Bible Reading Plan

David's Victory over the Amalekites

¹ Then it happened, when David and his men came to ^(C1)Ziklag on the third day, that ^(C2)the Amalekites had carried out an attack on the ^(F1)Negev and on ^(C3)Ziklag, and had ^(F2)overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;² and they took captive the women and all who were in it, from the small to the great, ^(F1)(C1)without killing anyone, and drove them off and went their way.³ When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.⁴ Then David and the people who were with him ^(C1)raised their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.⁵ Now ^(C1)David's two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the ^(F1)widow of Nabal the Carmelite.⁶ Also, David was in great distress because ^(C1)the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were ^(F1)embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But ^(C2)David felt strengthened in the LORD his God.

⁷ Then ^(C1)David said to ^(C2)Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Please bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.⁸ And ^(C1)David inquired of the LORD, saying, "^(C2)Shall I pursue this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?" And He said to him, "Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them, ^(C3)and you will certainly rescue everyone."⁹ So David left, ^(C1)he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where some who were left behind stayed.¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for ^(C1)two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor stayed behind.

¹¹ Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink.¹² They also gave him a slice of fig cake and two cakes of raisins, and he ate; ^(C1)then his spirit ^(F1)revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.¹³ Then David said to him, "To whom do you belong? And where are you from?" And he said, "I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master abandoned me when I became sick three days ago.¹⁴ "We carried out an attack on ^(C1)the ^(F1)Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on ^(C2)the ^(F1)Negev of Caleb, and ^(C3)we burned Ziklag with fire."¹⁵ Then David said to him, "Will you bring me down to this band of raiders?" And he said, "Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will bring you down to this band."

¹⁶ Now when he had brought him down, behold, they were dispersed over all the land, ^(C1)eating and drinking and celebrating because of ^(C2)all the great plunder that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.¹⁷ And David ^(F1)slaughtered them ^(C1)from the twilight ^(F2)until the evening of ^(F3)the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on ^(C2)camels and fled.¹⁸ So David ^(C1)recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and ^(F1)rescued his two wives.¹⁹ And nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, plunder, or anything that they had taken for themselves; ^(C1)David brought it all back.²⁰ So David had ^(F1)captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of ^(F2)the other livestock, and they said, "^(C1)This is David's plunder."

The Plunder Is Divided

²¹ When ^(C1)David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David and ^(F1)had been left behind at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them.²² Then all the wicked and ^(F1)worthless men among those who went with David said, "Since they did not go with ^(F2)us, we will not give them any of the spoils that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, so that they may lead them away and leave."²³ But David said, "You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, for He has protected us and handed over to us the band of raiders that came against us.²⁴ "And who will listen to you in this matter? For ^(C1)as is the share of the one who goes down into the battle, so shall be the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike."²⁵ So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶ Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoils to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Behold, ^(C1)a ^(F1)gift for you from the spoils of ^(C2)the enemies of the LORD:²⁷ to those who were in ^(C1)Bethel, to those who were in ^(C2)Ramoth of the ^(F1)Negev, to those who were in ^(C3)Jattir,²⁸ to those who were in ^(C1)Aroer, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in ^(C2)Eshtemoa,²⁹ to those who were in Racal, to those who were in the cities of ^(C1)the Jerahmeelites, to those who were in the cities of ^(C2)the Kenites,³⁰ to those who were in ^(C1)Hormah, to those who were in ^(C2)Bor-ashan, to those who were in Athach,³¹ to those who were in ^(C1)Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men ^(C2)walked."

Chapter 24

The Resurrection

^1 (C1)But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of ^(C1)the Lord Jesus.⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, ^(C1)two men suddenly ^(C2)stood near them in gleaming clothing;⁵ and as ^(F1)the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why are you seeking the living One among the dead?⁶ "He is not here, but He ^(C1)has ^(F1)risen. Remember how He spoke to you ^(C2)while He was still in Galilee,⁷ saying that ^(C1)the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead."⁸ And ^(C1)they remembered His words,⁹ and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.¹⁰ Now these women were ^(C1)Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to ^(C2)the apostles.¹¹ But these words appeared ^(F1)to them as nonsense, and they ^(C1)would not believe ^(F2)the women.¹² Nevertheless, Peter got up and ^(C1)ran to the tomb; and when he stooped and looked in, he ^(*)saw the linen wrappings ^(F1)only; and he went away ^(C2)to his ^(F2)home, marveling at what had happened.

The Road to Emmaus

¹³ And behold, on that very day ^(C1)two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, which was ^(F1)sixty stadia from Jerusalem.¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.¹⁶ But ^(C1)their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.¹⁷ And He said to them, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?" And they came to a stop, looking sad.¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, "Are You possibly the only one living near Jerusalem ^(F1)who does not know about the things that happened here in these days?"¹⁹ And He said to them, "What sort of things?" And they said to Him, "Those about ^(C1)Jesus the Nazarene, who proved to be a ^(C2)prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,²⁰ and how the chief priests and our ^(C1)rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and crucified Him.²¹ "But we ^(F1)were hoping that it was He who was going to ^(C1)redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.²² "But also some women among us left us bewildered. ^(C1)When they were at the tomb early in the morning,²³ and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.²⁴ "And so some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see."²⁵ And then He said to them, "^(F1)You foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that ^(C1)the prophets have spoken!²⁶ "^(C1)Was it not necessary for the ^(F1)Christ to suffer these things and to come into His glory?"²⁷ Then beginning ^(F1)with ^(C1)Moses and ^(F1)with all the ^(C2)Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸ And they approached the village where they were going, and ^(C1)He gave the impression that He was going farther.²⁹ And so they strongly urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day ^(F1)is now nearly over." So He went in to stay with them.³⁰ And it came about, when He had reclined at the table with them, that He took the bread and ^(C1)blessed it, and He broke it and began giving it to them.³¹ And then their ^(C1)eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from ^(F1)their sight.³² They said to one another, "^(F1)Were our hearts not burning within us when He was speaking to us on the road, while He ^(C1)was ^(F2)explaining the Scriptures to us?"³³ And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and ^(C1)found the eleven gathered together and ^(C2)those who were with them,³⁴ saying, "^(C1)The Lord has really risen and ^(C2)has appeared to Simon!"³⁵ They began to relate ^(F1)their experiences on the road, and how ^(C1)He was recognized by them at the breaking of the bread.<