M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

29 Now the Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by the fountain in Jezreel.

² As the Philistine lords were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were in the rear with Achish,

³ The Philistine princes said, What are these Hebrews doing here? Achish said to the Philistine princes, Is not this David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days and years, and I have found no fault in him since he deserted to me to this day?

⁴ And the Philistine princes were angry with Achish and they said to him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place where you have assigned him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could David reconcile himself to his master? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?

⁵ Is not this David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, As surely as the Lord lives, you have been honest and upright, and for you to go out and come in with me in the army is good in my sight; for I have found no evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Yet the lords do not approve of you.

⁷ So return now and go peaceably, so as not to displease the Philistine lords.

⁸ David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

⁹ And Achish said to David, I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

¹⁰ So now rise up early in the morning, with your master’s servants who have come with you, and as soon as you are up and have light, depart.

¹¹ So David and his men rose up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel [to fight against Israel].

30 Now when David and his men came home to Ziklag on the third day, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South (the Negeb) and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire,

² And had taken the women and all who were there, both great and small, captive. They killed no one, but carried them off and went on their way.

³ So David and his men came to the town, and behold, it was burned, and their wives and sons and daughters were taken captive.

⁴ Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

⁵ David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

⁷ David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray you, bring me the ephod. And Abiathar brought him the ephod.

⁸ And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.

⁹ So David went, he and the 600 men with him, and came to the brook Besor; there those remained who were left behind.

¹⁰ But David pursued, he and 400 men, for 200 stayed behind who were too exhausted and faint to cross the brook Besor.

¹¹ They found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and water to drink,

¹² And a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins; and when he had eaten, his spirit returned to him, for he had eaten no food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

¹³ And David said to him, To whom do you belong? And from where have you come? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me because three days ago I fell sick.

¹⁴ We had made a raid on the South (Negeb) of the Cherethites and upon that which belongs to Judah and upon the South (Negeb) of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.

¹⁵ And David said to him, Can you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.

¹⁶ And when he had brought David down, behold, the raiders were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

¹⁷ And David smote them from twilight even to the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except 400 youths who rode camels and fled.

¹⁸ David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken and rescued his two wives.

¹⁹ Nothing was missing, small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken; David recovered all.

²⁰ Also David captured all the flocks and herds [which the enemy had], and the people drove those animals before him and said, This is David’s spoil.

²¹ And David came to the 200 men who were so exhausted and faint that they could not follow [him] and had been left at the brook Besor [with the baggage]. They came to meet David and those with him, and when he came near to the men, he saluted them.

²² Then all the wicked and base men who went with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will give them nothing of the spoil we have recovered, except that every man may lead away his wife and children and depart.

²³ David said, You shall not do so, my brethren, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and has delivered into our hands the troop that came against us.

²⁴ Who would listen to you in this matter? For as is the share of him who goes into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.

²⁵ And from that day to this he made it a statute and ordinance for Israel.

²⁶ When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to the elders of Judah, his friends, saying, Here is a gift for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:

²⁷ For those in Bethel, Ramoth of the Negeb, Jattir,

²⁸ Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,

²⁹ Racal, the cities of the Jerahmeelites, the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰ Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach,

³¹ Hebron, and for those in all the places David and his men had habitually haunted.

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, that our forefathers were all under and protected by the cloud [in which God’s Presence went before them], and every one of them passed safely through the [Red] Sea,^(A)

² And each one of them [allowed himself also] to be baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea [they were thus brought under obligation to the Law, to Moses, and to the covenant, consecrated and set apart to the service of God];

³ And all [of them] ate the same spiritual (supernaturally given) food,^(B)

⁴ And they all drank the same spiritual (supernaturally given) drink. For they drank from a spiritual Rock which followed them [produced by the sole power of God Himself without natural instrumentality], and the Rock was Christ.^(C)

⁵ Nevertheless, God was not pleased with the great majority of them, for they were overthrown and strewn down along [the ground] in the wilderness.^(D)

⁶ Now these things are examples (warnings and admonitions) for us not to desire or crave or covet or lust after evil and carnal things as they did.^(E)

⁷ Do not be worshipers of false gods as some of them were, as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink [the sacrifices offered to the golden calf at Horeb] and rose to sport (to dance and give way to jesting and hilarity).^(F)

⁸ We must not gratify evil desire and indulge in immorality as some of them did—and twenty-three thousand [suddenly] fell dead in a single day!^(G)

⁹ We should not tempt the Lord [try His patience, become a trial to Him, critically appraise Him, and exploit His goodness] as some of them did—and were killed by poisonous serpents;^(H)

¹⁰ Nor discontentedly complain as some of them did—and were ^[a]put out of the way entirely by the destroyer (death).^(I)

¹¹ Now these things befell them by way of a figure [as an example and warning to us]; they were written to admonish and fit us for right action by good instruction, we in whose days the ages have reached their climax (their consummation and concluding period).

¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin].

¹³ For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not ^[b]adjusted and ^[c]adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to ^[d]a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

¹⁴ Therefore, my dearly beloved, shun (keep clear away from, avoid by flight if need be) any sort of idolatry (of loving or venerating anything more than God).

¹⁵ I am speaking as to intelligent (sensible) men. Think over and make up your minds [for yourselves] about what I say. [I appeal to your reason and your discernment in these matters.]

¹⁶ The cup of blessing [of wine at the Lord’s Supper] upon which we ask [God’s] blessing, does it not mean [that in drinking it] we participate in and share a fellowship (a communion) in the blood of Christ (the Messiah)? The bread which we break, does it not mean [that in eating it] we participate in and share a fellowship (a communion) in the body of Christ?

¹⁷ For we [no matter how] numerous we are, are one body, because we all partake of the one Bread [the One Whom the communion bread represents].

¹⁸ Consider those [physically] people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners of the altar [united in their worship of the same God]?^(J)

¹⁹ What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is [intrinsically changed by the fact and amounts to] anything or that an idol itself is a [living] thing?

²⁰ No, I am suggesting that what the pagans sacrifice they offer [in effect] to demons (to evil spiritual powers) and not to God [at all]. I do not want you to fellowship and be partners with diabolical spirits [by eating at their feasts].^(K)

²¹ You cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the demons’ cup. You cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the demons’ table.

²² Shall we thus provoke the Lord to jealousy and anger and indignation? Are we stronger than He [that we should defy Him]?^(L)

²³ All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].

²⁴ Let no one then seek his own good and advantage and profit, but [rather] each one of the other [let him seek the welfare of his neighbor].

²⁵ [As to meat offered to idols] eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question or investigating on the grounds of conscientious scruples,

²⁶ For the [whole] earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it.^(M)

²⁷ In case one of the unbelievers invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is served to you without examining into its source because of conscientious scruples.

²⁸ But if someone tells you, This has been offered in sacrifice to an idol, do not eat it, out of consideration for the person who informed you, and for conscience’s sake—

²⁹ I mean for the sake of his conscience, not yours, [do not eat it]. For why should another man’s scruples apply to me and my liberty of action be determined by his conscience?

³⁰ If I partake [of my food] with thankfulness, why am I accused and spoken evil of because of that for which I give thanks?

³¹ So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God.

³² Do not let yourselves be [hindrances by giving] an offense to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God [^[e]do not lead others into sin by your mode of life];

³³ Just as I myself strive to please [to accommodate myself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others, adapting myself to] all men in everything I do, not aiming at or considering my own profit and advantage, but that of the many in order that they may be saved.

8 And in the sixth year [of the capitivity of King Jehoiachin], in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house [a captive of the Babylonians] with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.

² Then I beheld, and lo, a likeness of a Man with the appearance of fire; from His waist downward He was like fire, and from His waist upward He had the appearance of brightness like gleaming bronze.

³ And He put forth the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the door of the inner [court] which faces toward the north, where was the seat of the idol (image) of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.^(A)

⁴ And behold, there was the glory of the God of Israel [Who had loved and chosen them], like the vision I saw in the plain.^(B)

⁵ Then He [the Spirit] said to me, Son of man, now lift up your eyes toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, on the north of the altar gate was that idol (image) of jealousy in the entrance.

⁶ Furthermore, [the Spirit] said to me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? The great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here to drive Me far from My sanctuary? But you shall again see greater abominations.

⁷ And He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall.

⁸ Then He said to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall. And when I had dug in the wall, behold, there was a door.

⁹ And He said to me, Go in and see the wicked abominations that they do here.

¹⁰ So I went in and saw there pictures of every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel, painted round about on the wall.

¹¹ And there stood before these [pictures] seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan [the scribe], with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense was going up [in prayer to these their gods].

¹² Then said He to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his [secret] chambers of [idol] pictures? For they say, The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.

¹³ He also said to me, Yet again you shall see greater abominations which they are committing.

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz [a Babylonian god, who was supposed to die annually and subsequently be resurrected].

¹⁵ Then said [the Spirit] to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Yet again you shall see greater abominations that they are committing.

¹⁶ And He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house; and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the bronze altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing themselves toward the east and worshiping the sun.

¹⁷ Then [the Spirit] said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too slight a thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here, that they must fill the land with violence and turn back afresh to provoke Me to anger? And behold, they put the branch to their nose [actually, before their mouths, in superstitious worship]!

¹⁸ Therefore I will deal in wrath; My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.^(C)

Psalm 46

To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah, set to treble voices. A song.

¹ God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas,

³ Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early [at the dawn of the morning].

⁶ The nations raged, the kingdoms tottered and were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our Fortress and High Tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations and wonders in the earth.

⁹ He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two; He burns the chariots in the fire.

¹⁰ Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!

¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our High Tower and Stronghold). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

Psalm 47

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

¹ O clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy!

² For the Lord Most High excites terror, awe, and dread; He is a great King over all the earth.

³ He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.

⁴ He chose our inheritance for us, the glory and pride of Jacob, whom He loves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!^(A)

⁵ God has ascended amid shouting, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

⁷ For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises in a skillful psalm and with understanding.

⁸ God reigns over the nations; God sits upon His holy throne.

⁹ The princes and nobles of the peoples are gathered together, a [united] people for the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.