M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Flees to the Philistines

27 Then David said to ^[a]himself, “Now I will ^[b]perish one day by the hand of Saul. ^(A)There is nothing better for me than to safely escape into the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.” ² So David set out and went over, he and ^(B)the six hundred men who were with him, to ^(C)Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ And David lived with Achish in Gath, he and his men, ^(D)each with his own household—David with ^(E)his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s ^[c]widow. ⁴ Now it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, have them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, so that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” ⁶ So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore ^(F)Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷ The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was ^(G)a year and four months.

⁸ Now David and his men went up and attacked ^(H)the Geshurites, the Girzites, and ^(I)the Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to ^(J)Shur even as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹ David ^[d]attacked the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he ^(K)took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. ¹⁰ Now Achish said, “^[e]Where did you ^(L)carry out an attack today?” And David said, “Against the ^[f]Negev of Judah, against the ^[g]Negev of ^(M)the Jerahmeelites, and against the ^[h]Negev of ^(N)the Kenites.” ¹¹ And David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, “Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, ‘This is what David has done, and this has been his practice all the time that he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’” ¹² So Achish believed David, saying, “He has undoubtedly made himself repulsive among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.”

Take Care with Your Liberty

8 Now concerning ^(A)food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have ^(B)knowledge. Knowledge ^[a](C)makes one conceited, but love ^(D)edifies people. ^2 (E)If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet ^(F)known as he ought to know; ³ but if anyone loves God, he ^(G)is known by Him.

⁴ Therefore, concerning the eating of ^(H)food sacrificed to idols, we know that an ^(I)idol is ^[b]nothing at all in the world, and that ^(J)there is no God but one. ⁵ For even if ^(K)there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, ⁶ yet for us ^(L)there is only one God, ^(M)the Father, ^(N)from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and ^(O)one Lord, Jesus Christ, ^(P)by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

⁷ However, not all people ^(Q)have this knowledge; but ^(R)some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸ Now ^(S)food will not bring us ^[c]close to God; we are neither ^[d]the worse if we do not eat, nor ^[e]the better if we do eat. ⁹ But ^(T)take care that this ^[f]freedom of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the ^(U)weak. ¹⁰ For if someone sees you, the one who has ^(V)knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, if he is weak, not be strengthened to eat ^(W)things sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ For through ^(X)your knowledge the one who is weak ^(Y)is ruined, the brother or sister for whose sake Christ died. ^12 (Z)And so, by sinning against the brothers and sisters and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin ^(AA)against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, ^(AB)if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to sin.

Idolatrous Worship Denounced

6 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, set your face toward the ^(A)mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them ³ and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord ^[a]God! This is what the Lord ^[b]God says to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword against you, and ^(B)I will destroy your high places. ⁴ So your ^(C)altars will become deserted and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. ⁵ I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your ^(D)bones around your altars. ^6 [c]Everywhere you live, ^(E)cities will be in ruins and the high places will be deserted, so that your altars will be in ruins and ^[d]deserted, your ^(F)idols will be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars will be cut down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

⁸ “However, I will leave a ^(G)remnant, in that you will have those who ^(H)escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. ⁹ Then those of you who escape will ^(I)remember Me among the nations to which they will be taken captive, how I have ^[e](J)been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which committed infidelity with their idols; and they will ^(K)loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. ¹⁰ Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord ^[f]God says: ‘Clap your hands, ^(L)stamp your foot and say, “^(M)Woe, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by the ^(N)sword, famine, and plague! ¹² Anyone who is ^(O)far away will die by the plague, anyone who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who remains and is spared from these will die by the famine. So I will ^(P)expend My wrath on them. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their ^(Q)dead are among their idols around their altars, on ^(R)every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every massive oak with thick branches—the places where they offered a soothing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴ So through all their dwelling places I will ^(S)stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; so they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.