One Year Bible.

War with the Philistines

¹Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. ²He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.

³Then Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”

⁴And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

⁶Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns. ⁷Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, remained at Gilgal, and all his troops were quaking in fear.

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

⁸And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul. ⁹So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered up the burnt offering.

¹⁰Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹“What have you done?” Samuel asked.

And Saul replied, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me, and that you did not come at the appointed time and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, ¹²I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will descend upon me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.”

¹⁵Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. And Saul numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.

Israel without Weapons

¹⁶Now Saul and Jonathan his son and the troops with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash. ¹⁷And raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three divisions. One headed toward Ophrah in the land of Shual, ¹⁸another toward Beth-horon, and the third down the border road overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the wilderness.

¹⁹And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.” ²⁰Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. ²¹The charge was a pim for sharpening a plowshare or mattock, a third of a shekel for sharpening a pitchfork or an axe, and a third of a shekel for repointing an oxgoad.

²²So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hands of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

²³And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.

Paul’s Revelation

¹I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. ²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows. ³And I know that this man— whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows— ⁴was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were inexpressible, things that man is not permitted to tell.

Paul’s Thorn and God’s Grace

⁵I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses. ⁶Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me, ⁷or because of these surpassingly great revelations.

So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians

¹¹I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. ¹²The marks of a true apostle — signs, wonders, and miracles — were performed among you with great perseverance. ¹³In what way were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. ¹⁵And for the sake of your souls, I will most gladly spend my money and myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?

¹⁶Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery. ¹⁷Did I exploit you by anyone I sent you? ¹⁸I urged Titus to visit you, and I sent our brother with him. Did Titus exploit you in any way? Did we not walk in the same Spirit and follow in the same footsteps?

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up. ²⁰For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. ²¹I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.

Cornelius Sends for Peter

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. ²He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. ³One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

⁴Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?”

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God. ⁵Now send men to Joppa to call for a man named Simon who is called Peter. ⁶He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among his attendants. ⁸He explained what had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

⁹The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰He became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

¹¹He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. ¹²It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air. ¹³Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

¹⁴“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

¹⁵The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and all at once the sheet was taken back up into heaven.

Peter Called to Caesarea

¹⁷While Peter was puzzling over the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house and approached the gate. ¹⁸They called out to ask if Simon called Peter was staying there.

¹⁹As Peter continued to reflect on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. ²⁰So get up! Go downstairs and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.”

²¹So Peter went down to the men and said, “Here am I, the one you are looking for. Why have you come?”

²²“Cornelius the centurion has sent us,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home so he could hear a message from you.”

²³So Peter invited them in as his guests. And the next day he got ready and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.

Peter Visits Cornelius

²⁴The following day he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship him. ²⁶But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

²⁷As Peter talked with him, he went inside and found many people gathered together. ²⁸He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. ²⁹So when I was invited, I came without objection. I ask, then, why have you sent for me?”

³⁰Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this, the ninth hour. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me ³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God. ³²Therefore send to Joppa for Simon, who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’

³³So I sent for you immediately, and you were kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has instructed you to tell us.”

Good News for the Gentiles

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, ³⁵but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. ³⁶He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

³⁷You yourselves know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee with the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.

³⁹We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, ⁴⁰God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be seen — ⁴¹not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. ⁴²And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message. ⁴⁵All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God.

Then Peter said, ⁴⁷“Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have!” ⁴⁸So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

Peter’s Report at Jerusalem

¹The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him ³and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events: ⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision of something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came right down to me. ⁶I looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’

⁸‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven.

¹¹Just then three men sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹²The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home. ¹³He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

The Church at Antioch

¹⁹Meanwhile those scattered by the persecution that began with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message only to Jews. ²⁰But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²²When news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts. ²⁴Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. So for a full year they met together with the church and taught large numbers of people. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

²⁷In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. ( This happened under Claudius.) ²⁹So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. ³⁰This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.