¹Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.” ²And David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.” ³Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land. ⁴Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. ⁵When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶And when Saul inquired of the Lᴏʀᴅ, the Lᴏʀᴅ did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. ⁷Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.” ⁸So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a seance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.” ⁹Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?” ¹⁰And Saul swore to her by the Lᴏʀᴅ, saying, “As the Lᴏʀᴅ lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” ¹¹Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!” ¹³And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.” ¹⁴So he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. ¹⁵Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.” ¹⁶Then Samuel said: “Why then do you ask me, seeing the Lᴏʀᴅ has departed from you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷And the Lᴏʀᴅ has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lᴏʀᴅ has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. ¹⁸Because you did not obey the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lᴏʀᴅ has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹Moreover the Lᴏʀᴅ will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lᴏʀᴅ will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” ²⁰Then immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night. ²¹And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me. ²²Now therefore, please, heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” ²³But he refused and said, “I will not eat.” So his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded their voice. Then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. ²⁴Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. ²⁵So she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

¹Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? ²If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. ³My defense to those who examine me is this: ⁴Do we have no right to eat and drink? ⁵Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? ⁶Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? ⁷Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? ⁸Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? ⁹For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? ¹⁰Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. ¹¹If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? ¹²If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. ¹³Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? ¹⁴Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. ¹⁵But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. ¹⁶For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. ¹⁹For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; ²⁰and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; ²¹to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; ²²to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. ²³Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. ²⁴Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. ²⁵And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. ²⁶Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

¹Moreover the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ²“And you, son of man, thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God to the land of Israel: ‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. ³Now the end has come upon you, And I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations. ⁴My eye will not spare you, Nor will I have pity; But I will repay your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst; Then you shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ!’ ⁵“Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come! ⁶An end has come, The end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come! ⁷Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; The time has come, A day of trouble is near, And not of rejoicing in the mountains. ⁸Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, And spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations. ⁹‘My eye will not spare, Nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ who strikes. ¹⁰‘Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Doom has gone out; The rod has blossomed, Pride has budded. ¹¹Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness; None of them shall remain, None of their multitude, None of them; Nor shall there be wailing for them. ¹²The time has come, The day draws near. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, Nor the seller mourn, For wrath is on their whole multitude. ¹³For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, Though he may still be alive; For the vision concerns the whole multitude, And it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity. ¹⁴‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. ¹⁵The sword is outside, And the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field Will die by the sword; And whoever is in the city, Famine and pestilence will devour him. ¹⁶‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity. ¹⁷Every hand will be feeble, And every knee will be as weak as water. ¹⁸They will also be girded with sackcloth; Horror will cover them; Shame will be on every face, Baldness on all their heads. ¹⁹‘They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the Lᴏʀᴅ; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity. ²⁰‘As for the beauty of his ornaments, He set it in majesty; But they made from it The images of their abominations— Their detestable things; Therefore I have made it Like refuse to them. ²¹I will give it as plunder Into the hands of strangers, And to the wicked of the earth as spoil; And they shall defile it. ²²I will turn My face from them, And they will defile My secret place; For robbers shall enter it and defile it. ²³‘Make a chain, For the land is filled with crimes of blood, And the city is full of violence. ²⁴Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, And they will possess their houses; I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease, And their holy places shall be defiled. ²⁵Destruction comes; They will seek peace, but there shall be none. ²⁶Disaster will come upon disaster, And rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; But the law will perish from the priest, And counsel from the elders. ²⁷‘The king will mourn, The prince will be clothed with desolation, And the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, And according to what they deserve I will judge them; Then they shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ!’ ”

¹To the Chief Musician. Set to ‘The Lilies.’ A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love. My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. ²You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. ³Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, With Your glory and Your majesty. ⁴And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. ⁵Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; The peoples fall under You. ⁶Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. ⁷You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions. ⁸All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad. ⁹Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. ¹⁰Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father’s house; ¹¹So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him. ¹²And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; The rich among the people will seek your favor. ¹³The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold. ¹⁴She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. ¹⁵With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King’s palace. ¹⁶Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, Whom You shall make princes in all the earth. ¹⁷I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.