M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul’s Final Pursuit of David
26 The people of Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah. “David is hiding at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon,” they said.
2 Saul went to the desert of Ziph, taking with him 3,000 of Israel’s best-trained men to search for David. 3 Saul camped by the road at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he realized Saul had come to the desert for him, 4 David sent spies to confirm that Saul had arrived.
5 Then David went to the place where Saul had camped. David saw the place where Saul and Ner’s son Abner, the commander of the army, were lying. Saul was lying in the camp, and the troops were camped around him.
6 David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai, who was Zeruiah’s son and Joab’s brother, “Who will go with me to Saul in the camp?”
Abishai answered, “I’ll go with you.”
7 So David and Abishai went among Saul’s troops that night. Saul was 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 Elohim has turned your enemy over to you. Please let me nail him to the ground with one stab of the spear. I won’t have to do it twice!”
9 “Don’t kill him!” David told Abishai. “No one has ever attacked Yahweh’s anointed king and remained free of guilt. 10 I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives,” David added, “Yahweh will strike him. Either his time will come when he’ll die naturally, or he’ll go into battle and be swept away. 11 It would be unthinkable for me to attack Yahweh’s anointed king. But please take that spear near his head and that jar of water, and let’s go.”
12 David took the spear and the jar of water near Saul’s head, and they left. All of them were asleep. No one saw them, knew about it, or woke up. Yahweh had made them fall into a deep sleep.
13 David went over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away. (There was a wide space between them.) 14 Then David called to the troops and to Ner’s son Abner. “Won’t you answer, Abner?” he asked.
“Who is calling the king?” Abner asked.
15 David asked Abner, “Aren’t you a man? Is there anyone like you in Israel? Then why didn’t you guard your master, the king? Someone came to kill His Royal Majesty. 16 What you’ve done isn’t good. I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives, you are dead men. You didn’t guard your master, Yahweh’s anointed king. Look at the king’s spear and the jar of water that were near his head.”
17 Saul recognized David’s voice. “Is that your voice, my servant David?” he asked.
“It is my voice, Your Royal Majesty,” David answered. 18 “Why are you pursuing me?” he added. “What have I done? What crime have I committed? 19 Your Majesty, please listen to my words. If Yahweh has turned you against me, let him be satisfied with an offering. But if mere mortals have turned you against me, let them be cursed by Yahweh. They have prevented me from having a share of Yahweh’s inheritance. ‘Go and serve other gods,’ they tell me. 20 Don’t let my blood fall to the ground, away from Yahweh’s presence. The king of Israel has come to search for one flea like someone hunting a partridge in the hills.”
21 “My servant David,” Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back. I will not harm you again, because you valued my life today. I’ve acted like a fool and made a terrible mistake.”
22 David responded, “Here’s the king’s spear. One of the young men should come over and get it. 23 Yahweh will reward any person who is righteous and faithful. Yahweh handed you over to me today, but I refused to attack Yahweh’s anointed king. 24 As I placed great value on your life today, may Yahweh place great value on my life and rescue me from all trouble.”
25 Then Saul said, “Blessed are you, my servant David. You will accomplish many things and certainly will succeed.”
So David went his way, while Saul returned home.
Advice about Marriage
7 Now, concerning the things that you wrote about: It’s good for men not to get married. 2 But in order to avoid sexual sins, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
3 Husbands and wives should satisfy each other’s sexual needs. 4 A wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but his wife does.
5 Don’t withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should get back together so that Satan doesn’t use your lack of self-control to tempt you. 6 What I have just said is not meant as a command but as a suggestion. 7 I would like everyone to be like me. However, each person has a special gift from God, and these gifts vary from person to person.
8 I say to those who are not married, especially to widows: It is good for you to stay single like me. 9 However, if you cannot control your desires, you should get married. It is better for you to marry than to burn with sexual desire.
10 I pass this command along (not really I, but the Lord): A wife shouldn’t leave her husband. 11 If she does, she should stay single or make up with her husband. Likewise, a husband should not divorce his wife.
12 I (not the Lord) say to the rest of you: If any Christian man is married to a woman who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to live with her, she should not divorce her husband. 14 Actually, the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and an unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise, their children would be unacceptable to God, but now they are acceptable to him. 15 But if the unbelieving partners leave, let them go. Under these circumstances a Christian man or Christian woman is not bound by a marriage vow. God has called you to live in peace. 16 How do you as a wife know whether you will save your husband? How do you as a husband know whether you will save your wife?
17 Everyone should live the life that the Lord gave him when God called him. This is the guideline I use in every church.
18 Any man who was already circumcised when he was called to be a Christian shouldn’t undo his circumcision. Any man who was uncircumcised when he was called to be a Christian shouldn’t get circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and the lack of it is nothing. But keeping what God commands is everything. 20 All people should stay as they were when they were called. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? That shouldn’t bother you. However, if you have a chance to become free, take it. 22 If the Lord called you when you were a slave, you are the Lord’s free person. In the same way, if you were free when you were called, you are Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought for a price. Don’t become anyone’s slaves. 24 Brothers and sisters, you should remain in whatever circumstances you were in when God called you. God is with you in those circumstances.
25 Concerning virgins: Even though I don’t have any command from the Lord, I’ll give you my opinion. I’m a person to whom the Lord has shown mercy, so I can be trusted. 26 Because of the present crisis I believe it is good for people to remain as they are. 27 Do you have a wife? Don’t seek a divorce. Are you divorced from your wife? Don’t look for another one. 28 But if you do get married, you have not sinned. If a virgin gets married, she has not sinned. However, these people will have trouble, and I would like to spare them from that.
29 This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time has been shortened. While it lasts, those who are married should live as though they were not. 30 Those who have eyes filled with tears should live as though they have no sorrow. Those who are happy should live as though there was nothing to be happy about. Those who buy something should live as though they didn’t own it. 31 Those who use the things in this world should do so but not depend on them. It is clear that this world in its present form is passing away.
32 So I don’t want you to have any concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, that is, about how he can please the Lord. 33 But the married man is concerned about earthly things, that is, about how he can please his wife. 34 His attention is divided.
An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the Lord’s things so that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about earthly things, that is, about how she can please her husband. 35 I’m saying this for your benefit, not to restrict you. I’m showing you how to live a noble life of devotion to the Lord without being distracted by other things.
36 No father would want to do the wrong thing when his virgin daughter is old enough to get married. If she wants to get married, he isn’t sinning by letting her get married. 37 However, a father may have come to a decision about his daughter. If his decision is to keep her at home because she doesn’t want to get married, that’s fine. 38 So it’s fine for a father to give his daughter in marriage, but the father who doesn’t give his daughter in marriage does even better.
39 A married woman must remain with her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if the man is a Christian.[a] 40 However, she will be more blessed if she stays as she is. That is my opinion, and I think that I, too, have God’s Spirit.
The Lord Tells Ezekiel about the Fall of Jerusalem
5 The Lord said, “Son of man, take a sharp blade, and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and beard. Take scales to weigh your hair and divide it into three even parts. 2 When the blockade is over, burn one-third of your hair in a fire in the middle of the city. Take another third, and cut it up with a blade around the city. Then scatter the remaining third to the wind, and I will draw a sword and go after it. 3 Take a few strands of hair, and wrap them in the hem of your clothes. 4 Later, take some of them, and throw them in a fire and burn them up. From there a fire will spread throughout the whole nation of Israel.
5 “This is what Adonay Yahweh says: This is Jerusalem! I have placed it in the center of the nations with countries all around it. 6 The people of Jerusalem have rebelled against my rules and my laws more than the surrounding nations. They have rejected my rules, and they don’t live by my laws.
7 “So this is what Adonay Yahweh says: People of Jerusalem, you have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You haven’t lived by my laws or obeyed my rules. You haven’t even lived up to the standards of the nations around you.
8 “So this is what Adonay Yahweh says: I, too, am against you, and I will punish you in front of the nations. 9 Because of all the detestable things that you do, I will do things to you that I have never done before and will never do again. 10 That is why parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter whoever is left to the wind.
11 “As I live, declares Adonay Yahweh, because you have dishonored my holy worship place with all your disgusting and detestable things, I will have you killed. I will not have compassion for you or feel sorry for you. 12 One-third of you will die in plagues and be devoured in famines. Another third will die in battles against those around you. I will scatter the remaining third to the wind, and I will pursue them with a sword.
13 “I will unleash my anger. I will use my fury against you, and I will get revenge. When my fury is unleashed against you, you will know that I, Yahweh, spoke to you while I was angry. 14 I will turn you into a wasteland and an object of ridicule among the nations around you and in the presence of everyone who passes by you. 15 The nations that are around you will ridicule you and laugh at you. When I punish you because of my anger, fury, and fierce revenge, you will become something ridiculed and something horrible. I, Yahweh, have spoken. 16 When I shoot my destructive arrows of famine at you, I will shoot to kill you. I will bring more and more famines into your land, and I will cut off your food supply. 17 I will send famines and wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children. I will send plagues, violence, and wars to kill you. I, Yahweh, have spoken.”
BOOK TWO
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
For the choir director; a maskil[a] by Korah’s descendants.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O Elohim.
2 My soul thirsts for Elohim, for El Chay.
When may I come to see Elohim’s face?
3 My tears are my food day and night.
People ask me all day long, “Where is your Elohim?”
4 I will remember these things as I pour out my soul:
how I used to walk with the crowd
and lead it in a procession to Elohim’s house.
I sang songs of joy and thanksgiving
while crowds of people celebrated a festival.
5 Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.
6 My soul is discouraged.
That is why I will remember you
in the land of Jordan, on the peaks of Hermon, on Mount Mizar.
7 One deep sea calls to another at the roar of your waterspouts.
All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me.[b]
8 Yahweh commands his mercy during the day,
and at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the El of my life.
9 I will ask Elohim, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk around in mourning
while the enemy oppresses me?”
10 With a shattering blow to my bones,
my enemies taunt me.
They ask me all day long, “Where is your Elohim?”
11 Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.
Psalm 43
1 Judge me, O Elohim,
and plead my case against an ungodly nation.
Rescue me from deceitful and unjust people.
2 You are my fortress, O Elohim!
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I walk around in mourning
while the enemy oppresses me?
3 Send your light and your truth.
Let them guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain
and to your dwelling place.
4 Then let me go to the altar of Elohim, to God my highest joy,
and I will give thanks to you on the lyre, O Elohim, my Elohim.
5 Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.