M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Goes to See Ahimelech

21 David went to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech shook with fear when he saw David. He asked David, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

² David answered him, “The king gave me a special order. He told me, ‘No one must know about the work I am sending you to do. And no one must know what I told you to do.’ I told my men where to meet me. ³ Now, what food do you have with you? Give me five loaves of bread or anything you find.”

⁴ The priest said to David, “I don’t have any plain bread here. But I do have some holy bread^[a] here. You may eat it if your men have kept themselves from women.”

⁵ David answered, “Women have been kept from us. My men always keep their bodies holy, even when we do ordinary work. And this is especially true when the work is holy.”

⁶ There was no bread except the bread made holy for the Lord. So the priest gave David the bread that showed the people were in the presence of God. This was the bread the priests had taken from the holy table before the Lord. Each day they took this bread away and put hot bread in its place.

⁷ Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day. He had been held there before the Lord. He was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸ David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword here? The king’s business was very important. I had to leave quickly, and I didn’t bring my sword or any other weapon.”

⁹ The priest answered, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine is here. He is the one you killed in the Valley of Elah. His sword is wrapped in a cloth. It is behind the holy vest. If you want it, you may take it. There’s no other sword here but that one.”

David said, “There is no other sword like Goliath’s. Give it to me.”

David Goes to Gath

¹⁰ That day David ran away from Saul. He went to Achish king of Gath. ¹¹ But the servants of Achish said to him, “This is David king of the Israelites. He’s the man the Israelite women sing about when they dance. They sing:

¹² David paid attention to these words. And he was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. ¹³ So he pretended to be insane in front of Achish and his servants. While he was with them, he acted like a madman. He made marks on the doors of the gate. He let spit run down his beard.

¹⁴ Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He’s insane! Why do you bring him to me? ¹⁵ I have enough madmen. I don’t need you to bring him here to act like this in front of me! Don’t leave him in my house!”

David at Adullam and Mizpah

22 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. His brothers and other relatives heard that he was there. And they went to see him. ² Many people joined David. All those who were in trouble, who owed money or who were unsatisfied gathered around him. And he became their leader. He had about 400 men with him.

³ From there David went to Mizpah in Moab. He spoke to the king of Moab. He said, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you. Let them stay until I learn what God is going to do for me.” ⁴ So he left them with the king of Moab. And they stayed with the king as long as David was hiding in the protected place.

⁵ But the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the protected place. Go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

Saul Destroys Ahimelech’s Family

⁶ Saul heard that David and his men had been seen. He sat under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah. All his officers were standing around him. He had a spear in his hand. ⁷ Saul said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Do you think the son of Jesse will give all of you fields and vineyards? Will David make you commanders over thousands of men or hundreds of men? ⁸ You have all made plans against me! No one tells me when my son makes an agreement with the son of Jesse! No one cares about me! No one tells me my son has encouraged my servant to ambush me! And David is doing this now!”

⁹ Doeg the Edomite was standing there with Saul’s officers. He said, “I saw the son of Jesse. He came to see Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. ¹⁰ Ahimelech prayed to the Lord for David. He also gave him food. And he gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub. He sent for all of Ahimelech’s relatives who were priests at Nob. And they all came to the king. ¹² Saul said to Ahimelech, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”

Ahimelech answered, “Yes, master.”

¹³ Saul said, “Why have you and Jesse’s son made plans against me? You gave him bread and a sword! You prayed to God for him. David is waiting to attack me. He is doing this now!”

¹⁴ Ahimelech answered, “David is very loyal to you. You have no other servant who is as loyal as David. He is your own son-in-law and captain of your bodyguards. All the people in your house respect him. ¹⁵ That was not the first time I prayed to God for David. Not at all! Don’t blame me or any of my relatives. We are your servants. I know nothing about what is going on.”

¹⁶ But the king said, “Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die!” ¹⁷ Then he told the guards at his side, “Go and kill the priests of the Lord. Do this because they are on David’s side. They knew he was running away, but they didn’t tell me!”

But the king’s officers refused to hurt the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸ Then the king ordered Doeg, “Go and kill the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite went and killed the priests. That day he killed 85 men who wore the linen holy vest. ¹⁹ He also killed the people of Nob, the city of the priests. With the sword he killed men, women, children and small babies. And he killed cattle, donkeys and sheep.

²⁰ But Abiathar escaped. He was a son of Ahimelech, who was the son of Ahitub. Abiathar ran away and joined David. ²¹ He told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. ²² Then David told him, “Doeg the Edomite was there at Nob that day. I knew he would surely tell Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your father’s family. ²³ The man who wants to kill you also wants to kill me. Stay with me. Don’t be afraid. You will be safe with me.”

Following Men Is Wrong

3 Brothers, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to spiritual people. I had to talk to you as I would to people of the world—babies in Christ. ² The teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food. I did this because you were not ready for solid food. And even now you are not ready. ³ You are still not spiritual. You have jealousy and arguing among you. This shows that you are not spiritual. You are acting like people of the world. ⁴ One of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos.” When you say things like this, you are acting like worldly people.

⁵ Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. ⁶ I planted the seed of the teaching in you, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made the seed grow. ⁷ So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God is important, because he is the One who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose. And each will be rewarded for his own work. ⁹ We are workers together for God. And you are like a farm that belongs to God.

And you are a house that belongs to God. ¹⁰ Like an expert builder I built the foundation of that house. I used the gift that God gave me to do this. Others are building on that foundation. But everyone should be careful how he builds. ¹¹ The foundation has already been built. No one can build any other foundation. The foundation that has already been laid is Jesus Christ. ¹² Anyone can build on that foundation, using gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw. ¹³ But the work that each person does will be clearly seen, because the Day^[a] will make it plain. That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test every man’s work. ¹⁴ If the building that a man puts on the foundation still stands, he will get his reward. ¹⁵ But if his building is burned up, he will suffer loss. The man will be saved, but it will be as if he escaped from a fire.

¹⁶ You should know that you yourselves are God’s temple. God’s Spirit lives in you. ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him, because God’s temple is holy. You yourselves are God’s temple.

¹⁸ Do not fool yourselves. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this world, he should become a fool. Then he can become truly wise, ¹⁹ because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. It is written in the Scriptures, “He catches wise men in their own clever traps.”^{[b] 20} It is also written in the Scriptures, “The Lord knows what people think. He knows they are just a puff of wind.”^{[c] 21} So you should not brag about men. All things are yours: ²² Paul, Apollos and Peter; the world, life, death, the present, and the future—all these things are yours. ²³ And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Ezekiel’s Vision of Living Things

1 It was the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month of our captivity. I, Ezekiel, was by the Kebar River in Babylon. I was among the people who had been carried away as captives from the land of Judah. The sky opened, and I saw visions of God.

² It was the fifth year that King Jehoiachin had been a prisoner. It was on the fifth day of the month. ³ The Lord spoke his word to Ezekiel son of Buzi. This was in the land of the Babylonians by the Kebar River. There he felt the power of the Lord.

⁴ When I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming from the north. There was a great cloud with a bright light around it. Fire was flashing out of it. And there was something that looked like glowing metal in the center of the fire. ⁵ Inside the cloud were what looked like four living creatures. They were shaped like men. ⁶ Each of them had four faces. And each of them had four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight. Their feet were like a calf’s hooves. And they sparkled like polished bronze. ⁸ The living creatures had men’s hands. They were under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings. ⁹ And their wings touched each other. The living creatures did not turn when they moved. Each went straight ahead.

¹⁰ Their faces looked like this: In front each living creature had the face of a man. Each one had the face of a lion on the right side. Each one had the face of an ox on the left side. And in back each one had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ This was what their faces looked like. Their wings were spread out above. Each had two wings that touched one of the other living creatures. Each living creature had two wings that covered its body. ¹² Each went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, the living creatures would also go. When they went, they did not turn. ¹³ The living creatures looked like burning coals of fire. They were like torches. Fire went back and forth among the living creatures. It was bright, and lightning flashed from it. ¹⁴ The living creatures ran back and forth like bolts of lightning.

¹⁵ Now I looked at the living creatures. And I saw a wheel on the ground by each of the living creatures with its four faces. ¹⁶ The wheels and the way they were made were like this: They looked like sparkling chrysolite. All four of them looked the same. The wheels looked like one wheel crossways inside another wheel. ¹⁷ When they moved, they went in any one of the four directions. They did not turn as they went. ¹⁸ I saw the rims of the wheels. The rims were full of eyes all around.

¹⁹ When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the living creatures were lifted up from the ground, the wheels also were lifted up. ²⁰ Wherever the spirit would go, the living creatures would go. And the wheels were lifted up beside them. This is because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹ When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved. When the living creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. And when the living creatures were lifted from the ground, the wheels were lifted beside them. This is because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²² Now there was something like a dome over the heads of the living creatures. It sparkled like ice and was frightening. ²³ And under the dome the wings of the living creatures were stretched out straight toward one another. Each living creature also had two wings covering its body. ²⁴ I heard the sound of their wings as they moved. It was like the roaring sound of the sea. It was like the voice of God All-Powerful. It was a roaring sound like a noisy army. When the living creatures stood still, they lowered their wings.

²⁵ And a voice came from above the dome over the heads of the living creatures. When the living creatures stood still, they lowered their wings. ²⁶ Now above the dome there was something that looked like a throne. It looked like a sapphire gem. And on the throne was a shape like a man. ²⁷ Then I noticed what he looked like from the waist up. He looked like glowing metal with fire inside it. And from his waist down he looked like fire. I saw a bright light all around him. ²⁸ The glow around him looked like the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. It seemed to look like the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I bowed facedown on the ground. And I heard a voice speaking.

God Will Reward Fairly

Of David.