The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday May 18, 2017 (NIV)

David in Judah and Moab

22 So David escaped from that place and fled to the cave at Adullam. When his brothers and all the rest of his family heard about it, they went to him. ² Then everyone who was in trouble, in debt, or bitter about life joined him, and he became their commander. There were about four hundred men with him.

³ From there David went to Mizpah in Moab. He asked the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what Elohim is going to do for me.” ⁴ He brought them to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was living in his fortified camp.

⁵ “Don’t live in your fortified camp,” the prophet Gad told David. “Go to the land of Judah.” So David went to the forest of Hereth.

Saul Massacres the Priests at Nob

⁶ Saul heard that David and his men had been found. Saul was staying in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at the worship site^[a] with his spear in his hand and all his officials standing around him. ⁷ He said to his officials, “Listen here, men of Benjamin! Will Jesse’s son give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all officers over a regiment or a battalion of soldiers? ⁸ All of you are plotting against me, and no one informed me when my son entered into a loyalty pledge with Jesse’s son. No one felt sorry for me and informed me that my son has encouraged my servant David to ambush me, as he’s doing now.”

⁹ Then Doeg from Edom, standing with Saul’s officials, answered him, “I saw Jesse’s son when he came to Ahimelech, Ahitub’s son, in Nob. ¹⁰ Ahimelech prayed to Yahweh for David and gave him food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech, who was Ahitub’s son, and his entire family who were the priests in Nob. All of them came to the king. ¹² Saul said, “Listen here, son of Ahitub!”

“Yes, sir?” he responded.

¹³ Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse’s son plot against me? You gave him bread and a sword and prayed to Elohim for him so that he can rise up against me and ambush me, as he’s doing now.”

¹⁴ Ahimelech asked the king, “But whom among all your officials can you trust like David? Your Majesty, he’s your son-in-law, the commander of your bodyguard. He’s honored in your own household. ¹⁵ Is this the first time I have prayed to Elohim for him? Not at all! You shouldn’t blame me or anyone in my family for this. I knew nothing at all about this.”

¹⁶ Saul said, “Ahimelech, you and your entire family are going to die.”

¹⁷ “Turn and kill Yahweh’s priests because they support David,” the king said to the runners standing around him. “When they knew David was fleeing, they didn’t inform me.” But the king’s men refused to attack Yahweh’s priests.

¹⁸ So the king said to Doeg, “You turn and attack the priests.” Doeg from Edom turned and attacked the priests, and that day he killed 85 men wearing the linen priestly ephod.^{[b] 19} He also killed the people of Nob, the city of the priests. Using his sword, he killed men and women, children and infants, cows, donkeys, and sheep.

²⁰ But Ahimelech, Ahitub’s son, had one son who escaped. His name was Abiathar. He fled to David. ²¹ Abiathar told David that Saul had killed Yahweh’s priests.

²² David told Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg from Edom was there that he would be certain to tell Saul. I am the one responsible^[c] for all the lives of your family. ²³ Stay with me. Don’t be afraid. The one who is seeking my life is also seeking your life. However, you will be under my protection.”

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 David was asked, “Did you know that the Philistines are fighting against Keilah? They are robbing the threshing floors.”^[d]

² David asked Yahweh, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?”

“Go,” Yahweh told David, “attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

³ David’s men told him, “We’re afraid of staying here in Judah. How much more afraid do you think we’ll be if we go to Keilah against the Philistine army?”

⁴ David asked Yahweh again, and Yahweh answered him. He said, “Go to Keilah. I’m giving you the power to defeat the Philistines.”

⁵ David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines, drove off their livestock, and decisively defeated them. So David rescued the people who lived in Keilah.

⁶ When Ahimelech’s son Abiathar fled to David at Keilah, Abiathar brought a priestly ephod^[e] with him.

⁷ When Saul was told that David went to Keilah, Saul said, “Elohim has delivered him into my hands. He has trapped himself by going into a city which has a gate with a double door held shut by a bar.” ⁸ So Saul called together all the troops to go to war and blockade Keilah, where David and his men were.

⁹ When David learned that Saul was planning to harm him, he told the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “Yahweh Elohim of Israel, I have actually heard that Saul is going to come to Keilah and destroy the city on account of me. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come here as I have heard? Yahweh Elohim of Israel, please tell me.”

“He will come,” Yahweh answered.

¹² “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” David asked.

“They will hand you over,” Yahweh answered.

¹³ So David and his men, about six hundred^[f] in all, left Keilah. They went wherever they could go. Then Saul was told, “David has escaped from Keilah!” So he gave up the campaign. ¹⁴ David lived in fortified camps in the desert, and he lived in fortified camps in the mountains of the desert of Ziph. Saul was always searching for him, but Elohim didn’t let him capture David.

David in the Desert of Ziph

¹⁵ David was afraid because^[g] Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. ¹⁶ Saul’s son Jonathan came to David at Horesh. He strengthened David’s faith in Yahweh.^{[h] 17} “Don’t be afraid,” he told David, “my father Saul won’t find you. You will rule Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this.” ¹⁸ Both of them made a pledge in Yahweh’s presence. David stayed in Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

¹⁹ Then the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah. They said, “David is hiding with us in fortified camps at Horesh on the hills of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon. ²⁰ Come, Your Majesty, whenever you want. We will hand him over to you.”

²¹ Saul responded, “Yahweh bless you for feeling sorry for me! ²² Please make more plans, and watch where he goes. Who has seen him there? I’m told he’s very clever. ²³ Watch and learn about all the hiding places where he may be hiding, and come back to me with the facts. Then I’ll go with you, and if he’s in the country, I’ll search for him among all the families of Judah.” ²⁴ They left for Ziph ahead of Saul.

David in the Desert of Maon

David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plains south of Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men came to look for him, David was told the news. So he went to his mountain stronghold in the desert of Maon. Saul heard about it and pursued David into the desert of Maon. ²⁶ Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, and Saul and his men were going around the mountain toward David and his men, trying to capture them. ²⁷ Then a messenger came to Saul and said, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the country.”

²⁸ Saul gave up pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. So that place was called Slippery Rock.^{[i] 29} From there David went to stay in the fortified camps of En Gedi.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

10 “I can guarantee this truth: The person who doesn’t enter the sheep pen through the gate but climbs in somewhere else is a thief or a robber. ² But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out of the pen. ⁴ After he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. ⁵ They won’t follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize his voice.” ⁶ Yeshua used this illustration as he talked to the people, but they didn’t understand what he meant.

⁷ Yeshua emphasized, “I can guarantee this truth: I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before I did were thieves or robbers. However, the sheep didn’t respond to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Those who enter the sheep pen through me will be saved. They will go in and out of the sheep pen and find food. ¹⁰ A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired hand isn’t a shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep. When he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and quickly runs away. So the wolf drags the sheep away and scatters the flock. ¹³ The hired hand is concerned about what he’s going to get paid and not about the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep as the Father knows me.^[a] My sheep know me as I know the Father. ¹⁵ So I give my life for my sheep. ¹⁶ I also have other sheep that are not from this pen. I must lead them. They, too, will respond to my voice. So they will be one flock with one shepherd. ¹⁷ The Father loves me because I give my life in order to take it back again. ¹⁸ No one takes my life from me. I give my life of my own free will. I have the authority to give my life, and I have the authority to take my life back again. This is what my Father ordered me to do.”

¹⁹ The Jews were divided because of what Yeshua said. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He’s possessed by a demon! He’s crazy! Why do you listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “No one talks like this if he’s possessed by a demon. Can a demon give sight to the blind?”

Psalm 115