M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
23 One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Keilah robbing the threshing floors.
2 David asked the Lord, “Shall I go and attack them?”
“Yes, go and save Keilah,” the Lord told him.
3 But David’s men said, “We’re afraid even here in Judah; we certainly don’t want to go to Keilah to fight the whole Philistine army!”
4 David asked the Lord again, and the Lord again replied, “Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.”
5 They went to Keilah and slaughtered the Philistines and confiscated their cattle, and so the people of Keilah were saved. 6 (Abiathar the priest went to Keilah with David, taking his ephod with him to get answers for David from the Lord.) 7 Saul soon learned that David was at Keilah.
“Good!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got him now! God has delivered him to me, for he has trapped himself in a walled city!”
8 So Saul mobilized his entire army to march to Keilah and besiege David and his men. 9 But David learned of Saul’s plan and told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and to ask the Lord what he should do.
10 “O Lord God of Israel,” David said, “I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me to him? And will Saul actually come, as I have heard? O Lord God of Israel, please tell me.”
And the Lord said, “He will come.”
12 “And will these men of Keilah betray me to Saul?” David persisted.
And the Lord replied, “Yes, they will betray you.”
13 So David and his men—about six hundred of them now—left Keilah and began roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped, so he didn’t go there after all. 14-15 David now lived in the wilderness caves in the hill country of Ziph. One day near Horesh he received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him. Saul hunted him day after day, but the Lord didn’t let him find him.
16 (Prince Jonathan now went to find David; he met him at Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God.
17 “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel and I will be next to you, as my father is well aware.” 18 So the two of them renewed their pact of friendship; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan returned home.)
19 But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to him.
“We know where he is hiding,” they said. “He is in the caves of Horesh on Hachilah Hill, down in the southern part of the wilderness. 20 Come on down, sir, and we will catch him for you and your fondest wish will be fulfilled!”
21 “Well, praise the Lord!” Saul said. “At last someone has had pity on me! 22 Go and check again to be sure of where he is staying and who has seen him there, for I know that he is very crafty. 23 Discover his hiding places and then come back and give me a more definite report. Then I’ll go with you. And if he is in the area at all, I’ll find him if I have to search every inch of the entire land!”
24-25 So the men of Ziph returned home. But when David heard that Saul was on his way to Ziph, he and his men went even further into the wilderness of Maon in the south of the desert. But Saul followed them there. 26 He and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain. As Saul and his men began to close in, David tried his best to escape, but it was no use. 27 But just then a message reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding Israel again, 28 so Saul quit the chase and returned to fight the Philistines. Ever since that time the place where David was camped has been called, “The Rock of Escape.” 29 David then went to live in the caves of Engedi.
4 So Apollos and I should be looked upon as Christ’s servants who distribute God’s blessings by explaining God’s secrets. 2 Now the most important thing about a servant is that he does just what his master tells him to. 3 What about me? Have I been a good servant? Well, I don’t worry over what you think about this or what anyone else thinks. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but even that isn’t final proof. It is the Lord himself who must examine me and decide.
5 So be careful not to jump to conclusions before the Lord returns as to whether someone is a good servant or not. When the Lord comes, he will turn on the light so that everyone can see exactly what each one of us is really like, deep down in our hearts. Then everyone will know why we have been doing the Lord’s work. At that time God will give to each one whatever praise is coming to him.
6 I have used Apollos and myself as examples to illustrate what I have been saying: that you must not have favorites. You must not be proud of one of God’s teachers more than another. 7 What are you so puffed up about? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why act as though you are so great, and as though you have accomplished something on your own?
8 You seem to think you already have all the spiritual food you need. You are full and spiritually contented, rich kings on your thrones, leaving us far behind! I wish you really were already on your thrones, for when that time comes you can be sure that we will be there, too, reigning with you. 9 Sometimes I think God has put us apostles at the very end of the line, like prisoners soon to be killed, put on display at the end of a victor’s parade, to be stared at by men and angels alike.
10 Religion has made us foolish, you say, but of course you are all such wise and sensible Christians! We are weak, but not you! You are well thought of, while we are laughed at. 11 To this very hour we have gone hungry and thirsty, without even enough clothes to keep us warm. We have been kicked around without homes of our own. 12 We have worked wearily with our hands to earn our living. We have blessed those who cursed us. We have been patient with those who injured us. 13 We have replied quietly when evil things have been said about us. Yet right up to the present moment we are like dirt underfoot, like garbage.
14 I am not writing about these things to make you ashamed, but to warn and counsel you as beloved children. 15 For although you may have ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, remember that you have only me as your father. For I was the one who brought you to Christ when I preached the Gospel to you. 16 So I beg you to follow my example and do as I do.
17 That is the very reason why I am sending Timothy—to help you do this. For he is one of those I won to Christ, a beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord. He will remind you of what I teach in all the churches wherever I go.
18 I know that some of you will have become proud, thinking that I am afraid to come to deal with you. 19 But I will come, and soon, if the Lord will let me, and then I’ll find out whether these proud men are just big talkers or whether they really have God’s power. 20 The Kingdom of God is not just talking; it is living by God’s power. 21 Which do you choose? Shall I come with punishment and scolding, or shall I come with quiet love and gentleness?
2 And he said to me: “Stand up, son of dust,[a] and I will talk to you.”
2 And the Spirit entered into me as he spoke, and set me on my feet.
3 “Son of dust,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, to a nation rebelling against me. They and their fathers have kept on sinning against me until this very hour. 4 For they are a hard-hearted, stiff-necked people. But I am sending you to give them my messages—the messages of the Lord God. 5 And whether they listen or not (for remember, they are rebels), they will at least know they have had a prophet among them.
6 “Son of dust, don’t be afraid of them; don’t be frightened even though their threats are sharp and barbed and sting like scorpions. Don’t be dismayed by their dark scowls. For remember, they are rebels! 7 You must give them my messages whether they listen or not (but they won’t,[b] for they are utter rebels). 8 Listen, son of dust, to what I say to you. Don’t you be a rebel too! Open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
9-10 Then I looked and saw a hand holding out to me a scroll, with writing on both sides. He unrolled it, and I saw that it was full of warnings and sorrows and pronouncements of doom.
38 O Lord, don’t punish me while you are angry! 2 Your arrows have struck deep; your blows are crushing me. 3-4 Because of your anger, my body is sick, my health is broken beneath my sins. They are like a flood, higher than my head; they are a burden too heavy to bear. 5-6 My wounds are festering and full of pus. Because of my sins, I am bent and racked with pain. My days are filled with anguish. 7 My loins burn with inflammation,[a] and my whole body is diseased. 8 I am exhausted and crushed; I groan in despair.[b]
9 Lord, you know how I long for my health once more. You hear my every sigh. 10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind. 11 My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease. Even my own family stands at a distance.
12 Meanwhile my enemies are trying to kill me. They plot my ruin and spend all their waking hours planning treachery. 13-14 But I am deaf to all their threats; I am silent before them as a man who cannot speak. I have nothing to say. 15 For I am waiting for you, O Lord my God. Come and protect me. 16 Put an end to their arrogance, these who gloat when I am cast down!
17 How constantly I find myself upon the verge of sin;[c] this source of sorrow always stares me in the face. 18 I confess my sins; I am sorry for what I have done. 19 But my enemies persecute with vigor and continue to hate me—though I have done nothing against them to deserve it. 20 They repay me evil for good and hate me for standing for the right.
21 Don’t leave me, Lord; don’t go away! 22 Come quickly! Help me, O my Savior.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.