M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 29
The Philistines Reject David. 1 The Philistines gathered all of their forces together at Aphek. The Israelites camped by the spring in Jezreel. 2 The lords of the Philistines were marching along with their units of hundreds and thousands while David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish.
3 The lords of the Philistines said, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied to the lords of the Philistines, “Is this not David, a servant of Saul, the king of the Israel? He has been with me these days, these years. I have found no fault in him since he came to me up until the present.”
4 The lords of the Philistines were angry with him, and the lords of the Philistines said to him, “Send that man back, let him go back to the place where you have assigned him. Do not let him go into battle with us, lest he turn against us during the battle. What other way could he reconcile to his master if not with the heads of these men? 5 Is this not the David of whom they sang while they were dancing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David has killed his ten thousands.’ ”
6 So Achish summoned David and said, “As the Lord lives, you have been upright with me. You have done well in your going out and your coming back with your army. From the day you came to me up to the present, I have found nothing wrong in you. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. 7 Therefore, go back, and leave in peace, so that you not displease the lords of the Philistines.”
8 David said to Achish, “But what have I done? As long as I have been with you, up until now, have you found anything in your servant that would explain why I am not able to go to fight against the enemies of my lord, the king?” 9 Achish answered David, “I consider you to be as good as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the lords of the Philistines have said, ‘He will not go up with us into battle.’ 10 Now, therefore, rise up early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you. Get up at daybreak and depart.”
11 David and his men arose in the morning, and they left for the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Chapter 30
Ziklag Destroyed. 1 Three days later David and his men arrived in Ziklag. The Amalekites had invaded the Negeb and Ziklag; Ziklag was attacked and burned down. 2 The women who were there, young and old, were taken captive. They did not kill any of them, but they carried them off and went on their way.
3 When David and his men arrived in Ziklag, they found it burned to the ground and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 David and his men with him wept out loud until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelite, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel were also taken captive.
6 David was greatly distressed because the people were talking about stoning him. Every single one of them was embittered because of his sons and his daughters, but David found strength in the Lord, his God.
7 David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring the ephod out here.” Abiathar brought the ephod out to David.[a] 8 David inquired of the Lord saying, “Shall I pursue after this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you are sure to overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
David Pursues the Amalekites. 9 David and the six hundred men who were with him left and arrived at the Wadi Besor where some stayed behind, 10 for two hundred men stayed behind who were too exhausted to continue on over the Wadi Besor. David continued the pursuit with four hundred men.
11 They found an Egyptian in a field and they brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink 12 as well as a piece of fig cake and two raisin cakes. When he had eaten, he revived, for he had not had anything to eat or any water to drink for three days and three nights. 13 David asked him, “To whom do you belong? Where are you from?” The young man answered, “Egypt. I am a slave to an Amalekite. My master abandoned me because I became sick three days ago. 14 We raided the south of the Cherethites, and the territory of Judah, and the south of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.” 15 David said to him, “Can you lead me to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”
16 He took him down, and they were scattered all over the countryside, eating, drinking, and dancing to celebrate the great plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah. 17 David fought them from dusk of that day until the next evening. None of them escaped except for four hundred young men who mounted their camels and fled away.
18 David recovered everything that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, not young nor old, not sons nor daughters, not plunder nor anything that they had taken. David recovered it all. 20 David drove all of the flocks and herds before the livestock saying, “This is David’s plunder.”
21 Division of the Spoils. David came to the two hundred men who were so weary that they could not follow and whom David had left behind at the Wadi Besor. They came out to meet David and the people who were with him. As David and the people drew near, he greeted them. 22 All of those who had gone with David but who were wicked men of Belial said, “None of them went with us, so we should not give them any of the spoil. Each of them can take his wife and children and depart.” 23 David replied, “No, my brothers. You must not do that with what the Lord has given us. The Lord protected us and delivered over into our hands the raiding party that came out against us. 24 Who will listen to what you are saying? The share of the man who went down into battle will be the same as the share of the man who stayed with the supplies. They will be equal shares.” 25 He made this a statute and an ordinance in Israel from that day up until the present.
26 When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the spoils to the elders of Judah[b] who were his friends saying, “Behold, this is a gift from the spoils of the enemies of the Lord.” 27 He sent it to those who were in Bethel, to those who were in Ramoth-negeb, to those who were in Jattir, 28 to those who were in Aroer, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 to those who were in Rachal, to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 to those who were in Hormah, to those who were in Borashan, to those who were in Athach, 31 to those who were in Hebron, and to those who were in all those places where David had roamed.
Chapter 10
The Lesson of Israel’s Past.[a] 1 Brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 All ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink—for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the desert.
6 These events occurred to offer examples for us so that we might not desire evil things as they did. 7 Do not become idolaters, as some of them did. It is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to engage in revelry.”
8 Let us not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand of them died in a single day. 9 Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by serpents. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and they were slain by the Destroyer.[b] 11 All these things happened to them to serve as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us upon whom the end of the ages has come.
12 Therefore, if you think you are standing securely, take care that you do not fall 13 No trial has confronted you except what a person can stand. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. But together with the trial he will also provide a way out and the strength to bear it.
14 The Eucharist Versus Pagan Sacrifices.[c] Therefore, my dear friends, avoid idolatry at all costs.[d] 15 I am talking to you as sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
18 Consider the people of Israel.[e] Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What then am I implying? That meat sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20 No, I simply mean that pagan sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to become partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Do we truly wish to provoke the Lord to jealous anger?[f] Are we stronger than he is?
23 Concerning Idol Offerings.“All things are lawful,” you may say—but not all things are beneficial. All things may be lawful—but not all things are constructive. 24 No one should seek his own advantage in preference to that of his neighbor. 25 You may eat whatever meat is sold in the market without raising questions on grounds of conscience, 26 for “the earth and all it contains belong to the Lord.”
27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you decide to accept, eat whatever is set before you without raising any questions on the grounds of conscience. 28 However, if someone says to you, “This food was offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience— 29 I mean the other person’s conscience, not your own. For why should my freedom be governed by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake of the meal with thankfulness, why should I be criticized for eating food for which I give thanks?
31 Give No Offense. Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own good but that of the many, so that they may be saved.
Chapter 8
Idolatry in the Temple.[a] 1 In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting beside me, suddenly the hand of the Lord fell upon me there.
2 As I looked, I beheld a figure that had the form of a man. From the area of his waist downward, he appeared to be like fire, and upward from his waist, he seemed to have a brilliance like gleaming amber. 3 He stretched forth what appeared to be a hand and grasped me by a lock of my hair. A Spirit then lifted me up between earth and heaven, and in divine visions he brought me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner north gate, where stood the idol that arouses one to jealousy.[b] 4 The glory of the God of Israel was present before me, like the vision I had seen in the valley.
5 Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” I raised my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the temple gate, a statue of jealousy stood at the entrance. 6 He asked, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing? Behold the loathsome abominations that the house of Israel is engaging in here in their determination to drive me out of my sanctuary. And you will see still greater abominations.”
7 Then he brought me to the entrance of the court, where I perceived a hole in the wall. 8 He then ordered, “Son of man, dig through the wall.” After I dug through the wall, I beheld a door. 9 He said to me, “Enter and behold the vile abominations in which they are engaged there.”
10 I entered and looked around. Upon the wall were depicted the carved figures of every kind of creeping thing and loathsome animals and all the idols of the house of Israel.[c] 11 Before them stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel, including Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan. Each of them held a censer in his hand, and all the fragrance of the incense ascended upward.
12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each one at the shrine of his own idol? They think that the Lord has forsaken the land and that he does not see them.” 13 He also said to me, “You will see even greater abominations practiced by them.”
14 Next he took me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, where women were sitting, weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, “Son of man, do you see this? You will see even greater abominations than these.”
16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. There, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, prostrating themselves toward the east before the rising sun.
17 Then he said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it not bad enough for the house of Judah to do the loathsome things they have done here? They have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger time after time. Observe how they put the branch to their nose.[d] 18 Therefore, I will turn against them in fury. I will not pity them or spare them. No matter how loudly they may cry out to me, I will not listen to them.”
Psalm 46[a]
God, Refuge of His People
1 For the director.[b] A song of the sons of Korah. According to alamoth.
2 [c]God is our refuge and our strength,
a well-proved help in times of trouble.[d]
3 Therefore, we will not be afraid, though the earth be shaken
and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea,
4 though its waters rage and seethe
and the mountains tremble at the upheaval.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.[e] Selah
5 There is a river[f] whose streams bring joy to the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
6 God is in her midst; she will not be overcome;
God will help her at break of dawn.[g]
7 The nations are in tumult and kingdoms fall;
when he raises his voice,[h] the earth melts away.
8 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
9 Come and behold the works of the Lord,
the astonishing deeds he has wrought on the earth.
10 He puts an end to wars all over the earth;
he breaks the bow and snaps the spear,
and he burns the shields with flames.[i]
11 “Be still and acknowledge that I am God,
exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth.”[j]
12 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Psalm 47[k]
The Lord, King of All Nations
1 For the director.[l] A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 All you peoples, clap your hands,[m]
shout to God with cries of gladness.
3 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome;
he is the great King over all the earth.
4 He subdued nations under us
and brought peoples under our feet.
5 He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob,[n] whom he loved. Selah
6 [o]God has ascended amid shouts of joy;
the Lord, amid the sound of trumpets.
7 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
8 For God is the King of the entire earth;
sing hymns of praise to him.
9 God reigns over all the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
10 The princes of the nations assemble
with the people of the God of Abraham;
for the rulers[p] of the earth belong to God,
and he is exalted on high.
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