M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Saul and the Woman of Endor

28 In those days the Philistines gathered their armies for war against Israel. Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me to battle.” ² David said to Achish, “Very well, you will know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you the soldier who stands by me and keeps me safe for life.”

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had been filled with sorrow for him. They buried him in his own city of Ramah. And Saul had put out of the land those who spoke with spirits by using their secret ways. ⁴ The Philistines gathered together and came and stayed at Shunem. Saul gathered all Israel together and they stayed at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. His heart shook with much fear. ⁶ Saul asked the Lord what he should do. But the Lord did not answer him, by dreams or by Urim or by those who speak for God. ⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, “Find a woman for me who can speak with spirits, that I may go to her and ask her what I should do.” His servants said to him, “See, there is a woman at Endor who can speak with spirits.”

⁸ So Saul dressed up to look like somebody else and went with two other men to the woman during the night. He said, “Use your secret ways for me, I beg you, and bring up for me whom I will name to you.” ⁹ But the woman said to him, “See, you know what Saul has done. He has put out of the land those who speak with spirits by using their secret ways. Why do you lay a trap for my life to cause my death?” ¹⁰ But Saul promised her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.” ¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom should 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. She said to Saul, “Why have you fooled me? For you are Saul!” ¹³ The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” ¹⁴ He said to her, “What does he look like?” And she said, “An old man is coming up. He is dressed in a long piece of clothing.” Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he put his face to the ground to show honor.

¹⁵ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you troubled my rest by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am very troubled. The Philistines are making war against me. And God has left me and answers me no more, by those who speak for Him or by dreams. So I have called you to tell me what I should do.” ¹⁶ Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has left you and has turned against you? ¹⁷ The Lord has done what He said He would do through me. The Lord has torn the rule of Israel out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. ¹⁸ You did not obey the Lord and bring His burning anger upon Amalek. So the Lord has done this to you now. ¹⁹ What is more, the Lord will give Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines. So tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel to the Philistines.”

²⁰ At once Saul fell to the ground with his whole body. He was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night. ²¹ The woman came to Saul and saw that he was filled with fear. She said to him, “See, your woman servant has obeyed you. I have put my life in danger and have listened to what you said to me. ²² So now I beg you, let me give you a piece of bread. Eat, so you may have strength when you go on your way.” ²³ But he said, “I will not eat.” But his servants together with the woman begged him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed. ²⁴ The woman had a fat calf in the house and was quick to kill it. She took flour, made it into dough, and made bread without yeast. ²⁵ She brought it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that night.

A Missionary’s Rights

9 Am I not a missionary? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not Christians because of the work I have done for the Lord? ² Other people may not think of me as a missionary, but you do. It proves I am a missionary because you are Christians now. ³ When people ask questions about me, I say this: ⁴ Do we not have the right to have food and drink when we are working for the Lord? ⁵ Do we not have the right to take a Christian wife along with us? The other missionaries do. The Lord’s brothers do and Peter does. ⁶ Are Barnabas and I the only ones who should keep working for a living so we can preach?

⁷ Have you ever heard of a soldier who goes to war and pays for what he needs himself? Have you ever heard of a man planting a field of grapes and not eating some of the fruit? Have you ever heard of a farmer who feeds cattle and does not drink some of the milk? ⁸ These things are not just what men think are right to do. God’s Law speaks about this. ⁹ God gave Moses the Law. It says, “When the cow is made to walk on the grain to break it open, do not stop it from eating some.” ^(A) Does God care about the cow? ¹⁰ Did not God speak about this because of us. For sure, this was written for us. The man who gets the fields ready and the man who gathers in the grain should expect some of the grain. ¹¹ We have planted God’s Word among you. Is it too much to expect you to give us what we need to live each day? ¹² If other people have the right to expect this from you, do we not have more right? But we have not asked this of you. We have suffered many things. We did this so the Good News of Christ would not be held back.

¹³ You must know that those who work in the house of God get their food there. Those who work at the altar in the house of God get a part of the food that is given there. ¹⁴ The Lord has said also that those who preach the Good News should get their living from those who hear it.

¹⁵ I have not used any of these things. I am not writing now to get anything. I would rather die than lose the joy of preaching to you without you paying me. ¹⁶ I cannot be proud because I preach the Good News. I have been told to do it. It would be bad for me if I do not preach the Good News. ¹⁷ If I do this because I want to, I will get my reward. If I do not want to do it, I am still expected to do it. ¹⁸ Then what is my reward? It is when I preach the Good News without you paying me. I do not ask you to pay me as I could.

Learning to Get Along

¹⁹ No man has any hold on me, but I have made myself a workman owned by all. I do this so I might lead more people to Christ. ²⁰ I became as a Jew to the Jews so I might lead them to Christ. There are some who live by obeying the Jewish Law. I became as one who lives by obeying the Jewish Law so I might lead them to Christ. ²¹ There are some who live by not obeying the Jewish law. I became as one who lives by not obeying the Jewish law so I might lead them to Christ. This does not mean that I do not obey God’s Law. I obey the teachings of Christ. ²² Some are weak. I have become weak so I might lead them to Christ. I have become like every person so in every way I might lead some to Christ. ²³ Everything I do, I do to get the Good News to men. I want to have a part in this work.

Live a Life That Pleases Christ

²⁴ You know that only one person gets a crown for being in a race even if many people run. You must run so you will win the crown. ²⁵ Everyone who runs in a race does many things so his body will be strong. He does it to get a crown that will soon be worth nothing, but we work for a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ In the same way, I run straight for the place at the end of the race. I fight to win. I do not beat the air. ²⁷ I keep working over my body. I make it obey me. I do this because I am afraid that after I have preached the Good News to others, I myself might be put aside.

The End Has Come for Israel

7 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is upon you. I will send My anger against you and punish you because of your ways. I will make you pay for all your sinful actions. ⁴ My eye will have no pity on you. And I will not let you go without punishment. I will punish you for your ways, and for the hated sins that are among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord!’

⁵ “The Lord God says, ‘See, much trouble is coming! ⁶ An end has come! The end has come! It has come up against you. See, it has come! ⁷ Your punishment has come upon you, O you who live in the land. The time has come. The day is near. The sound of trouble and not of joy is upon the mountains. ⁸ Now I will soon pour out My anger upon you. I will send My anger against you. I will punish you for your ways and for the hated sins that are among you. ⁹ My eye will show no pity, and I will not let you go without punishment. I will make you pay for your ways, and for the hated sins that are among you. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, Who punishes you.

¹⁰ ‘See, the day! See, it is coming! The time for your punishment has come. The power against you has started to grow. Pride has begun to grow. ¹¹ Angry action has grown into a power of sin. None of them will be left. None of their people, none of their riches, or anything of honor, will be left among them. ¹² The time has come. The day has come. Let not the one who buys have joy, or the one who sells have sorrow. For anger is against all their people. ¹³ For the one who sells will not get back what he has sold as long as both of them live. For the punishment of all their people will not be turned back. Because of their sins, not one of them will keep his life.

¹⁴ ‘They have sounded the horn and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle. For My anger is against all their people. ¹⁵ The sword is outside, and disease and hunger are inside. He who is in the field will die by the sword. And he who is in the city will be destroyed by disease and hunger. ¹⁶ Whoever gets away alive will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys. Each of them will be crying in sorrow because of his sin. ¹⁷ All hands will hang without strength, and all knees will be as weak as water. ¹⁸ They will dress themselves in cloth made from hair. Much fear will cover them. Shame will be upon all faces, and the hair will be cut from all their heads. ¹⁹ They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to help them in the day of the Lord’s anger. They cannot stop their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For riches have been the cause of their falling into sin. ²⁰ They turned the beauty of gold into objects of pride, and made their hated objects of worship with it. So I will make it an unclean thing to them. ²¹ I will give it to the strangers and to the sinful people of the earth as a prize of war, and they will make it sinful. ²² I will turn My face from them, and they will make My secret place sinful. Robbers will go into it and make it sinful.

²³ ‘Make chains, for the land is guilty of blood and the city is full of angry actions. ²⁴ So I will bring the worst of the nations to take their houses for their own. I will put an end to the pride of the strong ones, and their holy places will become unclean. ²⁵ When suffering comes, they will look for peace, but there will be none. ²⁶ Trouble will come upon trouble, and one story will come after another. They will look for a special dream from a man of God, but the Law will be lost from the religious leader. And wisdom will be lost from the leaders. ²⁷ The king will be full of sorrow. The king’s son will be covered with fear. And the hands of the people of the land will shake in fear. I will punish them for their ways. I will give them the punishment they have earned. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”

The King’s Wedding Song

45 My heart flows over with good words. I sing my songs to the King. My tongue writes the words of a good writer. ² You are more beautiful than the children of men. Loving-favor is poured upon Your lips. So God has honored You forever.

³ Put Your sword on at Your side, O Powerful One, in Your greatness and power that can be seen. ⁴ And in Your great power, move on to win the fight for truth and for not having pride and for what is right and good. Let Your right hand teach You to do great things. ⁵ Your arrows are sharp. The people fall under You. Your arrows are in the heart of those who hate the King.

⁶ O God, Your throne is forever and ever. You rule Your holy nation by what is right. ⁷ You have loved what is right and good. You have hated what is wrong. That is why God, Your God, has chosen You. He has poured over You the oil of joy more than over anyone else. ⁸ All Your clothes smell of fine perfumes. Out of ivory palaces music of strings have made You glad. ⁹ Daughters of kings are among Your women of honor. At Your right hand stands the queen, wearing gold from Ophir.

¹⁰ Listen, O daughter, hear my words and think about them. Forget your people and your father’s house. ¹¹ Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him. ¹² And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift. The rich people will ask for your favor.

¹³ The daughter of the King is beautiful within. Her clothes are made with gold. ¹⁴ She will be led to the King in clothes sewed for beauty. The young women who have never had men are her friends. They follow her and will be brought to You. ¹⁵ They will be led in with joy and happiness, because they will come into the King’s palace.

¹⁶ Instead of Your fathers, it will be Your sons whom You will make rulers over all the earth. ¹⁷ I will make Your name to be remembered to all the children-to-come. So that the nations will honor You forever and ever.