M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Lives with 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, and I can get away from him.”

² So David and his six hundred men left Israel and went to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ David, his men, and their families made their home in Gath with Achish. David had his two wives with him—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. ⁴ When Saul heard that David had run away to Gath, 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 where I can live. I don’t need to live in the royal city with you.”

⁶ That day Achish gave David the town of Ziklag, and 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 raided 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 and took their sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

¹⁰ 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 Jerahmeel, or to the land of the Kenites. ¹¹ David never brought a man or woman alive to Gath. He thought, “If we bring people alive, they may tell Achish, ‘This is what David really did.’” David did this all the time he lived in the Philistine land. ¹² So Achish trusted David and said to himself, “David’s own people, the Israelites, now hate him very much. He 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 If you think you know something, you do not yet know anything as you should. ³ But if any person loves God, that person 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 there is only one God. ⁵ Even though there are things called gods, in heaven or on earth (and there are many “gods” and “lords”), ⁶ for us there is only one God—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 him, and we also were made through him.

⁷ But not all people know this. Some people are still so used to idols that when they eat meat, they still think of it as being sacrificed to an idol. Because their conscience is weak, when they eat it, they feel guilty. ⁸ But food will not bring 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 that your freedom does not 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 and be encouraged to eat meat sacrificed to idols while thinking it is wrong to do so. ¹¹ This weak believer for whom Christ died is ruined because of your “knowledge.” ¹² When you sin against your brothers and sisters 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 causes them to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again so that I will not cause any of them to sin.

Prophecies Against the Mountains

6 Again the Lord spoke his word to me, saying: ² “Human, look toward the mountains of Israel, and 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, and I will destroy your places of idol worship. ⁴ Your altars will be destroyed and your incense altars broken down. Your people will be killed in front of your idols. ⁵ I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ In all the places you live, cities will become empty. 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.

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, as they live among the nations where they have been taken as captives. They will remember how I was hurt because they were unfaithful to me and turned away from me and 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, and groan because of all the hateful, evil things the people of Israel have done. 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, on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—all 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 to 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.