Mark 13:14–31; 2 Corinthians 11:16–33; Psalm 106:24–48; 1 Samuel 29–31

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Mark 13:14–31

The Abomination of Desolation

14 But when you see bthe abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (clet the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 dLet the one who is on ethe housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And falas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19 For in those days there will be gsuch htribulation as has not been ifrom the beginning of the creation that jGod created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for kthe sake of the elect, whom lhe chose, he shortened the days. 21 And mthen if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ! or Look, there he is! do not believe it. 22 nFor false christs and false prophets will arise and operform signs and wonders, pto lead astray, if possible, qthe elect. 23 But rbe on guard; sI have told you all things beforehand.

The Coming of the Son of Man

24 But in those days, after tthat tribulation, uthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and vthe stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see wthe Son of Man coming in clouds xwith great power and glory. 27 And then yhe will send out the angels and zgather ahis elect from bthe four winds, from cthe ends of the earth dto the ends of heaven.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

28 From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, eat the very gates. 30 fTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 gHeaven and earth will pass away, but hmy words will not pass away.


2 Corinthians 11:16–33

Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle

16 I repeat, rlet no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying swith this boastful confidence, tI say not as the Lord would1 but as a fool. 18 Since umany boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly bear with fools, vbeing wise yourselves! 20 For you bear it if someone wmakes slaves of you, or xdevours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or ystrikes you in the face. 21 To my shame, I must say, zwe were too weak for that!

But whatever anyone else dares to boast ofI am speaking as a foolI also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? aSo am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they bservants of Christ? cI am a better oneI am talking like a madmanwith far greater labors, dfar more imprisonments, ewith countless beatings, and foften near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the gforty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was hbeaten with rods. iOnce I was stoned. Three times I jwas shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, kdanger from my own people, ldanger from Gentiles, mdanger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 nin toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, oin hunger and thirst, often without food,2 in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for pall the churches. 29 qWho is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

30 rIf I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 sThe God and Father of the Lord Jesus, the who is blessed forever, uknows that I am not lying. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas vwas guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 wbut I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.


Psalm 106:24–48

24  Then they udespised vthe pleasant land,

having wno faith in his promise.

25  They xmurmured in their tents,

and did not obey the voice of the Lord.

26  Therefore he yraised his hand and swore to them

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27  and would make their offspring fall among the nations,

zscattering them among the lands.

28  Then they ayoked themselves to the aBaal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to bthe dead;

29  they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

30  Then cPhinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was stayed.

31  And that was dcounted to him as righteousness

from generation to generation forever.

32  They eangered him at the waters of Meribah,

and it went ill with Moses on their account,

33  for they fmade his spirit bitter,1

and he gspoke rashly with his lips.

34  They did not hdestroy the peoples,

ias the Lord commanded them,

35  but they jmixed with the nations

and learned to do as they did.

36  They served their idols,

which became ka snare to them.

37  They lsacrificed their sons

and their daughters to mthe demons;

38  they poured out innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,

and the land was npolluted with blood.

39  Thus they obecame unclean by their acts,

and pplayed the whore in their deeds.

40  Then qthe anger of the Lord was kindled against rhis people,

and he abhorred his rheritage;

41  he sgave them into the hand of the nations,

so that those who hated them ruled over them.

42  Their enemies toppressed them,

and they were brought into subjection under their power.

43  uMany times he delivered them,

but they were rebellious in their vpurposes

and were wbrought low through their iniquity.

44  Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,

when he xheard their cry.

45  For their sake he yremembered his covenant,

and zrelented according to athe abundance of his steadfast love.

46  He caused them to be bpitied

by all those who held them captive.

47  cSave us, O Lord our God,

and dgather us from among the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

48  eBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

eAnd let all the people say, Amen!

fPraise the Lord!


1 Samuel 29–31

The Philistines Reject David

dNow the Philistines had gathered all their forces at eAphek. And the Israelites were encamped by fthe spring that is in gJezreel. As hthe lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear iwith Achish, the commanders of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me jnow for days and years, and since he deserted to me kI have found no fault in him to this day. But hthe commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, Send the man back, that he may return lto the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, mlest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances,

nSaul has struck down his thousands,

and David his ten thousands?

Then Achish called David and said to him, oAs the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that pyou should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines. And David said to Achish, But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? And Achish answered David and said, I know that you are as blameless in my sight qas an angel of God. Nevertheless, rthe commanders of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. 10 Now then rise early in the morning swith the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light. 11 So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to tJezreel.

David’s Wives Are Captured

Now when David and his men came to uZiklag on the third day, vthe Amalekites had wmade a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all1 who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s xtwo wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke yof stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul,2 each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

zAnd David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Bring me the ephod. So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. aAnd David inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue after this bband? Shall I overtake them? He answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake cand shall surely rescue. So David set out, and dthe six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. eTwo hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, fhis spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, To whom do you belong? And where are you from? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 gWe had made a raid against the Negeb of hthe Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. 15 And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this iband.

David Defeats the Amalekites

16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18 jDavid recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. jDavid brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him,3 and said, This is David’s spoil.

21 Then David came to kthe two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left kat the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart. 23 But David said, You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24 Who would listen to you in this matter? lFor as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike. 25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.

26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord. 27 It was for those in mBethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in nJattir, 28 in oAroer, in Siphmoth, in pEshtemoa, 29 in Racal, in the cities of qthe Jerahmeelites, in the cities of rthe Kenites, 30 in sHormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31 in tHebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.

The Death of Saul

uNow the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain von Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down wJonathan and xAbinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. yThe battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. zThen Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these auncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me. But his armor-bearer would not, bfor he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword cand fell upon it. And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, dto carry the good news eto the house of their idols and to the people. 10 fThey put his armor in the temple of gAshtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of hBeth-shan. 11 iBut when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 jall the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh kand burned them there. 13 And they took their bones land buried them under mthe tamarisk tree in Jabesh and nfasted seven days.