M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Goes Back to Ziklag
29 The Philistines gathered all their soldiers at Aphek. Israel camped by the spring at Jezreel. 2 The Philistine kings were marching with their groups of 100 and 1,000 men. David and his men were marching at the back with Achish. 3 The Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”
Achish told them, “This is David. He was an officer to Saul king of Israel. But he has been with me for over a year now. I have found nothing wrong in David since the time he left Saul and came to me.”
4 But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish. They said, “Send David back! He must go back to the city you gave him. He can’t go with us into battle. If he’s here, we’ll have an enemy in our own camp. He would please his king by killing our own men. 5 David is the one the Israelites sing about in their dances:
‘Saul has killed thousands of his enemies.
But David has killed tens of thousands.’”
6 So Achish called David. He said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are loyal. I would be pleased to have you serve in my army. Since the day you came to me, I have found no wrong in you. But the Philistine kings don’t trust you. 7 Go back in peace. Don’t do anything to displease the Philistine kings.”
8 David asked, “What wrong have I done? What evil have you found in me from the day I came to you until now? Why won’t you allow me to fight your enemies, my lord and king?”
9 Achish answered, “I know you are as pleasing to me as an angel from God. But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘David can’t go with us into battle.’ 10 Early in the morning you and your master’s servants, the Israelites, should go back. Go back to the city I gave you. Leave as soon as the sun comes up.”
11 So David and his men got up early in the morning. They went back to the country of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
David’s War with the Amalekites
30 On the third day David and his men arrived at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it. 2 They took the women and everyone in Ziklag as prisoners, both young and old. But they did not kill any of the people. They only took them away.
3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found the town had been burned. Their wives, sons and daughters had been taken as prisoners. 4 Then David and his army cried loudly until they were too weak to cry anymore. 5 David’s two wives had also been taken. They were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal from Carmel. 6 The men in the army were threatening to kill David with stones. This upset David very much. Each man was sad and angry because his sons and daughters had been taken as prisoners. But David found strength in the Lord his God. 7 David said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the holy vest.”
8 Then David prayed to the Lord. He said, “Should I chase the people who took our families? Will I catch them?”
The Lord answered, “Chase them. You will catch them. You will succeed in saving your families.”
9 David and the 600 men with him came to the Besor Ravine. Some of the men stayed there. 10 David and 400 men kept up the chase. The other 200 men stayed behind because they were too tired and weak to cross the ravine.
11 David’s men found an Egyptian in a field. They took him to David. They gave the Egyptian some water to drink and some food to eat. 12 They gave him a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. He felt better after eating. He had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and nights.
13 David asked him, “Who is your master? Where do you come from?”
He answered, “I’m an Egyptian. I’m the slave of an Amalekite. Three days ago my master left me, because I became sick. 14 We attacked the southern area of the Kerethites. We attacked the land of Judah and the southern area belonging to Caleb. We burned Ziklag, as well.
15 David asked him, “Will you lead me to the people who took our families?”
He answered, “Yes, if you will make a promise to me before God. Promise that you won’t kill me or give me back to my master. Then I will take you to them.”
16 So the Egyptian led David to the Amalekites. They were lying around on the ground, eating and drinking. They were celebrating with the things they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. 17 David fought them from sunset until evening the next day. None of them escaped, except 400 young men who rode off on their camels. 18 David got his two wives back. He also got back everything the Amalekites had taken. 19 Nothing was missing. David brought back everything: the young and old people, the sons and daughters, the valuable things and everything the Amalekites had taken. 20 David took all the sheep and cattle. His men made these animals go in front. They said, “They are David’s prize.”
21 Then David came to the 200 men who had been too tired and weak to follow him. He had made them stay at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the army with him. When he came near, the men at the ravine greeted David and his army.
22 But there were evil men and troublemakers in the group that followed David. They said, “These 200 men didn’t go with us. So we won’t give them any of the things we took. But each man may take his wife and children and go.”
23 David answered, “No, my brothers. Don’t do that after what the Lord has given us. He has given us the enemy who attacked us. 24 Who will listen to what you say? The share will be the same for the man who stayed with the supplies as for the man who went into battle. All will share alike.” 25 David made this an order and rule for Israel. This order and rule continues even today.
26 David arrived in Ziklag. Then he sent some of the things he had taken from the Amalekites to his friends, the leaders of Judah. He said, “Here is a present for you from the things we took from the Lord’s enemies.”
27 David sent some things from the Amalekites to the leaders in Bethel, Ramoth in the southern part of Judah, Jattir, 28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa 29 and Racal. He also sent some to the leaders of the cities of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, 30 to Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach 31 and Hebron. He sent some things to the people in all the other places where he and his men had been.
Don’t Be Like the Jews
10 Brothers, I want you to know what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the cloud, and they all went through the sea. 2 They were all baptized as followers of Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food. 4 And they all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from that spiritual rock that was with them. That rock was Christ. 5 But God was not pleased with most of them. They died in the desert.
6 And these things that happened are examples for us. They should stop us from wanting evil things as those people did. 7 Do not worship idols, as some of them did. It is written in the Scriptures: “The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up and had wild parties.”[a] 8 We should not take part in sexual sin, as some of them did. In one day 23,000 of them died because of their sins. 9 We should not test the Lord as some of them did. They were killed by snakes. 10 And do not complain as some of them did. They were killed by the angel that destroys.
11 The things that happened to those people are examples. And they were written down to be warnings for us. For we live in a time when all these things of the past have reached their goal. 12 So anyone who thinks he is standing strong should be careful not to fall. 13 The only temptations that you have are the temptations that all people have. But you can trust God. He will not let you be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape that temptation. Then you will be able to stand it.
14 So, my dear friends, stay away from worshiping idols. 15 I am speaking to you, as to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 We give thanks for the cup of blessing.[b] It is a sharing in the blood of Christ’s death. And the bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. 17 There is one loaf of bread. And we are many people. But we all share from that one loaf. So we are really one body.
18 Think about the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices share in the altar? 19 I do not mean that the food sacrificed to an idol is something important. And I do not mean that an idol is anything at all. 20 But I say that what is sacrificed to idols is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to share anything with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons, too. 22 Do we want to make the Lord jealous? We are not stronger than he is, are we?
How to Use Christian Freedom
23 “We are allowed to do all things.” Yes. But not all things are good for us to do. “We are allowed to do all things.” Yes. But not all things help others grow stronger. 24 No one should try to do what will help only himself. He should try to do what is good for others.
25 Eat any meat that is sold in the meat market. Do not ask questions about the meat to see if it is something you think is wrong to eat. 26 You can eat it, “because the earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.”[c]
27 Someone who is not a believer may invite you to eat with him. If you want to go, eat anything that is put before you. Do not ask questions about it. 28 But if anyone says to you, “That food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it. Do not eat it because of that person who told you and because eating it would be something that might be thought wrong. 29 I don’t mean that you think it is wrong. But the other person might think it is wrong. My own freedom should not be judged by what someone else thinks. 30 I eat the meal with thankfulness. And I do not want to be criticized because of something I thank God for.
31 So if you eat, or if you drink, or if you do anything, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Never do anything that might make others do wrong—Jews, Greeks, or God’s church. 33 I do the same thing. I try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me. I try to do what is good for the most people. I do this so that they can be saved.
Ezekiel’s Vision of Jerusalem
8 It was the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month of our captivity. I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah before me. There I felt the power of the Lord God. 2 I looked and saw something that looked like a man. From his waist down he looked like fire. From his waist up he looked like bright glowing metal. 3 He stretched out the shape of a hand. And he caught me by the hair on my head. The Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the sky. He took me in the visions of God to Jerusalem. He took me to the entrance to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple. The courtyard was where the idol was that caused God to be jealous. 4 The glory of the God of Israel was there. It was like what I had seen on the plain.
5 Then God said to me, “Human being, now look toward the north.” So I looked up toward the north. I saw an altar to the north of the gate. The idol that caused God to be jealous was in the entrance.
6 The Lord said to me, “Human being, do you see what they are doing? Do you see how many hated things the people of Israel are doing here? This will drive me far away from my Temple. But you will see things more hated than these.”
7 Then the Lord brought me to the entry of the courtyard. When I looked, I saw a hole in the wall. 8 The Lord said to me, “Human being, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and saw an entrance.
9 Then the Lord said to me, “Go in and see the terrible, evil things they are doing here.” 10 So I entered and looked. And I saw pictures of every kind of crawling thing. I saw awful beasts and all the idols of the people of Israel. They were carved on the wall all around. 11 Seventy of the elders of Israel were standing there. They were in front of these carvings and idols. Jaazaniah son of Shaphan stood with them. Each man had his pan for burning incense in his hand. A sweet-smelling cloud of incense was rising.
12 Then the Lord said to me, “Human being, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the dark? Have you seen each man in the room of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us. The Lord has left the land.’” 13 And he said to me, “You will see even more terrible things that they are doing.”
14 Then the Lord brought me to the opening of the north gate of the Temple. And I saw women sitting there crying for Tammuz.[a] 15 The Lord said to me, “Do you see, human being? You will see things even more terrible than these.”
16 Then the Lord brought me into the inner courtyard of the Temple. And I saw about 25 men. They were at the entrance to the Temple, between the porch and the altar. Their backs were turned to the Temple of the Lord. They faced east. They were worshiping the sun in the east.
17 The Lord said to me, “Do you see, human being? Is it unimportant that the people of Judah are doing the terrible things they have done here? They have filled the land with violence. They continually make me angry. Look, they are insulting me every way they can. 18 So I will act in anger. I will have no pity. I will not show mercy. Even if they shout in my ears, I won’t listen to them.”
God Protects His People
For the director of music. By alamoth. A song of the sons of Korah.
46 God is our protection and our strength.
He always helps in times of trouble.
2 So we will not be afraid if the earth shakes,
or if the mountains fall into the sea.
3 We will not fear even if the oceans roar and foam,
or if the mountains shake at the raging sea. Selah
4 There is a river which brings joy to the city of God.
This is the holy place where God Most High lives.
5 God is in that city, and so it will not be shaken.
God will help her at dawn.
6 Nations tremble, and kingdoms shake.
God shouts, and the earth crumbles.
7 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
8 Come and see what the Lord has done.
He has done amazing things on the earth.
9 He stops wars everywhere on the earth.
He breaks all bows and spears
and burns up the chariots with fire.
10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God.
I will be praised in all the nations.
I will be praised throughout the earth.”
11 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
God, the King of the World
For the director of music. A song of the sons of Korah.
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with joy.
2 The Lord Most High is wonderful.
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He defeated nations for us
and put them under our control.
4 He chose the land we would inherit.
We are the children of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
5 God has risen with a shout of joy.
The Lord has risen as the trumpets sounded.
6 Sing praises to God. Sing praises.
Sing praises to our King. Sing praises.
7 God is King of all the earth.
So sing a song of praise to him.
8 God is King over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The leaders of the nations meet
with the people of the God of Abraham.
Even the leaders of the earth belong to God.
He is supreme.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.