1 Samuel 19, 1 Corinthians 1, Lamentations 4, Psalm 35

1 Samuel 19,

1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David
 
2 and warned him, "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there.
 
3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out."
 
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly.
 
5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?""
 
6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: "As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death."
 
7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
 
8 Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.
 
9 But an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp,
 
10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.
 
11 Saul sent men to David's house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't run for your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be killed."
 
12 So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped.
 
13 Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats' hair at the head.
 
14 When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, "He is ill."
 
15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, "Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him."
 
16 But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats' hair.
 
17 Saul said to Michal, "Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?" Michal told him, "He said to me, 'Let me get away. Why should I kill you?' "
 
18 When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.
 
19 Word came to Saul: "David is in Naioth at Ramah";
 
20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they also prophesied.
 
21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied.
 
22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?" "Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said.
 
23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth.
 
24 He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
 

1 Corinthians 1,

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
 
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-their Lord and ours:
 
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
 
5 For in him you have been enriched in every way-in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-
 
6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.
 
7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
 
8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
 
10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
 
11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
 
12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
 
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
 
14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
 
15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.
 
16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.)
 
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel-not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
 
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
 
19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
 
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
 
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
 
22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
 
23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
 
24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
 
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
 
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
 
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
 
28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are,
 
29 so that no one may boast before him.
 
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
 
31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
 

Lamentations 4,

1 How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at the head of every street.
 
2 How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter's hands!
 
3 Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert.
 
4 Because of thirst the infant's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them.
 
5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those nurtured in purple now lie on ash heaps.
 
6 The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her.
 
7 Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
 
8 But now they are blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
 
9 Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.
 
10 With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.
 
11 The LORD has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations.
 
12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the world's people, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
 
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous.
 
14 Now they grope through the streets like men who are blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments.
 
15 "Go away! You are unclean!" men cry to them. "Away! Away! Don't touch us!" When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, "They can stay here no longer."
 
16 The LORD himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor.
 
17 Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
 
18 Men stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come.
 
19 Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.
 
20 The LORD's anointed, our very life breath, was caught in their traps. We thought that under his shadow we would live among the nations.
 
21 Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked.
 
22 O Daughter of Zion, your punishment will end; he will not prolong your exile. But, O Daughter of Edom, he will punish your sin and expose your wickedness.
 

Psalm 35

1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.
 
2 Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.
 
3 Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation."
 
4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.
 
5 May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away;
 
6 may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
 
7 Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me,
 
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise-may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
 
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.
 
10 My whole being will exclaim, "Who is like you, O LORD? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."
 
11 Ruthless witnesses come forward; they question me on things I know nothing about.
 
12 They repay me evil for good and leave my soul forlorn.
 
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
 
14 I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother.
 
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee; attackers gathered against me when I was unaware. They slandered me without ceasing.
 
16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked; they gnashed their teeth at me.
 
17 O Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my life from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
 
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.
 
19 Let not those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; let not those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.
 
20 They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.
 
21 They gape at me and say, "Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it."
 
22 O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent. Do not be far from me, O Lord.
 
23 Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord.
 
24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, O LORD my God; do not let them gloat over me.
 
25 Do not let them think, "Aha, just what we wanted!" or say, "We have swallowed him up."
 
26 May all who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion; may all who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and disgrace.
 
27 May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, "The LORD be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant."
 
28 My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.