M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Spares Saul's Life

24 When Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David was in the wilderness near Engedi. ² Saul took three thousand of the best soldiers in Israel and went looking for David and his men east of Wild Goat Rocks. ^3 (A)He came to a cave close to some sheep pens by the road and went in to relieve himself. It happened to be the very cave in which David and his men were hiding far back in the cave. ⁴ They said to him, “This is your chance! The Lord has told you that he would put your enemy in your power and you could do to him whatever you wanted to.” David crept over and cut off a piece of Saul's robe without Saul's knowing it. ⁵ But then David's conscience began to hurt, ^6 (B)and he said to his men, “May the Lord keep me from doing any harm to my master, whom the Lord chose as king! I must not harm him in the least, because he is the king chosen by the Lord!” ⁷ So David convinced his men that they should not attack Saul.

Saul got up, left the cave, and started away. ⁸ Then David went out after him and called to him, “Your Majesty!” Saul turned around, and David bowed down to the ground in respect ⁹ and said, “Why do you listen to people who say that I am trying to harm you? ¹⁰ You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the Lord put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the Lord chose to be king. ¹¹ Look, my father, look at the piece of your robe I am holding! I could have killed you, but instead I only cut this off. This should convince you that I have no thought of rebelling against you or of harming you. You are hunting me down to kill me, even though I have not done you any wrong. ¹² May the Lord judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least. ¹³ You know the old saying, ‘Evil is done only by evil people.’ And so I will not harm you. ^14 (C)Look at what the king of Israel is trying to kill! Look at what he is chasing! A dead dog, a flea! ¹⁵ The Lord will judge, and he will decide which one of us is wrong. May he look into the matter, defend me, and save me from you.”

¹⁶ When David had finished speaking, Saul said, “Is that really you, David my son?” And he started crying. ¹⁷ Then he said to David, “You are right, and I am wrong. You have been so good to me, while I have done such wrong to you! ¹⁸ Today you have shown how good you are to me, because you did not kill me, even though the Lord put me in your power. ¹⁹ How often does someone catch an enemy and then let him get away unharmed? The Lord bless you for what you have done to me today! ²⁰ Now I am sure that you will be king of Israel and that the kingdom will continue under your rule. ²¹ But promise me in the Lord's name that you will spare my descendants, so that my name and my family's name will not be completely forgotten.” ²² David promised that he would.

Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went back to their hiding place.

Immorality in the Church

5 ^(A)Now, it is actually being said that there is sexual immorality among you so terrible that not even the heathen would be guilty of it. I am told that a man is sleeping with his stepmother! ² How, then, can you be proud? On the contrary, you should be filled with sadness, and the man who has done such a thing should be expelled from your fellowship. ^3-4 And even though I am far away from you in body, still I am there with you in spirit; and as though I were there with you, I have in the name of our Lord Jesus already passed judgment on the man who has done this terrible thing. As you meet together, and I meet with you in my spirit, by the power of our Lord Jesus present with us, ⁵ you are to hand this man over to Satan for his body to be destroyed, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.

^6 (B)It is not right for you to be proud! You know the saying, “A little bit of yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.” ^7 (C)You must remove the old yeast of sin so that you will be entirely pure. Then you will be like a new batch of dough without any yeast, as indeed I know you actually are. For our Passover Festival is ready, now that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ^8 (D)Let us celebrate our Passover, then, not with bread having the old yeast of sin and wickedness, but with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of purity and truth.

⁹ In the letter that I wrote you I told you not to associate with immoral people. ¹⁰ Now I did not mean pagans who are immoral or greedy or are thieves, or who worship idols. To avoid them you would have to get out of the world completely. ¹¹ What I meant was that you should not associate with a person who calls himself a believer but is immoral or greedy or worships idols or is a slanderer or a drunkard or a thief. Don't even sit down to eat with such a person.

^12-13 (E)After all, it is none of my business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the members of your own fellowship? As the scripture says, “Remove the evil person from your group.”

3 ^(A)God said, “Mortal man, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.”

² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. ³ He said, “Mortal man, eat this scroll that I give you; fill your stomach with it.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey.

⁴ Then God said, “Mortal man, go to the people of Israel and say to them whatever I tell you to say. ⁵ I am not sending you to a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language, but to the Israelites. ⁶ If I sent you to great nations that spoke difficult languages you didn't understand, they would listen to you. ⁷ But none of the people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me. All of them are stubborn and defiant. ⁸ Now I will make you as stubborn and as tough as they are. ⁹ I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond; don't be afraid of those rebels.”

¹⁰ God continued, “Mortal man, pay close attention and remember everything I tell you. ¹¹ Then go to the people of your nation who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not.”

¹² Then God's spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the loud roar of a voice that said, “Praise the glory of the Lord in heaven above!” ¹³ I heard the wings of the creatures beating together in the air, and the noise of the wheels, as loud as an earthquake. ¹⁴ The power of the Lord came on me with great force, and as his spirit carried me off, I felt bitter and angry. ¹⁵ So I came to Tel Abib beside the Chebar River, where the exiles were living, and for seven days I stayed there, overcome by what I had seen and heard.

The Lord Appoints Ezekiel as a Lookout^(B)

¹⁶ After the seven days had passed, the Lord spoke to me. ¹⁷ “Mortal man,” he said, “I am making you a lookout for the nation of Israel. You will pass on to them the warnings I give you. ¹⁸ If I announce that someone evil is going to die but you do not warn him to change his ways so that he can save his life, he will die, still a sinner, but I will hold you responsible for his death. ¹⁹ If you do warn an evil man and he doesn't stop sinning, he will die, still a sinner, but your life will be spared.

²⁰ “If someone truly good starts doing evil and I put him in a dangerous situation, he will die if you do not warn him. He will die because of his sins—I will not remember the good he did—and I will hold you responsible for his death. ²¹ If you do warn a good man not to sin and he listens to you and doesn't sin, he will stay alive, and your life will also be spared.”

Ezekiel Will Be Unable to Talk

²² I felt the powerful presence of the Lord and heard him say to me, “Get up and go out into the valley. I will talk to you there.”

²³ So I went out into the valley, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had seen it beside the Chebar River. I fell face downward on the ground, ²⁴ but God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet. The Lord said to me, “Go home and shut yourself up in the house. ²⁵ You will be tied with ropes, mortal man, and you will not be able to go out in public. ²⁶ I will paralyze your tongue so that you won't be able to warn these rebellious people. ²⁷ Then, when I speak to you again and give you back the power of speech, you will tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. Some of them will listen, but some will ignore you, for they are a nation of rebels.”

The Confession of a Sufferer^[a]