Saul and the Spirit Medium

28 Now it came about in those days that ^(A)the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Know for certain that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.” ² David said to Achish, “Very well, you will learn what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Then I will assuredly make you ^[a]my bodyguard ^(B)for ^[b]life!”

³ Now ^(C)Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned him and buried him ^(D)in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the ^(E)mediums and spiritists from the land. ⁴ So the Philistines assembled and came and camped ^(F)in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they camped in ^(G)Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. ^6 (H)So Saul inquired of the Lord, but ^(I)the Lord did not answer him, either in ^(J)dreams, or by the ^(K)Urim, or by the prophets. ⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, “Find for me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, ^(L)there is a woman who is a medium at ^(M)En-dor.”

⁸ Then Saul ^(N)disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, “^(O)Consult the spirit for me, please, and ^(P)bring up for me the one whom I shall ^[c]name for you.” ⁹ But the woman said to him, “Behold, you know ^(Q)what Saul has done, that he has eliminated the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then setting a trap for my life, to bring about my death?” ¹⁰ So Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” ¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!” ¹³ But the king said to her, “Do not be afraid; but what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a ^[d]divine being coming up from the earth.” ¹⁴ He said to her, “^[e]How does he appear?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and ^(R)he is wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and ^(S)he bowed with his face to the ground and paid ^[f]homage.

¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am very distressed, for the Philistines are waging war against me, and ^(T)God has abandoned me and ^(U)no longer answers me, either through prophets or in dreams; therefore I have called you, so that you may let me know what I should do.” ¹⁶ Samuel said, “But why ask me, since the Lord has abandoned you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷ And the Lord has done ^[g]just ^(V)as He spoke through me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. ¹⁸ Just as ^(W)you did not ^[h]obey the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the Lord has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹ Furthermore, the Lord will also hand Israel along with you over to the Philistines; so tomorrow ^(X)you and your sons will be with me. Indeed, the Lord will hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines!”

²⁰ Then Saul immediately fell full length to the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words; there was no strength in him either, because he had eaten no ^[i]food all day and all night. ²¹ The woman came to Saul and saw that he was utterly horrified, and she said to him, “Behold, your servant has ^[j]obeyed you, and ^(Y)I have ^[k]taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. ²² So now you too, please listen to the voice of your servant, and let me serve you a piece of bread, and eat it, so that you will have strength when you go on your way.” ²³ But he refused and said, “^(Z)I will not eat.” ^(AA)However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to ^[l]them. So he got up from the ground and sat on ^(AB)the bed. ²⁴ Now the woman had a ^(AC)fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it; then she ^(AD)took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread from it. ²⁵ She then served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and left that night.

The Philistines Mistrust David

29 Now ^(AE)the Philistines gathered together all their armies to ^(AF)Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in ^(AG)Jezreel. ² And the governors of the Philistines were proceeding on, leading hundreds and thousands, and ^(AH)David and his men were proceeding in the back with Achish. ³ Then 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 the king of Israel, ^(AI)who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and ^(AJ)I have found nothing at all suspicious in him since the day he ^[m]deserted to me to this day?” ⁴ But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man go back, so that he will return ^(AK)to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, ^(AL)or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For how could this man find favor with his lord? Would it not be with the heads of ^[n]these men? ⁵ Is this not David, ^(AM)of whom they sing in the dances, saying,

⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have indeed been honest, and ^(AN)your ^[o]going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; ^(AO)for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the governors. ⁷ Now then, return and go in peace, so that you will not do anything wrong in the sight of the governors of the Philistines.” ⁸ However, David said to Achish, “^(AP)But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant since the day that I came before you, to this day, that I cannot go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹ But Achish replied to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, ^(AQ)like an angel of God; nevertheless ^(AR)the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us into the battle.’ ¹⁰ Now then, rise early in the morning ^(AS)with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have risen early in the morning and have light, leave.” ¹¹ So David got up early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

Foundations for Living

3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as ^(A)spiritual people, but only as ^(B)fleshly, as to ^(C)infants in Christ. ² I gave you ^(D)milk to drink, not solid food; for you ^(E)were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, ³ for you are still fleshly. For since there is ^(F)jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking ^(G)like ordinary people? ⁴ For when ^(H)one person says, “I am ^[a]with Paul,” and another, “I am ^[b]with Apollos,” are you not ordinary ^(I)people?

⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? ^(J)Servants through whom you believed, even ^(K)as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. ^6 (L)I planted, ^(M)Apollos watered, but ^(N)God was causing the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸ Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will ^(O)receive his own ^[c]reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s ^(P)fellow workers; you are God’s ^[d](Q)field, God’s ^(R)building.

¹⁰ According to ^(S)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder ^(T)I laid a foundation, and ^(U)another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no one can lay a ^(V)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ^13 (W)each one’s work will become evident; for ^(X)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test ^[e]the quality of each one’s work. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will ^(Y)receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only ^(Z)so as through fire.

^16 (AA)Do you not know that ^(AB)you are a ^[f]temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys the ^[g]temple of God, God will destroy ^[h]that person; for the ^[i]temple of God is holy, ^[j]and that is what you are.

^18 (AC)Take care that no one deceives himself. ^(AD)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in ^(AE)this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For ^(AF)the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is ^(AG)the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “^(AH)The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.” ²¹ So then, ^(AI)no one is to be boasting in people. For ^(AJ)all things belong to you, ^22 (AK)whether Paul or Apollos or ^[k]Cephas, or the world or ^(AL)life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, ²³ and ^(AM)you belong to Christ, and ^(AN)Christ belongs to God.

Servants of Christ

4 This is the way any person is to regard us: as ^(AO)servants of Christ and ^(AP)stewards of ^(AQ)the mysteries of God. ² In this case, moreover, it is required ^[l]of stewards that one be found trustworthy. ³ But to me it is an insignificant matter that I would be examined by you, or by any human ^[m]court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. ⁴ For I ^(AR)am not aware of anything against myself; however I am not ^(AS)vindicated by this, but the one who examines me is the Lord. ⁵ Therefore ^(AT)do not go on ^[n]passing judgment before ^[o]the time, but wait ^(AU)until the Lord comes, who will both ^(AV)bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of human hearts; and then ^(AW)praise will come to each person from God.

⁶ Now these things, brothers and sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos on your account, so that in us you may learn not to exceed ^(AX)what is written, so that no one of you will ^(AY)become ^[p]arrogant ^(AZ)in behalf of one against the other. ⁷ For who considers you as superior? ^(BA)What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸ You are ^(BB)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men ^(BC)condemned to death, because we ^(BD)have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind. ¹⁰ We are ^(BE)fools on account of Christ, but ^(BF)you are prudent in Christ! ^(BG)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor! ¹¹ Up to this present hour we are both ^(BH)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless; ¹² and we labor, ^(BI)working with our own hands; when we are ^(BJ)verbally abused, we bless; when we are ^(BK)persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we ^[q]reply as friends; we have ^(BL)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

¹⁴ I do not write these things to ^(BM)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved ^(BN)children. ¹⁵ For if you were to have countless ^(BO)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in ^(BP)Christ Jesus I ^(BQ)became your father through the ^(BR)gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, be ^(BS)imitators of me. ¹⁷ For this reason I ^(BT)have sent to you ^(BU)Timothy, who is my ^(BV)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, ^(BW)just as I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Now some have become ^[r](BX)arrogant, as though I were not ^(BY)coming to you. ¹⁹ But I ^(BZ)will come to you soon, ^(CA)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the ^[s]words of those who are ^(CB)arrogant, but their power. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is ^(CC)not in ^[t]words, but in power. ²¹ What do you desire? ^(CD)That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?