M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

3 The fighting between the forces supporting Saul's family and those supporting David went on for a long time. As David became stronger and stronger, his opponents became weaker and weaker.

David's Sons

² The following six sons, in order of their birth, were born to David at Hebron: Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam, from Jezreel; ³ Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel; Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; ⁴ Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital; ⁵ Ithream, whose mother was Eglah. All of these sons were born in Hebron.

Abner Joins David

⁶ As the fighting continued between David's forces and the forces loyal to Saul's family, Abner became more and more powerful among Saul's followers.

⁷ One day Ishbosheth son of Saul accused Abner of sleeping with Saul's concubine Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. ⁸ This made Abner furious. “Do you think that I would betray Saul? Do you really think I'm serving Judah?” he exclaimed. “From the very first I have been loyal to the cause of your father Saul, his brothers, and his friends, and I have kept you from being defeated by David; yet today you find fault with me about a woman! ^9-10 (A)The Lord promised David that he would take the kingdom away from Saul and his descendants and would make David king of both Israel and Judah, from one end of the country to the other. Now may God strike me dead if I don't make this come true!” ¹¹ Ishbosheth was so afraid of Abner that he could not say a word.

¹² Abner sent messengers to David, who at that time was at Hebron,^[a] to say, “Who is going to rule this land? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you win all Israel over to your side.”

¹³ “Good!” David answered. “I will make an agreement with you on one condition: you must bring Saul's daughter Michal to me when you come to see me.” ^14 (B)And David also sent messengers to Ishbosheth to say, “Give me back my wife Michal. I paid a hundred Philistine foreskins in order to marry her.” ¹⁵ So Ishbosheth had her taken from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. ¹⁶ Paltiel followed her all the way to the town of Bahurim, crying as he went. But when Abner said, “Go back home,” he did.

¹⁷ Abner went to the leaders of Israel and said to them, “For a long time you have wanted David to be your king. ¹⁸ Now here is your chance. Remember that the Lord has said, ‘I will use my servant David to rescue my people Israel from the Philistines and from all their other enemies.’” ¹⁹ Abner spoke also to the people of the tribe of Benjamin and then went to Hebron to tell David what the people of Benjamin and of Israel had agreed to do.

²⁰ When Abner came to David at Hebron with twenty men, David gave a feast for them. ²¹ Abner told David, “I will go now and win all Israel over to Your Majesty. They will accept you as king, and then you will get what you have wanted and will rule over the whole land.” David gave Abner a guarantee of safety and sent him on his way.

Abner Is Murdered

²² Later on Joab and David's other officials returned from a raid, bringing a large amount of loot with them. Abner, however, was no longer there at Hebron with David, because David had sent him away with a guarantee of safety. ²³ When Joab and his men arrived, he was told that Abner had come to King David and had been sent away with a guarantee of safety. ²⁴ So Joab went to the king and said to him, “What have you done? Abner came to you—why did you let him go like that? ²⁵ He came here to deceive you and to find out everything you do and everywhere you go. Surely you know that!”

²⁶ After leaving David, Joab sent messengers to get Abner, and they brought him back from Sirah Well; but David knew nothing about it. ²⁷ When Abner arrived in Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate, as though he wanted to speak privately with him, and there he stabbed him in the stomach. And so Abner was murdered because he had killed Joab's brother Asahel. ²⁸ When David heard the news, he said, “The Lord knows that my subjects and I are completely innocent of the murder of Abner. ²⁹ May the punishment for it fall on Joab and all his family! In every generation may there be some man in his family who has gonorrhea or a dreaded skin disease or is fit only to do a woman's work or is killed in battle or doesn't have enough to eat!” ³⁰ So Joab and his brother Abishai took revenge on Abner for killing their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

Abner Is Buried

³¹ Then David ordered Joab and his men to tear their clothes, wear sackcloth, and mourn for Abner. And at the funeral King David himself walked behind the coffin. ³² Abner was buried at Hebron, and the king wept aloud at the grave, and so did all the people. ³³ David sang this lament for Abner:

And the people wept for him again.

³⁵ All day long the people tried to get David to eat something, but he made a solemn promise, “May God strike me dead if I eat anything before the day is over!” ³⁶ They took note of this and were pleased. Indeed, everything the king did pleased the people. ³⁷ All of David's people and all the people in Israel understood that the king had no part in the murder of Abner. ³⁸ The king said to his officials, “Don't you realize that this day a great leader in Israel has died? ³⁹ Even though I am the king chosen by God, I feel weak today. These sons of Zeruiah are too violent for me. May the Lord punish these criminals as they deserve!”

More about Gifts from the Spirit

14 It is love, then, that you should strive for. Set your hearts on spiritual gifts, especially the gift of proclaiming God's message. ² Those who speak in strange tongues do not speak to others but to God, because no one understands them. They are speaking secret truths by the power of the Spirit. ³ But those who proclaim God's message speak to people and give them help, encouragement, and comfort. ⁴ Those who speak in strange tongues help only themselves, but those who proclaim God's message help the whole church.

⁵ I would like for all of you to speak in strange tongues; but I would rather that you had the gift of proclaiming God's message. For the person who proclaims God's message is of greater value than the one who speaks in strange tongues—unless there is someone present who can explain what is said, so that the whole church may be helped. ⁶ So when I come to you, my friends, what use will I be to you if I speak in strange tongues? Not a bit, unless I bring you some revelation from God or some knowledge or some inspired message or some teaching.

⁷ Take such lifeless musical instruments as the flute or the harp—how will anyone know the tune that is being played unless the notes are sounded distinctly? ⁸ And if the one who plays the bugle does not sound a clear call, who will prepare for battle? ⁹ In the same way, how will anyone understand what you are talking about if your message given in strange tongues is not clear? Your words will vanish in the air! ¹⁰ There are many different languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. ¹¹ But if I do not know the language being spoken, those who use it will be foreigners to me and I will be a foreigner to them. ¹² Since you are eager to have the gifts of the Spirit, you must try above everything else to make greater use of those which help to build up the church.

¹³ The person who speaks in strange tongues, then, must pray for the gift to explain what is said. ¹⁴ For if I pray in this way, my spirit prays indeed, but my mind has no part in it. ¹⁵ What should I do, then? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray also with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will sing also with my mind. ¹⁶ When you give thanks to God in spirit only, how can ordinary people taking part in the meeting say “Amen” to your prayer of thanksgiving? They have no way of knowing what you are saying. ¹⁷ Even if your prayer of thanks to God is quite good, other people are not helped at all.

¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in strange tongues much more than any of you. ¹⁹ But in church worship I would rather speak five words that can be understood, in order to teach others, than speak thousands of words in strange tongues.

²⁰ Do not be like children in your thinking, my friends; be children so far as evil is concerned, but be grown up in your thinking. ^21 (A)In the Scriptures it is written,

²² So then, the gift of speaking in strange tongues is proof for unbelievers, not for believers, while the gift of proclaiming God's message is proof for believers, not for unbelievers.

²³ If, then, the whole church meets together and everyone starts speaking in strange tongues—and if some ordinary people or unbelievers come in, won't they say that you are all crazy? ²⁴ But if everyone is proclaiming God's message when some unbelievers or ordinary people come in, they will be convinced of their sin by what they hear. They will be judged by all they hear, ²⁵ their secret thoughts will be brought into the open, and they will bow down and worship God, confessing, “Truly God is here among you!”

Order in the Church

²⁶ This is what I mean, my friends. When you meet for worship, one person has a hymn, another a teaching, another a revelation from God, another a message in strange tongues, and still another the explanation of what is said. Everything must be of help to the church. ²⁷ If someone is going to speak in strange tongues, two or three at the most should speak, one after the other, and someone else must explain what is being said. ²⁸ But if no one is there who can explain, then the one who speaks in strange tongues must be quiet and speak only to himself and to God. ²⁹ Two or three who are given God's message should speak, while the others are to judge what they say. ³⁰ But if someone sitting in the meeting receives a message from God, the one who is speaking should stop. ³¹ All of you may proclaim God's message, one by one, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. ³² The gift of proclaiming God's message should be under the speaker's control, ³³ because God does not want us to be in disorder but in harmony and peace.

As in all the churches of God's people, ³⁴ the women should keep quiet in the meetings. They are not allowed to speak; as the Jewish Law says, they must not be in charge. ³⁵ If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting.

³⁶ Or could it be that the word of God came from you? Or are you the only ones to whom it came? ³⁷ If anyone supposes he is God's messenger or has a spiritual gift, he must realize that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. ³⁸ But if he does not pay attention to this, pay no attention to him.

³⁹ So then, my friends, set your heart on proclaiming God's message, but do not forbid the speaking in strange tongues. ⁴⁰ Everything must be done in a proper and orderly way.

The Prophet as a Refugee

12 The Lord spoke to me. ^2 (A)“Mortal man,” he said, “you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they see nothing; they have ears, but they hear nothing, because they are rebellious.

³ “Now, mortal man, pack a bundle just as a refugee would and start out before nightfall. Let everyone see you leaving and going to another place. Maybe those rebels will notice you.^{[a] 4} While it is still daylight, pack your bundle for exile, so that they can see you, and then let them watch you leave in the evening as if you were going into exile. ⁵ While they are watching, break a hole through the wall of your house and take your pack out through it. ⁶ Let them watch you putting your pack on your shoulder and going out into the dark with your eyes covered, so that you can't see where you are going. What you do will be a warning to the Israelites.”

⁷ I did what the Lord told me to do. That day I packed a bundle as a refugee would, and that evening as it was getting dark I dug a hole in the wall with my hands and went out. While everyone watched, I put the pack on my shoulder and left.

⁸ The next morning the Lord spoke to me. ⁹ “Mortal man,” he said, “now that those Israelite rebels are asking you what you're doing, ¹⁰ tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This message is for the prince ruling in Jerusalem and for all the people who live there. ¹¹ Tell them that what you have done is a sign of what will happen to them—they will be refugees and captives. ¹² The prince who is ruling them will shoulder his pack in the dark and escape through a hole that they dig for him in the wall. He will cover his eyes and not see where he is going. ^13 (B)But I will spread out my net and trap him in it. Then I will take him to the city of Babylon, where he will die without having seen it. ¹⁴ I will scatter in every direction all the members of his court and his advisers and bodyguards, and people will search for them to kill them.

¹⁵ “When I scatter them among the other nations and in foreign countries, they will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁶ I will let a few of them survive the war, the famine, and the diseases, so that there among the nations they will realize how disgusting their actions have been and will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”

The Sign of the Trembling Prophet

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to me. ¹⁸ “Mortal man,” he said, “tremble when you eat, and shake with fear when you drink. ¹⁹ Tell the whole nation that this is the message of the Sovereign Lord to the people of Jerusalem who are still living in their land: They will tremble when they eat and shake with fear when they drink. Their land will be stripped bare, because everyone who lives there is lawless. ²⁰ Cities that are now full of people will be destroyed, and the country will be made a wilderness. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

A Popular Proverb and an Unpopular Message

²¹ The Lord spoke to me. ²² “Mortal man,” he said, “why do the people of Israel repeat this proverb: ‘Time goes by, and predictions come to nothing’? ²³ Now tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, have to say about that. I will put an end to that proverb. It won't be repeated in Israel any more. Tell them instead: The time has come, and the predictions are coming true!

²⁴ “Among the people of Israel there will be no more false visions or misleading prophecies. ²⁵ I, the Lord, will speak to them, and what I say will be done. There will be no more delay. In your own lifetime, you rebels, I will do what I have warned you I would do. I have spoken,” says the Sovereign Lord.

²⁶ The Lord said to me, ²⁷ “Mortal man, the Israelites think that your visions and prophecies are about the distant future. ²⁸ So tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: There will be no more delay. What I have said will be done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

^(A)A Prayer for Forgiveness^[a]