M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

28 While David was living in Ziklag, the Philistines gathered their army together. They planned to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “Here is what you must understand. You and your men must march out with me and my army.”

² David said, “I understand. You will see for yourself what I can do.”

Achish replied, “All right. I’ll make you my own personal guard for life.”

Saul and the Woman at Endor

³ Samuel had died. The whole nation of Israel was filled with sorrow because he was dead. They had buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had thrown out of the land people who get messages from those who have died. He had also thrown out people who talk to the spirits of the dead.

⁴ The Philistines gathered together and set up camp at Shunem. At the same time, Saul gathered together all the Israelites. They set up camp at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. Terror filled his heart. ⁶ He asked the Lord for advice. But the Lord didn’t answer him through dreams or prophets. He didn’t answer him when Saul had the priest cast lots by using the Urim. ⁷ Saul spoke to his attendants. He said, “Find me a woman who gets messages from those who have died. Then I can go and ask her some questions.”

“There’s a woman like that in Endor,” they said.

⁸ Saul put on different clothes so people wouldn’t know who he was. At night he and two of his men went to see the woman. “I want you to talk to a spirit for me,” he said. “Bring up the spirit of the dead person I choose.”

⁹ But the woman said to him, “By now you must know what Saul has done. He has removed everyone who gets messages from those who have died. He has also removed everyone who talks to the spirits of the dead. He has thrown all of them out of the land. Why are you trying to trap me? Why do you want to have me put to death?”

¹⁰ Saul made a promise in the name of the Lord. He said to the woman, “You can be sure that the Lord lives. And you can be just as sure that you won’t be punished for helping me.”

¹¹ Then the woman asked, “Whose spirit should I bring up for you?”

“Bring Samuel up,” he said.

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she let out a loud scream. She said to Saul, “Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!”

¹³ He said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Tell me what you see.”

The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure. He’s coming up out of the earth.”

¹⁴ “What does he look like?” Saul asked.

“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.

Then Saul knew it was Samuel. He bowed down. He lay down flat with his face toward the ground.

¹⁵ Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you troubled me by bringing me up from the dead?”

“I’m having big problems,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me. God has left me. He doesn’t answer me anymore. He doesn’t speak to me through prophets or dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what to do.”

¹⁶ Samuel said, “The Lord has left you. He has become your enemy. So why are you asking me what you should do? ¹⁷ The Lord has spoken through me and has done what he said he would do. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands. He has given it to one of your neighbors. He has given it to David. ¹⁸ You didn’t obey the Lord. You didn’t show his great anger against the Amalekites by destroying them. So he’s punishing you today. ¹⁹ He will hand both Israel and you over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be down here with me. The Lord will also hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”

²⁰ Immediately Saul fell flat on the ground. What Samuel had said filled Saul with fear. His strength was gone. He hadn’t eaten anything all that day and all that night.

²¹ The woman went over to Saul because she saw that he was very upset. She said, “Look, I’ve obeyed you. I put my own life in danger by doing what you told me to do. ²² So please listen to me. Let me give you some food. Eat it. Then you will have the strength to go on your way.”

²³ But he refused. He said, “I don’t want anything to eat.”

Then his men joined the woman in begging him to eat. Finally, he paid attention to them. He got up from the ground and sat on a couch.

²⁴ The woman had a fat calf at her house. She killed it at once. She got some flour. She mixed it and baked some bread that didn’t have any yeast in it. ²⁵ Then she set the food in front of Saul and his men. They ate it. That same night they got up and left.

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you the result of my work for the Lord? ² Others may not think of me as an apostle. But I am certainly one to you! You are the proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.

³ That is what I say to stand up for myself when people judge me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife with us when we travel? The other apostles do. The Lord’s brothers do. Peter does. ⁶ Or are Barnabas and I the only ones who have to do other work for a living? Are we the only ones who can’t just do the work of apostles all the time?

⁷ Who serves as a soldier but doesn’t get paid? Who plants a vineyard but doesn’t eat any of its grapes? Who takes care of a flock but doesn’t drink any of the milk? ⁸ Do I say this only on human authority? The Law says the same thing. ⁹ Here is what is written in the Law of Moses. “Do not stop an ox from eating while it helps separate the grain from the straw.” (Deuteronomy 25:4) Is it oxen that God is concerned about? ¹⁰ Doesn’t he say that for us? Yes, it was written for us. Whoever plows and separates the grain hopes to share the harvest. And it is right for them to hope for this. ¹¹ We have planted spiritual seed among you. Is it too much to ask that we receive from you some things we need? ¹² Others have the right to receive help from you. Don’t we have even more right to do so?

But we didn’t use that right. No, we have put up with everything. We didn’t want to keep the good news of Christ from spreading.

¹³ People who serve in the temple get their food from the temple. Don’t you know this? People who serve at the altar eat from what is offered on the altar. Don’t you know this? ¹⁴ So those who preach the good news should also receive their living from their work. That is what the Lord has commanded.

¹⁵ But I haven’t used any of those rights. And I’m not writing because I hope you will do things like that for me. I would rather die than allow anyone to take away my pride in my work. ¹⁶ But when I preach the good news, I can’t brag. I have to preach it. How terrible it will be for me if I do not preach the good news! ¹⁷ If I preach because I want to, I get a reward. If I preach because I have to, I’m only doing my duty. ¹⁸ Then what reward do I get? Here is what it is. I am able to preach the good news free of charge. And I can do this without using all my rights as a person who preaches the good news.

Paul Uses His Freedom to Share the Good News

¹⁹ I am free and don’t belong to anyone. But I have made myself a slave to everyone. I do it to win as many as I can to Christ. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew. That was to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one who was under the law. I did this even though I myself am not under the law. That was to win those under the law. ²¹ To those who don’t have the law I became like one who doesn’t have the law. I did this even though I am not free from God’s law. I am under Christ’s law. Now I can win those who don’t have the law. ²² To those who are weak I became weak. That was to win the weak. I have become all things to all people. I have done this so that in all possible ways I might save some. ²³ I do all this because of the good news. And I want to share in its blessings.

Training to Win the Prize

²⁴ In a race all the runners run. But only one gets the prize. You know that, don’t you? So run in a way that will get you the prize. ²⁵ All who take part in the games train hard. They do it to get a crown that will not last. But we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ So I do not run like someone who doesn’t run toward the finish line. I do not fight like a boxer who hits nothing but air. ²⁷ No, I train my body and bring it under control. Then after I have preached to others, I myself will not break the rules. If I did break them, I would fail to win the prize.

The End Has Come

7 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ² “Son of man, I am the Lord and King. I say to the land of Israel, ‘The end has come! It has come on the four corners of the land. ³ The end has now come for you. I will pour out my anger on you. I will judge you based on how you have lived. I will pay you back for all your evil practices. I hate them.

⁴ “ ‘I will not feel sorry for you. I will not spare you. You can be sure that I will pay you back for how you have lived. I will judge you for your evil practices. I hate them. You will know that I am the Lord.’

⁵ “I am the Lord and King. I say, ‘Horrible trouble is coming! No one has ever heard of anything like it. It is here!

⁶ “ ‘The end has come! The end has come! It has stirred itself up against you. It is here! ⁷ Death has come on you who live in the land. The time for you to be destroyed has come. The day when it will happen is near. There is no joy on your mountains. There is nothing but panic.

⁸ “ ‘I am about to pour out all my great anger on you. I will judge you based on how you have lived. I will pay you back for all your evil practices. I hate them.

⁹ “ ‘I will not feel sorry for you. I will not spare you. I will pay you back for how you have lived. I will judge you for your evil practices. I hate them. You will know that I am the one who strikes you down. I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “ ‘The day for me to punish you is here! It is here! Death has arrived. The time is ripe for you to be judged. Your pride has grown so much that you will be destroyed. ¹¹ Your mean and harmful acts have become like a rod. I will use it to punish those who do evil. None of them will be left. None of their wealth or anything of value will remain.

¹² “ ‘The time has come! The day has arrived! I will soon pour out my great anger on the whole crowd of you. Do not let the buyer be happy. Do not let the seller be sad. ¹³ The seller will not get back the land that was sold. That will be true as long as both the buyer and seller are alive.

“ ‘Ezekiel, the vision I gave you about that whole crowd will come true. They have committed many sins. So not one of them will be able to save their life. ¹⁴ They have blown trumpets. They have made everything ready. But no one will go into battle. I will soon pour out my great anger on the whole crowd.

¹⁵ “ ‘There is trouble everywhere. War is outside the city. Plague and hunger are inside it. Those out in the country will die in battle. Those in the city will be destroyed by hunger and plague. ¹⁶ All those who escape and are left alive will run to the mountains. They will sound like doves of the valley when they cry over their sins.

¹⁷ “ ‘Their hands will be powerless to help them. They will wet themselves. ¹⁸ They will put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. They will put on terror as if it were their clothes. Every face will be covered with shame. Every head will be shaved.

¹⁹ “ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets. They will treat their gold like an “unclean” thing. Their silver and gold won’t be able to save them on the day I pour out my anger. It will not be able to satisfy their hunger. Their stomachs can’t be filled with it. Their silver and gold have tripped them up. It has made them fall into sin. ²⁰ My people were so proud of their beautiful jewelry. They used it to make statues of their evil gods. I hate those gods. So I will turn their jewelry into an “unclean” thing for them.

²¹ “ ‘I will hand over their wealth to outsiders. I will turn it over to sinful people in other countries. They will make it “unclean.” ²² I will turn my face away from my people. Robbers will make “unclean” the temple I love. They will enter it and make it “unclean.”

²³ “ ‘Ezekiel, get ready to put my people in chains. The land is full of murderers. They are harming one another all over Jerusalem. ²⁴ I will bring the most evil nations against them. They will take over the houses in the city. I will put an end to the pride of those who are mighty. Their holy places will be made “unclean.”

²⁵ “ ‘When terror comes, they will look for peace. But there will not be any. ²⁶ Trouble after trouble will come. One report will follow another. But they will not be true. The people will go searching for a vision from the prophets. But there will not be any. The teaching of the law by the priests will be gone. Advice from the elders will come to an end.

²⁷ “ ‘The king will be filled with sadness. The princes will lose all hope. The hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will punish them based on how they have lived. I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. A wedding song to the tune of “Lilies.”