M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
28 At that time, the Philistines gathered their troops for war to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “Count on you and your soldiers marching out with me in the army.”
2 “Excellent,” David answered Achish. “Now you’ll see for yourself what your servant can do.”
“Excellent,” Achish replied. “I will make you my permanent bodyguard.”
Saul and the woman of En-dor
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel mourned him and buried him in Ramah, his hometown. And Saul had banned all mediums and diviners from the land.
4 The Philistines gathered their forces and advanced to camp at Shunem. Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was so afraid that his heart beat wildly. 6 When Saul questioned the Lord, the Lord didn’t answer him—not by dreams, not by the Urim, and not by the prophets. 7 So Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who communicates with ghosts! I’ll then go to her and ask by using her techniques.”[a]
“There is such a medium in En-dor,” his servants replied.
8 So Saul disguised himself, dressing in different clothes. Then he and two men set out, going to the woman at nighttime.
“Please call up a ghost for me! Bring me the one I specify,” Saul said.
9 “Listen,” the woman said to him, “you know what Saul has done, how he has banned all mediums and diviners from the land. What are you doing? Trying to get me killed?”
10 But Saul promised to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you won’t get into trouble for this.”
11 So the woman said, “Who do you want me to bring up for you?”
“Bring up Samuel,” he said.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed at Saul, “Why have you tricked me? You are Saul!”
13 “Don’t be afraid!” the king said to her. “What do you see?”
The woman said to Saul, “I see a god[b] coming up from the ground.”
14 “What does he look like?” Saul asked her.
“An old man is coming up,” she said. “He’s wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed low out of respect, nose to the ground.
15 “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Samuel asked Saul.
“I’m in deep trouble!” Saul replied. “The Philistines are at war with me, and God has turned away from me and no longer answers me by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”
16 “Why do you ask me,” Samuel said, “since the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy?[c] 17 The Lord has done to you[d] exactly what he spoke through me: The Lord has ripped the kingdom out of your hands and has given it to your friend David. 18 The Lord has done this very thing to you today because you didn’t listen to the Lord’s voice and didn’t carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. 19 The Lord will now hand over both you and Israel to the Philistines. And come tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me![e] The Lord will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”
20 Saul immediately fell full length on the ground, utterly terrified at what Samuel had said. He was weak because he hadn’t eaten anything all day or night. 21 The woman approached Saul, and after seeing how scared he was, she said, “Listen, your servant has obeyed you. I risked my life and did what you told me to do. 22 Now it’s your turn to listen to me, your servant. Let me give you a bit of food. Eat it, then you’ll have the strength to go on your way.”
23 But Saul refused. “I can’t eat!” he said. But his servants and the woman urged him to do so, and so he did. He got up off the ground and sat on a couch. 24 The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly butchered it.[f] She took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread. 25 She served this to Saul and his servants, and they ate. They got up and left that very night.
Waiving rights for the gospel
9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? 2 If I’m not an apostle to others, at least I am to you! You are the seal that shows I’m an apostle. 3 This is my defense against those who criticize me. 4 Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to travel with a wife who believes like the rest of the apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who don’t have the right to not work for our living? 7 Who joins the army and pays their own way? Who plants a vineyard and doesn’t eat its fruit? Who shepherds a flock and doesn’t drink its milk? 8 I’m not saying these things just based on common sense, am I? Doesn’t the Law itself say these things? 9 In Moses’ Law it’s written: You will not muzzle the ox when it is threshing.[a] Is God worried about oxen, 10 or did he say this entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake because the one who plows and the one who threshes should each do so with the hope of sharing the produce. 11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it so much to ask to harvest some material things from you?
12 If others have these rights over you, don’t we deserve them all the more? However, we haven’t made use of this right, but we put up with everything so we don’t put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get to eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share part of what is sacrificed on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel. 15 But I haven’t taken advantage of this. And I’m not writing this so that it will be done for me. It’s better for me to die than to lose my right to brag about this! 16 If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I’m obligated to do it. I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel. 17 If I do this voluntarily, I get rewarded for it. But if I’m forced to do it, then I’ve been charged with a responsibility. 18 What reward do I get? That when I preach, I offer the good news free of charge. That’s why I don’t use the rights to which I’m entitled through the gospel.
19 Although I’m free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them. 20 I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I’m under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law). 21 I act like I’m outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I’m not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ). 22 I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means. 23 All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.
24 Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. 25 Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. 26 So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing. 27 Rather, I’m landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won’t be disqualified after preaching to others.
The end
7 The Lord’s word came to me: 2 You, human one, this is what the Lord God proclaims to the land of Israel:
An end! The end has come to the four corners of the earth!
3 Even now the end is upon you!
I’ll send my anger against you,
I’ll judge you according to your ways,
and I’ll turn all your detestable practices against you.
4 I won’t shed a tear for you or show any pity.
Instead, I’ll turn your ways against you,
and your detestable practices will stay with you.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 The Lord God proclaims:
Disaster! A singular disaster! Look, it comes!
6 The end has come! Oh, yes, it has come!
It has come to you! Look, it’s here!
7 You who live on the earth,
you are finally caught in your own trap!
The time has come; the day draws near.
On the hills panic, not glory.
8 And now it’s near!
Against you I will pour out my wrath,
and my anger will be satisfied.
I’ll judge you according to your ways,
and turn all your detestable practices against you.
9 I won’t shed a tear or show any pity
when I turn your ways against you,
and your detestable practices stay with you.
Then you will know that I, the Lord, am the one who strikes you!
10 Look, the day! Look, it comes!
Doom has arrived! The staff blossoms, and pride springs up!
11 Violence rises up as a wicked master.[a]
It isn’t from others or their armies or their violence.
It hasn’t loomed up because of them.
12 The time is coming! The day draws near!
No buyer should rejoice, and no seller should mourn,
because wrath overcomes the whole crowd.
13 The seller will never get back what was sold,
even if both of them survive.
The vision concerns the whole crowd.
It won’t be revoked.
And the guilty ones—
they won’t even be able to hang on to their lives.
14 They have blown the horn,
and everything is ready, but no one goes to battle,
because my wrath overcomes the whole crowd.
15 Outside, the sword! Inside, plague and famine!
Whoever is out in the field will die by the sword.
Whoever is in the city,
plague and famine will consume them.
16 And those who flee?
They will turn up on the hills like valley doves,
all of them moaning, those guilty ones.
17 Every hand will hang limp;
urine will run down every leg.
18 They will put on mourning clothes,
and horror will cover them.
On every face, shame;
on all their heads, baldness.
19 They will hurl their silver into the street,
and their gold will seem unclean.
Their silver and their gold won’t deliver them
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
They won’t satisfy their appetites or fill their bellies.
Their guilt will bring them down.
20 From their beautiful ornament, in which they took pride,
they have made horrible and detestable images!
Therefore, I’ve declared it an unclean thing for them.
21 I’ll hand it over to foreigners as loot taken in war,
to the earth’s wicked ones as plunder—they will defile it!
22 When I hide my face from my people,
foreigners will defile my treasured place.
Violent intruders will invade it; they will defile it!
23 Make a chain!
The earth is full of perverted justice,
the city full of violence.
24 I’ll bring up the cruelest nations,
and they will seize their houses.
I’ll break their proud strength,
and their sanctuaries will be defiled.
25 Disaster! It has come!
They seek peace, but there is none.
26 One disaster comes after another,
and rumor follows rumor.
They seek a vision from the prophet.
Instruction disappears from the priest,
and counsel from the elders.
27 The king will go into mourning,
the prince will clothe himself in despair,
and the hands of the land’s people will tremble.
When I do to them as they have done
and judge them by their own justice,
they will know that I am the Lord.
Psalm 45
For the music leader. According to “The Lilies.” Of the Korahites. A maskil.[a] A love song.
45 A marvelous word has stirred my heart
as I mention my works to the king.
My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of men;
grace has been poured out on your lips.
No wonder God has blessed you forever!
3 Strap on your sword, great warrior,
with your glory and grandeur.
4 Go and succeed in your grandeur!
Ride out on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness!
Let your strong hand perform awesome deeds.[b]
5 Let the peoples fall beneath you.
May your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies.
6 Your divine throne is eternal and everlasting.
Your royal scepter is a scepter of justice.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness.
No wonder God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of joy more than all your companions!
8 All your clothes have the pleasing scent of myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
The music of stringed instruments coming from ivory palaces entertains you.
9 The royal princess is standing in your precious jewels; [c]
the queen stands at your right, dressed in the gold of Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter; pay attention, and listen closely!
Forget your people and your father’s house.
11 Let the king desire your beauty.
Because he is your master, bow down to him now.
12 The city of Tyre, the wealthiest of all,
will seek your favor with gifts, 13 with riches of every sort
for the royal princess, dressed in pearls,[d]
her robe embroidered with gold.
14 In robes of many colors, she is led to the king.
Her attendants, the young women servants following her,
are presented to you as well.
15 As they enter the king’s palace,
they are led in with celebration and joy.
16 Your sons, great king, will succeed your fathers;[e]
you will appoint them as princes throughout the land.
17 I will perpetuate your name from one generation to the next
so the peoples will praise you forever and always.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible