M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Saul dies in the battle of Gilboa

31 When the Philistines attacked the Israelites, the Israelites ran away from the Philistines, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ The battle was fierce around Saul. When the archers located him, they wounded him badly.^[a]

⁴ Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me with it! Otherwise, these uncircumcised men will come and kill me or torture me.” But his armor-bearer refused because he was terrified. So Saul took the sword and impaled himself on it. ⁵ When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also impaled himself on his sword and died with Saul. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his soldiers died together that day.

⁷ When the Israelites across the valley and across the Jordan learned that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines came and occupied the towns.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor, and then sent word throughout Philistine territory, carrying the good news to their gods’ temples and to their people. ¹⁰ They put Saul’s armor in the temple of Astarte, and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹ But when all the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² the bravest of their men set out, traveled all night long, and took the bodies of Saul and his sons off the wall of Beth-shan. Then they went back to Jabesh, where they burned them. ¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

11 ¹ Follow my example, just like I follow Christ’s.

Appropriate dress in worship

² I praise you because you remember all my instructions, and you hold on to the traditions exactly as I handed them on to you. ³ Now I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. ⁴ Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered shames his head. ⁵ Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head. It is the same thing as having her head shaved. ⁶ If a woman doesn’t cover her head, then she should have her hair cut off. If it is disgraceful for a woman to have short hair or to be shaved, then she should keep her head covered. ⁷ A man shouldn’t have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is man’s glory. ⁸ Man didn’t have his origin from woman, but woman from man; ⁹ and man wasn’t created for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man. ¹⁰ Because of this a woman should have authority over her head, because of the angels. ¹¹ However, woman isn’t independent from man, and man isn’t independent from woman in the Lord. ¹² As woman came from man so also man comes from woman. But everything comes from God. ¹³ Judge for yourselves: Is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him; ¹⁵ but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? This is because her long hair is given to her for a covering. ¹⁶ But if someone wants to argue about this, we don’t have such a custom, nor do God’s churches.

The community meal

¹⁷ Now I don’t praise you as I give the following instruction because when you meet together, it does more harm than good. ¹⁸ First of all, when you meet together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. ¹⁹ It’s necessary that there are groups among you, to make it clear who is genuine. ²⁰ So when you get together in one place, it isn’t to eat the Lord’s meal. ²¹ Each of you goes ahead and eats a private meal. One person goes hungry while another is drunk. ²² Don’t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on God’s churches and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Will I praise you? No, I don’t praise you in this.

²³ I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. ²⁴ After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” ²⁵ He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” ²⁶ Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.

²⁷ This is why those who eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord inappropriately will be guilty of the Lord’s body and blood. ²⁸ Each individual should test himself or herself, and eat from the bread and drink from the cup in that way. ²⁹ Those who eat and drink without correctly understanding the body are eating and drinking their own judgment. ³⁰ Because of this, many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few have died. ³¹ But if we had judged ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. ³² However, we are disciplined by the Lord when we are judged so that we won’t be judged and condemned along with the whole world. ³³ For these reasons, my brothers and sisters, when you get together to eat, wait for each other. ³⁴ If some of you are hungry, they should eat at home so that getting together doesn’t lead to judgment. I will give directions about the other things when I come.

9 Then in my hearing he called out loudly: Draw near, you guardians of the city, and bring your weapons of destruction! ² Suddenly, six men came from the Upper Gate that faces north. All of them were holding weapons of destruction. Among them was another man who was dressed in linen and had a writing case at his side. When they came in and stood beside the bronze altar, ³ the glory of Israel’s God rose from above the winged creatures^[a] where he had been and moved toward the temple’s threshold. The Lord called to the man who was dressed in linen with the writing case at his side: ⁴ Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and mark the foreheads of those who sigh and groan because of all the detestable practices that have been conducted in it. ⁵ To the others he said in my hearing: Go through the city after him, and attack. Spare no one! Be merciless! ⁶ Kill them all, old men, young men and women, babies and mothers. Only don’t touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men, the elders in front of the temple. ⁷ He said to them: Make the temple unclean! Fill the courts with the slain! Go! And they went out and attacked the city.

⁸ While they were attacking, I was left alone. I fell on my face, and I cried out, “Oh, Lord God! When you pour out your wrath on Jerusalem, will you destroy all that is left of Israel?”

⁹ He said to me: “Judah and the house of Israel are very, very guilty. The land is filled with blood, and the city is full of injustice. They have said, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord sees nothing.’ ¹⁰ I most definitely won’t spare or pity anyone! I will hold them accountable for their ways.”

¹¹ Just then the man who was dressed in linen with the writing case at his side returned and said, “I’ve done just as you commanded.”

Psalm 48

A song. A psalm of the Korahites.