1 Samuel 31

• 1. Now the Philistines attacked Israel, forcing the Israelites to flee. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.
• 2. The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons--Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua.
• 3. The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely.
• 4. Saul groaned to his armor bearer, "Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines run me through and humiliate me." But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
• 5. When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the king.
• 6. So Saul, three of his sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day.
• 7. When the Israelites on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and beyond the Jordan saw that their army had been routed and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns.
• 8. The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa.
• 9. So they cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor. Then they proclaimed the news of Saul's death in their pagan temple and to the people throughout the land of Philistia.
• 10. They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.
• 11. But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
• 12. their warriors traveled all night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies.
• 13. Then they took their remains and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

1 Corinthians 11

• 1. And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ's.
• 2. I am so glad, dear friends, that you always keep me in your thoughts and you are following the Christian teaching I passed on to you.
• 3. But there is one thing I want you to know: A man is responsible to Christ, a woman is responsible to her husband, and Christ is responsible to God.
• 4. A man dishonors Christ if he covers his head while praying or prophesying.
• 5. But a woman dishonors her husband if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.
• 6. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair. And since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, then she should wear a covering.
• 7. A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is God's glory, made in God's own image, but woman is the glory of man.
• 8. For the first man didn't come from woman, but the first woman came from man.
• 9. And man was not made for woman's benefit, but woman was made for man.
• 10. So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign of authority because the angels are watching.
• 11. But in relationships among the Lord's people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women.
• 12. For although the first woman came from man, all men have been born from women ever since, and everything comes from God.
• 13. What do you think about this? Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head?
• 14. Isn't it obvious that it's disgraceful for a man to have long hair?
• 15. And isn't it obvious that long hair is a woman's pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering.
• 16. But if anyone wants to argue about this, all I can say is that we have no other custom than this, and all the churches of God feel the same way about it.
• 17. But now when I mention this next issue, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.
• 18. First of all, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.
• 19. But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that those of you who are right will be recognized!
• 20. It's not the Lord's Supper you are concerned about when you come together.
• 21. For I am told that some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.
• 22. What? Is this really true? Don't you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace the church of God and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say about these things? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly do not!
• 23. For this is what the Lord himself said, and I pass it on to you just as I received it. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread,
• 24. and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
• 25. In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it."
• 26. For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again.
• 27. So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord.
• 28. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup.
• 29. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself.
• 30. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
• 31. But if we examine ourselves, we will not be examined by God and judged in this way.
• 32. But when we are judged and disciplined by the Lord, we will not be condemned with the world.
• 33. So, dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord's Supper, wait for each other.
• 34. If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won't bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I'll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.

Ezekiel 9

• 1. Then the LORD thundered, "Bring on the men appointed to punish the city! Tell them to bring their weapons with them!"
• 2. Six men soon appeared from the upper gate that faces north, each carrying a battle club in his hand. One of them was dressed in linen and carried a writer's case strapped to his side. They all went into the Temple courtyard and stood beside the bronze altar.
• 3. Then the glory of the God of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. And the LORD called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writer's case.
• 4. He said to him, "Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all those who weep and sigh because of the sins they see around them."
• 5. Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity!
• 6. Kill them all--old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders.
• 7. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told.
• 8. While they were carrying out their orders, I was all alone. I fell face down in the dust and cried out, "O Sovereign LORD! Will your fury against Jerusalem wipe out everyone left in Israel?"
• 9. Then he said to me, "The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying, `The LORD doesn't see it! The LORD has forsaken the land!'
• 10. So I will not spare them or have any pity on them. I will fully repay them for all they have done."
• 11. Then the man in linen clothing, who carried the writer's case, reported back and said, "I have finished the work you gave me to do."

New Living Translation: 249 of 365 days.