M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

28 ¶ And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight against Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know for certain, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.

² And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy slave can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore, I will make thee keeper of my head all the days.

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah in his own city. And Saul had removed the spiritists and the diviners out of the land.

⁴ And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched camp in Shunem, and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched camp in Gilboa.

⁵ And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.

⁶ And Saul enquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams nor by Urim nor by prophets.

⁷ ¶ Then Saul said unto his slaves, Seek me a woman that is a spiritist that I may go to her and enquire of her. And his slaves said to him, Behold, there is a woman that is a spiritist at Endor.

⁸ And Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing, and he went with two men, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by spiritism and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee.

⁹ And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul has done, how he has cut off the spiritists and the diviners out of the land; why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

¹⁰ And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD lives, no iniquity shall come upon thee for this thing.

¹¹ Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul.

¹³ And the king said unto her, Do not be afraid. What didst thou see? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods rising out of the land.

¹⁴ And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man comes, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and worshipped.

¹⁵ ¶ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me and no longer answers me neither by prophets nor by dreams; therefore, I have called thee that thou may make known unto me what I shall do.

¹⁶ Then Samuel said, Why then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thy enemy?

¹⁷ The LORD, therefore, has done as he spoke by me! For the LORD has rent the kingdom out of thy hand and given it to thy neighbour, even to David.

¹⁸ Because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of the LORD nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek; therefore, the LORD has done this thing unto thee today.

¹⁹ And the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me; the LORD shall also deliver the camp of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

²⁰ ¶ Then Saul, as great as he was, fell suddenly to the earth and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day nor all that night.

²¹ And the woman came unto Saul and saw that he was sore troubled and said unto him, Behold, thy handmaid has heard thy voice, and I have put my soul in my hand and have hearkened unto thy words which thou didst speak unto me.

²² Now, therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thy handmaid and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou may have strength, and go on thy way.

²³ But he refused and said, I will not eat. But his slaves, together with the woman, compelled him, and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the ground and sat upon a bed.

²⁴ And the woman had a fat calf in the house, and she hastened and killed it and took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread with it.

²⁵ And she brought it before Saul and before his slaves, and after they ate, they rose up and went away that night.

9 ¶ Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord?

² If I am not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ ¶ My answer to those that examine me is this,

⁴ Do we not have authority to eat and to drink?

⁵ Do we not have authority to bring with us a sister, a wife, as also the other apostles and as the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

⁶ Do only Barnabas and I not have authority to forbear working?

⁷ Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? or who feeds a flock and does not eat of the milk of the flock?

⁸ Do I say this only according to men? or does not the law say the same also?

⁹ For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the grain. Does God take care for oxen?

¹⁰ Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that plows should plow in hope, and that he that threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.

¹¹ If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap material things from you?

¹² If others are partakers of this authority over you, why not us? Nevertheless we have not used this authority, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

¹³ Do ye not know that those who work with sacred things live of the things of the sanctuary? and those who serve at the altar partake of the altar?

¹⁴ Even so the Lord has ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

¹⁵ ¶ But I have used none of these things, neither have I written these things that it should be so done unto me; for it were better for me to die than that anyone should make this my glory void.

¹⁶ For though I preach the gospel, I have no reason to glory, for it is an obligation laid upon me; for woe is me, if I do not preach the gospel!

¹⁷ For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, the stewardship of the gospel is committed unto me.

¹⁸ What reward, then, shall I have? That preaching the gospel, I may make the gospel of the Christ without charge, that I abuse not my authority in the gospel.

¹⁹ ¶ Therefore, though I am free regarding everyone, yet I have made myself slave unto all, that I might gain the more.

²⁰ And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to those that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those that are under the law;

²¹ to those that are without law, as without law (being not without law of God, but under the law of Christ), that I might gain those that are without law.

²² To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to everyone, that I might by all means save some.

²³ And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker together of it.

²⁴ ¶ Know ye not that those who run in a race indeed all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain it.

²⁵ And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible one.

²⁶ I therefore so run, not as unto an uncertain thing; so I fight, not as one that beats the air;

²⁷ but I keep my body under, and bring it into subjection, lest preaching to others, I myself should become reprobate.

7 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² and thou son of man, thus hath the Lord GOD said unto the land of Israel: The end, the end comes upon the four corners of the land.

³ Now shall be the end upon thee, and I will send my anger upon thee and will judge thee according to thy ways and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.

⁴ And my eye shall not forgive thee, neither will I have mercy; but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

⁵ Thus hath the Lord GOD said: An evil, behold, an evil is come.

⁶ An end is come, the end is come; it watches for thee; behold, it is come.

⁷ The morning comes for thee. O thou that dwellest in the land; the time comes, the day is near, the day of trouble, and it shall not be the echo of the mountains.

⁸ Now I will shortly pour out my fury upon thee and accomplish my anger in thee; and I will judge thee according to thy ways and place all thine abominations upon thee.

⁹ And my eye shall not forgive, neither will I have mercy; I will recompense thee according to thy ways, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smites.

¹⁰ Behold the day, behold, it comes; the morning is gone forth; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded.

¹¹ Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; nothing shall remain of them, nor of their riches, nor of anything of theirs; neither shall there be lamentation for them.

¹² The time is come, the day draws near; do not let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

¹³ For the seller shall not return to that which is sold although they remain alive, for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof and shall not be cancelled; neither shall any in the iniquity of his life strengthen himself.

¹⁴ They shall blow the trumpet and make everything ready, but there shall be no one to go forth to the battle, for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

¹⁵ The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

¹⁶ ¶ And those that escape of them shall be upon the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each one for his iniquity.

¹⁷ All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

¹⁸ They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and trembling shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

¹⁹ They shall cast their silver in the streets and their gold far from them their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD; they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels because it shall be the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

²⁰ Because they turned the glory of his ornament into pride and made in her the images of their abominations of their statues; therefore I have set it far from them.

²¹ And I gave it into the hands of the strangers for a prey and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.

²² I will also turn my face from them, and they shall pollute my secret place, for the destroyers shall enter into it and defile it.

²³ ¶ Make a chain, for the land is full of bloody judgments, and the city is full of violence.

²⁴ Therefore I will bring the worst of all the Gentiles, and they shall possess their houses; I will also cause the arrogance of the strong to cease; and their sanctuaries shall be defiled.

²⁵ A cutting off comes, and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

²⁶ Destruction shall come upon destruction, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then they shall seek an answer from the prophet, but the law shall perish from the priest and counsel from the elders.

²⁷ The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their judgments I will judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

To the Overcomer: upon Shoshannim lilies, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves.

¹ ¶ My heart is overflowing with a good word; I speak of the things which I have done concerning the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

² Thou art fairer than the sons of men, grace is poured into thy lips; therefore God has blessed thee for ever.

³ Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most valiant, with thy glory and thy majesty.

⁴ And in thy majesty be prospered; ride upon the word of truth and of humility and of righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

⁵ Thine arrows, by which the peoples fall under thee, penetrate the heart of the enemies of the king.

⁶ ¶ Thy throne, O God, is eternal and for ever, the rod of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

⁷ Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

⁸ All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made thee glad.

⁹ Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women; the queen stands at thy right hand with a crown of gold from Ophir.

¹⁰ ¶ Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

¹¹ so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty; and bow before him, for he is thy Lord.

¹² And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.

¹³ The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

¹⁴ She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework; the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

¹⁵ With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought; they shall enter into the king’s palace.

¹⁶ Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth.

¹⁷ I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations; therefore shall the people praise thee eternally and for ever.