M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

28 Now^[a] in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “Certainly you realize that you must go out with me in the army, you and your men.” ² David said to Achish, “Very well, you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard^[b] for life.”

Saul Inquires of the Medium at Endor

³ (Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and they had buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had expelled the mediums^[c] and the soothsayers from the land.) ⁴ Then the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem, so Saul assembled all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶ And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim^[d] or by the prophets. ⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Search for me a woman who is a medium^[e] so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “Look there is a woman who is a medium in Endor.” ⁸ So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went with two of his men.^[f] And they came to the woman by night and he said, “Please consult a spirit for me through the ritual pit,^[g] and bring up for me the one whom I tell you.” ⁹ But the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums^[h] and the soothsayers from the land! Why are you setting a trap for my life to kill me?” ¹⁰ Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, “As Yahweh lives,^[i] you will not be punished^[j] for this thing.” ¹¹ So the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!” ¹³ The king said to her, “Do not be afraid! What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god^[k] coming up from the ground!” ¹⁴ Then he said to her, “What is his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.”^[l] Then Saul realized that it was Samuel, and he knelt with his face to the ground and bowed down.

¹⁵ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul said, “I am in distress!^[m] For the Philistines are about to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not by the prophets^[n] or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do.” ¹⁶ Then Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷ Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David. ¹⁸ Because you did not obey^[o] Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his wrath^[p] against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today. ¹⁹ And Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and Yahweh will also give the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” ²⁰ Then Saul immediately fell prostrate^[q] to the ground, and he was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was no more strength in him, for he had not eaten food all day and all night. ²¹ Then the woman came to Saul and realized that he was absolutely^[r] terrified, so she said to him, “Look, your female servant has obeyed you,^[s] and I have risked my life.^[t] I have listened to your words that you have spoken to me. ²² So then, you also please listen to the voice of your female servant, and let me set before you a morsel of bread, and you eat so that you will have strength^[u] in you when you go on your^[v] way.” ²³ But he refused and said, “I will not eat!” However, his servants urged him, and the woman also. So he listened to what they said,^[w] and he got up from the ground and sat on the bed. ²⁴ Now the woman had a fattened bull calf in the house, so she quickly slaughtered it^[x] and took flour, kneaded dough, and baked him some unleavened bread. ²⁵ She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that very night.

Paul Gives Up His Rights as an Apostle

9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, yet indeed I am to you, for you are my seal of apostleship in the Lord. ³ My defense to those who examine me is this: ⁴ Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ⁵ Do we not have the right to take along a sister as wife, like the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? ⁶ Or do only I and Barnabas not have the right to refrain from working^[a]? ⁷ Who ever serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Who^[b] shepherds a flock and does not drink^[c] from the milk of the flock? ⁸ I am not saying these things according to a human perspective. Or does the law not also say these things? ⁹ For in the law of Moses it is written, “You must not muzzle an ox while it^[d] is threshing.”^[e] It is not about oxen God is concerned, is it?^{[f] 10} Or doubtless does he speak for our sake^[g]? For it is written for our sake^[h], because the one who plows ought to plow in hope and the one who threshes ought to do so in hope of a share. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too great a thing if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share this right over you, do we not do so even more? Yet we have not made use of this right, but we endure all things, in order that we may not cause any hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

¹³ Do you not know that those performing the holy services eat the things from the temple, and those attending to the altar have a share with the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way also the Lord ordered those who proclaim the gospel to live from the gospel. ¹⁵ But I have not made use of any of these rights. And I am not writing these things in order that it may be thus with me. For it would be better to me rather to die than for anyone to deprive me of my reason for boasting. ¹⁶ For if I proclaim the gospel, it is not to me a reason for boasting, for necessity is imposed on me. For woe is to me if I do not proclaim the gospel. ¹⁷ For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward, but if I do so unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That when I^[i] proclaim the gospel, I may offer the gospel free of charge, in order not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For although I^[j] am free from all people, I have enslaved myself to all, in order that I may gain more. ²⁰ I have become like a Jew to the Jews, in order that I may gain the Jews. To those under the law I became as under the law (although I^[k] myself am not under the law) in order that I may gain those under the law. ²¹ To those outside the law I became as outside the law (although I^[l] am not outside the law of God, but subject to the law of Christ) in order that I may gain those outside the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, in order that I may gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, in order that by all means I may save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, in order that I may become a participant with it.

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in the stadium all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. ²⁵ And everyone who competes exercises self-control in all things. Thus those do so in order that they may receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. ²⁶ Therefore I run in this way, not as running aimlessly; I box in this way, not as beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and subjugate it, lest somehow after^[m] preaching to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Punishment for Abominations Throughout the Land

7 And the word of Yahweh came^[a] to me, saying, ² “And you, son of man,^[b] thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel: ‘The end comes, the end on the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is on you, and I will send my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your detestable things. ⁴ And my eye will not take pity on you, and I will not show compassion for your ways; on you I will bring your detestable things; they will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.’ ⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! Disaster after disaster is coming! ⁶ The end comes, comes the end! It has awakened against you! Look! It comes! ⁷ Doom is coming against you, the dweller^[c] of the land; the time comes, the day is near, panic and not joy is on the mountains. ⁸ Soon^[d] I will pour out my rage on you, and I will fully vent my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all of your detestable things. ⁹ And my eye will not take pity, and I will not show compassion. According to your ways I will deal with you,^[e] and your detestable things will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh who strikes.^{[f] 10} Look! The day is coming; doom goes out, the staff blossoms, pride sprouts. ¹¹ Violence has grown to become a staff of wickedness; none^[g] from them will remain, and none^[h] from their abundance nor from their wealth;^[i] and prominence will not be among them. ¹² The time has come, the day has arrived; let not the buyer rejoice, and let the seller not mourn, for anger is on all their multitude. ¹³ For the seller will not return to the merchandise while they are still alive,^[j] for the vision is about all of its multitude; it will not change, and a man because of his guilt will not be able to hold onto his life. ¹⁴ They shall blow on the trumpet and prepare everything,^[k] but there is no one going to the battle, for my anger is on all of their multitude. ¹⁵ The sword is outside,^[l] and the plague and the famine are inside;^[m] the one who is in the field will die by the sword, and the one who is in the city, famine and plague will devour him. ¹⁶ And if their survivors will escape, they will be on the mountains, like the doves of the valley, all of them groaning, each because of his guilt. ¹⁷ All of the hands will hang limp, and all of the knees will be wet with urine.^{[n] 18} And they will wear sackcloth, and horror will cover them, and on all of the faces will be shame, and baldness on all of their heads. ¹⁹ Their silver they will discard on the streets, and filth will be their gold; their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh. They will not satisfy their hunger^[o] and their stomachs they will not fill, for their guilt will be their^[p] stumbling block.

Judgment for the Profanation of the Temple and Sanctuary

²⁰ “‘And the beauty of its^[q] ornament he made into a prideful thing^[r] and made with it their detestable things and their vile idols; therefore I will make it into an impure thing for them. ²¹ And I will give it into the hand of strangers as plunder and to the wicked people of the earth as spoil, and they will defile it. ²² And I will turn my face from them, and they will defile my treasured place, and violent ones will enter and defile it. ²³ Make a chain for the land; it is full of bloody crimes^[s] and the city is full of violence. ²⁴ And I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses, and I will put to an end the pride of the mighty ones, and their sanctuaries will be defiled. ²⁵ Anguish comes, and they will seek peace, and there will be none. ²⁶ Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor will be upon rumor. And they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction will perish from the priest and counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king will mourn, and the prince will be dressed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their way I will do to^[t] them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”

Celebration of a Royal Wedding

For the music director; according to The Lilies. Of the sons of Korah.

A maskil. A song of love.^[a]