Saul and the Medium of En-dor

28 In those days ^(A)the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.” ² David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

³ Now ^(B)Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him ^(C)in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put ^(D)the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. ⁴ The Philistines assembled and came and encamped ^(E)at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped ^(F)at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶ And when Saul inquired of the Lord, ^(G)the Lord did not answer him, either ^(H)by dreams, or ^(I)by Urim, or by prophets. ⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, ^(J)“Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at ^(K)En-dor.”

⁸ So Saul ^(L)disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, ^(M)“Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” ⁹ The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, ^(N)how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” ¹⁰ But Saul swore to her by the Lord, ^(O)“As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” ¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” ¹³ The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” ¹⁴ He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped ^(P)in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.

¹⁵ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and ^(Q)God has turned away from me and ^(R)answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” ¹⁶ And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? ¹⁷ The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for ^(S)the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. ^18 (T)Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹ Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you ^(U)and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰ Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. ²¹ And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. ^(V)I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. ²² Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” ²³ He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. ²⁴ Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it, ²⁵ and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

The Philistines Reject David

29 ^(W)Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at ^(X)Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by ^(Y)the spring that is in ^(Z)Jezreel. ² As ^(AA)the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear ^(AB)with Achish, ³ the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me ^(AC)now for days and years, and since he deserted to me ^(AD)I have found no fault in him to this day.” ⁴ But ^(AE)the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return ^(AF)to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, ^(AG)lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? ⁵ Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances,

⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, ^(AI)“As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that ^(AJ)you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. ⁷ So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” ⁸ And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹ And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight ^(AK)as an angel of God. Nevertheless, ^(AL)the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ ¹⁰ Now then rise early in the morning ^(AM)with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.” ¹¹ So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to ^(AN)Jezreel.

Stephen's Speech

7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ² And Stephen said:

^(A)“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^(B)The God ^(C)of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^(D)before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(E)‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ^4 (F)Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^(G)after his father died, ^(H)God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵ Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised ^(I)to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^(J)though he had no child. ⁶ And God spoke to this effect—that ^(K)his offspring would ^(L)be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^(M)four hundred years. ⁷ ‘But ^(N)I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^(O)and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ And ^(P)he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^(Q)so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^(R)circumcised him on the eighth day, and ^(S)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and ^(T)Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, ^(U)jealous of Joseph, ^(V)sold him into Egypt; but ^(W)God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^(X)gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^(Y)who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹ Now ^(Z)there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ^12 (AA)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ And ^(AB)on the second visit ^(AC)Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^(AD)Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And ^(AE)Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^(AF)seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And ^(AG)Jacob went down into Egypt, and ^(AH)he died, he ^(AI)and our fathers, ¹⁶ and ^(AJ)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^(AK)Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷ “But ^(AL)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^(AM)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king ^(AN)who did not know Joseph. ^19 (AO)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^(AP)so that they would not be kept alive. ^20 (AQ)At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, ²¹ and ^(AR)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses ^(AS)was instructed in ^(AT)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^(AU)mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^(AV)to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ^26 (AW)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^(AX)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At this retort ^(AY)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(AZ)where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(BA)an angel appeared to him ^(BB)in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ^32 (BC)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ^(BD)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (BE)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(BF)have heard their groaning, and ^(BG)I have come down to deliver them. ^(BH)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(BI)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(BJ)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (BK)This man led them out, performing ^(BL)wonders and signs ^(BM)in Egypt and ^(BN)at the Red Sea and ^(BO)in the wilderness for ^(BP)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(BQ)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(BR)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(BS)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(BT)He received ^(BU)living ^(BV)oracles to give to us. ³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(BW)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ^(BX)‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹ And ^(BY)they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^(BZ)were rejoicing in ^(CA)the works of their hands. ⁴² But ^(CB)God turned away and ^(CC)gave them over to worship ^(CD)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had ^(CH)the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^(CI)directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ⁴⁵ Our fathers in turn ^(CJ)brought it in with Joshua when they ^(CK)dispossessed the nations ^(CL)that God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^(CM)until the days of David, ^46 (CN)who found favor in the sight of God and ^(CO)asked to find a dwelling place for ^(CP)the God of Jacob.^{[a] 47} But it was ^(CQ)Solomon who built a house for him. ^48 (CR)Yet the Most High does not dwell ^(CS)in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

^51 (CV)“You stiff-necked people, ^(CW)uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^(CX)As your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (CY)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^(CZ)the Righteous One, ^(DA)whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³ you who received the law ^(DB)as delivered by angels and ^(DC)did not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ Now when they heard these things ^(DD)they were enraged, and they ^(DE)ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, ^(DF)full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^(DG)the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^(DH)at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see ^(DI)the heavens opened, and ^(DJ)the Son of Man standing ^(DK)at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together^[b] at him. ⁵⁸ Then ^(DL)they cast him out of the city and ^(DM)stoned him. And ^(DN)the witnesses laid down their garments ^(DO)at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And as they were stoning Stephen, ^(DP)he called out, “Lord Jesus, ^(DQ)receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ And ^(DR)falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^(DS)“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^(DT)he fell asleep.