Saul Defeats the Ammonites

11 ^(A)Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged ^(B)Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, ^(C)“Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” ² But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, ^(D)that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus ^(E)bring disgrace on all Israel.” ³ The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” ⁴ When the messengers came to ^(F)Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, ^(G)and all the people wept aloud.

⁵ Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. ^6 (H)And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. ⁷ He took a yoke of oxen ^(I)and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, ^(J)“Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out ^(K)as one man. ⁸ When he mustered them at ^(L)Bezek, ^(M)the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. ⁹ And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have ^(N)salvation.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. ¹⁰ Therefore the men of Jabesh said, ^(O)“Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” ^11 (P)And the next day Saul put the people ^(Q)in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

The Kingdom Is Renewed

¹² Then the people said to Samuel, ^(R)“Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^(S)Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” ¹³ But Saul said, ^(T)“Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today ^(U)the Lord has worked ^(V)salvation in Israel.” ¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to ^(W)Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(X)before the Lord in Gilgal. There ^(Y)they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

10 Brothers,^[a] my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ² For I bear them witness that ^(A)they have a zeal for God, ^(B)but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of ^(C)the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. ⁴ For ^(D)Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.^[b]

The Message of Salvation to All

⁵ For ^(E)Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that ^(F)the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶ But ^(G)the righteousness based on faith says, ^(H)“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the ^(I)abyss?’” (that is, ^(J)to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? ^(K)“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if ^(L)you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and ^(M)believe in your heart ^(N)that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, ^(O)“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ^12 (P)For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; ^(Q)for the same Lord is Lord of all, ^(R)bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For ^(S)“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him ^(T)of whom they have never heard?^[c] And how are they to hear ^(U)without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ^(V)“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ¹⁶ But ^(W)they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ^(X)“Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷ So ^(Y)faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

¹⁸ But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

¹⁹ But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

²⁰ Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

²¹ But of Israel he says, ^(AF)“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Samuel's Farewell Address

12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed ^(A)your voice in all that you have said to me ^(B)and have made a king over you. ² And now, behold, the king ^(C)walks before you, ^(D)and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. ³ Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before ^(E)his anointed. ^(F)Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me^[a] and I will restore it to you.” ⁴ They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” ⁵ And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and ^(G)his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything ^(H)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ And Samuel said to the people, ^(I)“The Lord is witness,^[b] who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. ^8 (J)When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,^{[c] (K)}then your fathers cried out to the Lord and ^(L)the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, ^(M)who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. ⁹ But ^(N)they forgot the Lord their God. ^(O)And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,^{[d] (P)}and into the hand of the Philistines, ^(Q)and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. ^10 (R)And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord ^(S)and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now ^(T)deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ ¹¹ And the Lord sent ^(U)Jerubbaal ^(V)and Barak^{[e] (W)}and Jephthah and ^(X)Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. ¹² And when you saw that ^(Y)Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, ^(Z)you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^(AA)when the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ And now ^(AB)behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, ^(AC)the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you will ^(AD)fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. ¹⁵ But ^(AE)if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then ^(AF)the hand of the Lord will be against you and ^(AG)your king.^{[f] 16} Now therefore ^(AH)stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. ^17 (AI)Is it not wheat harvest today? ^(AJ)I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that ^(AK)your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, ^(AL)and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, ^(AM)“Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet ^(AN)do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ And ^(AO)do not turn aside after ^(AP)empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. ^22 (AQ)For the Lord will not forsake his people, ^(AR)for his great name's sake, because ^(AS)it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. ²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing ^(AT)to pray for you, ^(AU)and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. ^24 (AV)Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider ^(AW)what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, ^(AX)you shall be swept away, ^(AY)both you and your king.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by ^(A)the lake of Gennesaret, ^2 (B)and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were ^(C)washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And ^(D)he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ^(E)“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, ^(F)we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, ^(G)they enclosed a large number of fish, and ^(H)their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. ^(I)And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ^(J)“Depart from me, for ^(K)I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”^{[a] 11} And when they had brought their boats to land, ^(L)they left everything and followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹² While he was in one of the cities, ^(M)there came a man full of leprosy.^[b] And when he saw Jesus, he ^(N)fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, ^(O)if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[c] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him ^(P)to tell no one, but “go and show ^(Q)yourself to the priest, and ^(R)make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ^(S)for a proof to them.” ^15 (T)But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But ^(U)he would withdraw to desolate places and ^(V)pray.