²⁶ Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. ²⁷ And as ^(A)one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at ^(B)the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹ When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, ^(C)spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One ^(D)is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ^(E)‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take ^(F)grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. ³⁴ Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall ^(G)trade in the land.’”

^35 (H)As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ And Jacob their father said to them, “You have ^(I)bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” ³⁷ Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill ^(J)my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” ³⁸ But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for ^(K)his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. ^(L)If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, ^(M)you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

Saul Chosen to Be King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. ² And he had a son whose name was Saul, ^(B)a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. ^(C)From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, “Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ And he passed through ^(D)the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^(E)Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant^[a] who was with him, “Come, let us go back, ^(F)lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” ⁶ But he said to him, “Behold, there is ^(G)a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; ^(H)all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, ^(I)what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel^[b] of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man ^(J)went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today's “prophet” was formerly called a seer.) ¹⁰ And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the hill to the city, ^(K)they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people ^(L)have a sacrifice today on ^(M)the high place. ¹³ As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, ^(N)the Lord had ^(O)revealed to Samuel: ¹⁶ “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, ^(P)and you shall anoint him to be prince^[c] over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. ^(Q)For I have seen^[d] my people, because their cry has come to me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, ^(R)“Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” ¹⁹ Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. ^20 (S)As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?” ²¹ Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, ^(T)from the least of the tribes of Israel? ^(U)And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons. ²³ And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’” ²⁴ So the cook took up ^(V)the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.”^[e]

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵ And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul ^(W)on the roof, and he lay down to sleep.^{[f] 26} Then at the break of dawn^[g] Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

The Lord's Day of Vengeance

The Lord's Mercy Remembered

Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

⁹ “Then ^(A)they will deliver you up ^(B)to tribulation and ^(C)put you to death, and ^(D)you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away^[a] and ^(E)betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(F)false prophets will arise ^(G)and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, ^(H)the love of many will grow cold. ^13 (I)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom ^(J)will be proclaimed throughout the whole world ^(K)as a testimony ^(L)to all nations, and ^(M)then the end will come.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹² “In this connection ^(A)I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^(B)in the Hebrew language,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and ^(C)stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(D)to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ^17 (E)delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^(F)to whom I ^(G)am sending you ^18 (H)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^(I)the power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^(J)forgiveness of sins and ^(K)a place among those who are sanctified ^(L)by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^(M)the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first ^(N)to those in Damascus, ^(O)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(P)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(Q)repent and ^(R)turn to God, performing deeds ^(S)in keeping with their repentance. ²¹ For this reason ^(T)the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ^22 (U)To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^(V)I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^(W)the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ^23 (X)that the Christ ^(Y)must suffer and that, ^(Z)by being the first ^(AA)to rise from the dead, ^(AB)he would proclaim ^(AC)light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”