M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David and Nabal

25 Now Samuel died. All the Israelites met and had a time of sadness for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah.

Then David moved to the Desert of Maon.^{[a] 2} A man in Maon who had land at Carmel was very rich. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was cutting the wool off his sheep at Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal, and he was a descendant of Caleb. His wife was named Abigail. She was a wise and beautiful woman. But Nabal was cruel and mean.

⁴ David was in the desert. He heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. ⁵ So he sent ten young men. He told them, “Go to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him for me. ⁶ Say to Nabal, ‘May you and your family have good health! And may all who belong to you have good health. ⁷ I have heard that you are cutting the wool from your sheep. When your shepherds were with us, we did nothing wrong to them. All the time your shepherds were at Carmel, we stole nothing from them. ⁸ Ask your servants, and they will tell you. We come at a happy time. So for this reason, be kind to my young men. Please give them anything you can find for them. Please do this for your son David.’”

⁹ When the men arrived, they gave the message to Nabal. But Nabal insulted them. ¹⁰ He answered them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many slaves are running away from their masters today! ¹¹ I have bread and water. And I have meat that I killed for my servants who cut the wool. But I won’t give it to men I don’t know.”

¹² David’s men went back and told him all Nabal had said. ¹³ Then David said to them, “Put on your swords!” So they put on their swords, and David put on his also. About 400 men went with David. But 200 men stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴ One of Nabal’s servants spoke to Abigail, Nabal’s wife. He said, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master. But Nabal insulted them. ¹⁵ These men were very good to us. They did nothing wrong to us. They stole nothing from us during all the time we were out in the field with them. ¹⁶ Night and day they protected us. They were like a wall around us while we were with them caring for the sheep. ¹⁷ Now think about it, and decide what you can do. Terrible trouble is coming to our master and all his family. Nabal is such a wicked man that no one can even talk to him.”

¹⁸ Abigail hurried. She took 200 loaves of bread, 2 leather bags full of wine and 5 cooked sheep. She took about a bushel of cooked grain, 100 cakes of raisins and 200 cakes of pressed figs. She put all these on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she told her servants, “Go on. I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband.

²⁰ Abigail rode her donkey and came down into the mountain ravine. There she met David and his men coming down toward her.

²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless! I watched over Nabal’s property in the desert. I made sure none of his sheep were missing. I did good to him, but he has paid me back with evil. ²² May God punish me terribly if I let just one of Nabal’s family live until tomorrow.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey. She bowed facedown on the ground before David. ²⁴ She lay at David’s feet. She said, “My master, let the blame be on me! Please let me talk to you! Listen to what I say. ²⁵ My master, don’t pay attention to this worthless man Nabal. He is the same as his name. His name means ‘fool,’ and he is truly foolish. But I, your servant, didn’t see the men you sent. ²⁶ The Lord has kept you from killing and punishing people yourself. As surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, may your enemies become like Nabal! ²⁷ I have brought a gift to you. Please give it to the men who follow you. ²⁸ Please forgive my wrong. The Lord will certainly let your family have many kings. He will do this because you fight his battles. As long as you live, people will find nothing bad in you. ²⁹ A man might chase you to kill you. But the Lord your God will keep you alive. He will throw away your enemies’ lives as he would throw a stone from a sling. ³⁰ The Lord will keep all his promises about good things for you. He will make you leader over Israel. ³¹ Then you won’t feel guilty. You won’t have problems about killing innocent people and punishing them yourself. Please remember me when the Lord brings you success.”

³² David answered Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He sent you to meet me. ³³ May you be blessed for your wisdom. You have kept me from killing or punishing people today. ³⁴ As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, he has kept me from hurting you. If you hadn’t come quickly to meet me, no one belonging to Nabal would have lived until tomorrow.”

³⁵ Then David accepted Abigail’s gifts. He told her, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words, and I will do what you have asked.”

Nabal’s Death

³⁶ When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was in the house. He was eating like a king. He was very drunk and in a good mood. So she told him nothing until the next morning. ³⁷ In the morning he was not drunk. Then his wife told him everything. His heart failed him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and caused him to die.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise the Lord! Nabal insulted me, but the Lord has supported me! He has kept me from doing wrong. And the Lord caused Nabal to die because he did wrong.”

Then David sent a message to Abigail. He asked her to become his wife. ⁴⁰ His servants went to Carmel and spoke to Abigail. They said, “David sent us to take you so you can become his wife.”

⁴¹ Abigail bowed facedown on the ground. She said, “I am your servant. I’m ready to serve you. I’m ready to wash the feet of my master’s servants.” ⁴² Abigail quickly got on a donkey and went with David’s messengers. She had five maids following her. And she became David’s wife.

⁴³ David also had married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So they were both David’s wives. ⁴⁴ Saul’s daughter Michal was also David’s wife. But Saul had given her to Paltiel son of Laish. Paltiel was from Gallim.

Judging Problems Among Christians

6 When one of you has something against a brother in Christ, why do you go to the judges in the law courts? Those people are not right with God. So why do you let them decide who is right? You should be ashamed! Why do you not let God’s people decide who is right? ² Surely you know that God’s people will judge the world. So if you are to judge the world, then surely you are able to judge small things as well. ³ You know that in the future we will judge angels. So surely we can judge things in this life. ⁴ So if you have disagreements that must be judged, why do you take them to those who are not part of the church? They mean nothing to the church. ⁵ I say this to shame you. Surely there is someone among you wise enough to judge a complaint between two brothers in Christ. ⁶ But now one brother goes to court against another brother. And you let men who are not believers judge their case!

⁷ The lawsuits that you have against each other show that you are already defeated. It would be better for you to let someone wrong you! It would be better for you to let someone cheat you! ⁸ But you yourselves do wrong and cheat! And you do this to your own brothers in Christ!

^9-10 Surely you know that the people who do wrong will not receive God’s kingdom. Do not be fooled. These people will not receive God’s kingdom: those who are sexually immoral, or worship idols, or take part in adultery, or men who have physical relations with other men, or steal, or are selfish, or get drunk, or lie about others, or cheat. ¹¹ In the past, some of you were like that. But you were washed clean. You were made holy. And you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Use Your Bodies for God’s Glory

¹² “I am allowed to do all things.” But not all things are good for me to do. “I am allowed to do all things.” But I must not do those things that will make me their slave. ¹³ “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” Yes. But God will destroy them both. The body is not for sexual immorality. The body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ By God’s power God raised the Lord Jesus from death. And God will also raise us from death. ¹⁵ Surely you know that your bodies are parts of Christ himself. So I must never take parts of Christ and join them to a prostitute! ¹⁶ It is written in the Scriptures, “The two people will become one body.”^[a] So you should know that a man who joins himself with a prostitute becomes one with her in body. ¹⁷ But the one who joins himself with the Lord is one with the Lord in spirit.

¹⁸ So run away from sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person does is outside the body. But those who are sexually immoral sin against their own bodies. ¹⁹ You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in you. You have received the Holy Spirit from God. You do not own yourselves. ²⁰ You were bought by God for a price. So honor God with your bodies.

The Map of Jerusalem

4 “Now, human being, get yourself a brick. Put it in front of you and draw a map of Jerusalem on it. ² Then surround it with an army. Build battle works against the city. Build a road of earth to the top of the city walls. Set up camps around it. Put heavy logs in place to break down the walls. ³ Then get yourself an iron plate. Put it up like an iron wall between you and the city. Turn your face toward the city as if to attack it. Then surround it and attack it. This is a sign to Israel.

⁴ “Then lie down on your left side. Take the guilt of Israel on yourself. Their guilt will be on you for the number of days you lie on your left side. ⁵ I have given you the same number of days as the years of the people’s sin. So you will have the guilt of Israel’s sin on you for 390 days.

⁶ “When you have finished these 390 days, lie down a second time. This time lie on your right side. You will then have the guilt of Judah on you. I have given it to you for 40 days. This is a day for each year of their sin. ⁷ Then you will turn your face toward the army attacking Jerusalem. With your arm bare, you will prophesy against Jerusalem. ⁸ I will put ropes on you so you cannot turn from one side to the other. This will last until you have finished the days of your attack on Jerusalem.

⁹ “Take wheat, barley, beans, small peas and millet seeds. And put them in one bowl. Make them into bread for yourself. You will eat it the 390 days you lie on your side. ¹⁰ You will eat eight ounces of food every day. You will eat it at set times. ¹¹ You will drink about two-thirds of a quart of water every day. Drink it at set times. ¹² Eat your food as you would eat a barley cake. Bake it over human dung where the people can see.” ¹³ Then the Lord said, “In the same way Israel will eat unclean food. They will eat it among the nations where I force them to go.”

¹⁴ But I said, “No, Lord God! I have never been made unclean. From the time I was young until now I’ve never eaten anything that died by itself. And I’ve never eaten anything torn by animals. Unclean meat has never entered my mouth.”

¹⁵ “Very well,” he said. “Then I will give you cow’s dung instead of human dung. You may use it for your fire to bake your bread.”

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to me, “Human being, look! I am going to cut off the supply of bread to Jerusalem. They will eat the bread that is measured out to them. And they will worry as they eat it. They will drink water that is measured out to them. And they will be in shock as they drink it. ¹⁷ This is because bread and water will be hard to find. And the people will be shocked at the sight of each other. They will become weak because of their sin.

Praise and Prayer for Help

For the director of music. A song of David.

A Prayer in Time of Sickness

For the director of music. A song of David.

Amen and amen.