he will die,(N) or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”
12 So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.(O)
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them. 14 He called out to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Aren’t you going to answer me, Abner?”
Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?”
15 David said, “You’re a man, aren’t you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn’t you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. 16 What you have done is not good. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men must die, because you did not guard your master, the Lord’s anointed. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”
17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice,(P) David my son?”
David replied, “Yes it is, my lord the king.” 18 And he added, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong(Q) am I guilty of? 19 Now let my lord the king listen(R) to his servant’s words. If the Lord has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering.(S) If, however, people have done it, may they be cursed before the Lord! They have driven me today from my share in the Lord’s inheritance(T) and have said, ‘Go, serve other gods.’(U) 20 Now do not let my blood(V) fall to the ground far from the presence of the Lord. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea(W)—as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.(X)”
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned.(Y) Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious(Z) today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong.”
22 “Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord rewards(AA) everyone for their righteousness(AB) and faithfulness. The Lord delivered(AC) you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. 24 As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver(AD) me from all trouble.”
25 Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed,(AE) David my son; you will do great things and surely triumph.”
So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.
Concerning Married Life
7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”(A) 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife,(B) and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time,(C) so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan(D) will not tempt you(E) because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.(F) 7 I wish that all of you were as I am.(G) But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.(H)
8 Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.(I) 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,(J) for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.(K) 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.(L) And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord):(M) If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.(N)
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.(O) 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save(P) your husband?(Q) Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Concerning Change of Status
17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.(R) This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.(S) 18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.(T) 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.(U) Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.(V)
21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person;(W) similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave.(X) 23 You were bought at a price;(Y) do not become slaves of human beings. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.(Z)
Concerning the Unmarried
25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord,(AA) but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy(AB) is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.(AC) 27 Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.(AD) 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned;(AE) and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.(AF) From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.(AG)
32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs(AH)—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.(AI) But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided(AJ) devotion to the Lord.
36 If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong[b] and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning.(AK) They should get married. 37 But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. 38 So then, he who marries the virgin does right,(AL) but he who does not marry her does better.[c]
39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.(AM) But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.(AN) 40 In my judgment,(AO) she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
God’s Razor of Judgment
5 “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor(A) to shave(B) your head and your beard.(C) Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. 2 When the days of your siege come to an end, burn(D) a third(E) of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind.(F) For I will pursue them with drawn sword.(G) 3 But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.(H) 4 Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire(I) and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.
5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.(J) 6 Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.(K)
7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even[a] conformed to the standards of the nations around you.(L)
8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations.(M) 9 Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.(N) 10 Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents.(O) I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.(P) 11 Therefore as surely as I live,(Q) declares the Sovereign(R) Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary(S) with all your vile images(T) and detestable practices,(U) I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you.(V) 12 A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds(W) and pursue with drawn sword.(X)
13 “Then my anger will cease and my wrath(Y) against them will subside, and I will be avenged.(Z) And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.(AA)
14 “I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.(AB) 15 You will be a reproach(AC) and a taunt, a warning(AD) and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke.(AE) I the Lord have spoken.(AF) 16 When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food.(AG) 17 I will send famine and wild beasts(AH) against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed(AI) will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.(AJ)”
BOOK II
Psalms 42–72
Psalm 42[a][b]
For the director of music. A maskil[c] of the Sons of Korah.
1 As the deer(A) pants for streams of water,(B)
so my soul pants(C) for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts(D) for God, for the living God.(E)
When can I go(F) and meet with God?
3 My tears(G) have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”(H)
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:(I)
how I used to go to the house of God(J)
under the protection of the Mighty One[d]
with shouts of joy(K) and praise(L)
among the festive throng.(M)
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?(N)
Why so disturbed(O) within me?
Put your hope in God,(P)
for I will yet praise(Q) him,
my Savior(R) and my God.(S)
6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember(T) you
from the land of the Jordan,(U)
the heights of Hermon(V)—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep(W)
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.(X)
8 By day the Lord directs his love,(Y)
at night(Z) his song(AA) is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.(AB)
9 I say to God my Rock,(AC)
“Why have you forgotten(AD) me?
Why must I go about mourning,(AE)
oppressed(AF) by the enemy?”(AG)
10 My bones suffer mortal agony(AH)
as my foes taunt(AI) me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”(AJ)
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.(AK)
Psalm 43[e]
1 Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause(AL)
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me(AM) from those who are
deceitful and wicked.(AN)
2 You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected(AO) me?
Why must I go about mourning,(AP)
oppressed by the enemy?(AQ)
3 Send me your light(AR) and your faithful care,(AS)
let them lead me;(AT)
let them bring me to your holy mountain,(AU)
to the place where you dwell.(AV)
4 Then I will go(AW) to the altar(AX) of God,
to God, my joy(AY) and my delight.(AZ)
I will praise you with the lyre,(BA)
O God, my God.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.(BB)
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