M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Again Spares Saul
26 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.”(A) 2 So Saul, accompanied by 3,000 of the choice men of Israel,(B) went to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there. 3 Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah(C) opposite Jeshimon. David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.(D) 4 So David sent out spies and knew for certain that Saul had come. 5 Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner,(E) the general of his army, were lying down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him. 6 Then David asked Ahimelech the Hittite(F) and Joab’s brother Abishai(G) son of Zeruiah, “Who will go with me into the camp(H) to Saul?”
“I’ll go with you,” answered Abishai.
7 That night, David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the troops were lying around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has handed your enemy over to you. Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once. I won’t have to strike him twice!”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the Lord’s anointed and be blameless?”(I) 10 David added, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will certainly strike him down:(J) either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 However, because of the Lord, I will never lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed.(K) Instead, take the spear and the water jug by his head, and let’s go.”
12 So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul’s head, and they went their way. No one saw them, no one knew, and no one woke up; they all remained asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord(L) came over them. 13 David crossed to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance; there was a considerable space between them. 14 Then David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner: “Aren’t you going to answer, Abner?”
“Who are you who calls to the king?” Abner asked.
15 David called to Abner, “You’re a man, aren’t you? Who in Israel is your equal? So why didn’t you protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him? 16 What you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, all of you deserve to die since you didn’t protect your lord, the Lord’s anointed.(M) Now look around; where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”
17 Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, my son David?”(N)
“It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said. 18 Then he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?(O) 19 Now, may my lord the king please hear the words of his servant: If it is the Lord who has incited you against me,(P) then may He accept an offering.(Q) But if it is people,(R) may they be cursed in the presence of the Lord, for today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord saying,(S) ‘Go and worship other gods.’ 20 So don’t let my blood fall to the ground far from the Lord’s presence, for the king of Israel has come out to search for a flea,(T) like one who pursues a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Saul responded, “I have sinned.(U) Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my life precious. I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.”
22 David answered, “Here is the king’s spear; have one of the young men come over and get it. 23 May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness(V) and his loyalty. I wasn’t willing to lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed, even though the Lord handed you over to me today.(W) 24 Just as I considered your life valuable today, so may the Lord consider my life valuable(X) and rescue me from all trouble.”(Y)
25 Saul said to him, “You are blessed, my son David. You will certainly do great things and will also prevail.”(Z) Then David went on his way, and Saul returned home.(AA)
Principles of Marriage
7 Now in response to the matters you wrote[a] about: “It is good for a man not to have relations with[b] a woman.”[c] 2 But because sexual immorality is so common,[d](A) each man should have his own wife,(B) and each woman should have her own husband. 3 A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility(C) to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not deprive(D) one another sexually—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to[e] prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say the following[f] as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all people were just like me. But each has his own gift(E) from God, one person in this way and another in that way.
A Word to the Unmarried
8 I say to the unmarried and to widows:(F) It is good for them if they remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control,(G) they should marry, for it is better to marry(H) than to burn with desire.
About Married People
10 I command the married(I)—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave[g] her husband. 11 But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to leave his wife.(J) 12 But I (not the Lord)[h] say to the rest: If any brother(K) has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her. 13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is set apart for God(L) by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is set apart for God by the husband.[i] Otherwise your children would be corrupt, but now they are set apart for God. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you[j] to live in peace. 16 For you, wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Or you, husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
Various Situations of Life
17 However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called(M) him.[k] This is what I command in all the churches. 18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. 19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter, but keeping God’s commands does. 20 Each person should remain in the life situation[l] in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? It should not be a concern to you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.[m] 22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave(N) is the Lord’s freedman.[n] Likewise he who is called as a free man[o] is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought(O) at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each person should remain with God in whatever situation he was called.
About the Unmarried and Widows
25 About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy(P) is trustworthy.(Q) 26 Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress: It is fine for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 However, if you do get married,(R) you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life,[p] and I am trying to spare you. 29 And I say this, brothers: The time is limited,(S) so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, 30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice(T) as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, 31 and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.(U)
32 I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please(V) the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord,(W) so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin,[q] if she is past marriageable age,[r] and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. 37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will(X)) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well. 38 So then he who marries[s] his virgin does well, but he who does not marry[t] will do better.
39 A wife is bound[u] as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord.[v] 40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Ezekiel Dramatizes Jerusalem’s Fall
5 “Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword,(A) use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair. 2 You are to burn up a third of it in the city when the days of the siege have ended;(B) you are to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind, for I will draw a sword to chase after them. 3 But you are to take a few strands from the hair and secure them in the folds of your robe.(C) 4 Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it.(D) A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.
5 “This is what the Lord God says: I have set this Jerusalem in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 But she has rebelled against My ordinances with more wickedness than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that surround her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.
7 “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you have been more insubordinate than the nations around you(E)—you have not walked in My statutes or kept My ordinances; you have not even kept the ordinances of the nations around you— 8 therefore, this is what the Lord God says: See, I am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments within you in the sight of the nations. 9 Because of all your detestable practices, I will do to you what I have never done before and what I will never do again.(F) 10 As a result, fathers will eat their sons(G) within Jerusalem,[a] and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your survivors to every direction of the wind.
11 “Therefore, as I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“I am going to cut you off and show you no pity, because you have defiled My sanctuary(H) with all your detestable practices and abominations.(I) Yes, I will not spare you. 12 A third of your people will die by plague and be consumed by famine within you;(J) a third will fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter a third to every direction of the wind, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.(K) 13 When My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath on them, I will be appeased.(L) Then after I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in My jealousy.(M)
14 “I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 So you[b] will be a disgrace and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger,(N) wrath, and furious rebukes. I, Yahweh, have spoken. 16 When I shoot deadly arrows of famine at them, arrows for destruction that I will send to destroy you, inhabitants of Jerusalem, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of bread. 17 I will send famine and dangerous animals against you. They will leave you childless, Jerusalem. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, Yahweh, have spoken.”(O)
BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.(A)
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”(C)
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:(D)
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.(E)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(F)
6 I[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.(G)
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.(H)
8 The Lord will send His faithful love by day;(I)
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,(J)
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”(K)
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”(L)
11 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(M)
Psalm 43[b]
1 Vindicate me, God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.(N)
2 For You are the God of my refuge.
Why have You rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?(O)
3 Send Your light and Your truth; let them lead me.(P)
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,
to Your dwelling place.(Q)
4 Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.(R)
I will praise You with the lyre,
God, my God.(S)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(T)
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