Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

13 Saul ^[a]reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ² Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in ^(A)Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with ^(B)Jonathan in ^(C)Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.

³ And Jonathan attacked ^(D)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(E)Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become ^[b]an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, ^[c]thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people ^(F)as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(G)Beth Aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people ^(H)hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the ^(I)land of Gad and Gilead.

As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. ^8 (J)Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might ^[d]greet him.

¹¹ And Samuel said, “What have you done?”

Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, ¹² then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, ^(K)“You have done foolishly. ^(L)You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ^14 (M)But now your kingdom shall not continue. ^(N)The Lord has sought for Himself a man ^(O)after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have ^(P)not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of ^[e]Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, ^(Q)about six hundred men.

No Weapons for the Army

¹⁶ Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in ^[f]Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷ Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to ^(R)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ another company turned to the road to ^(S)Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of ^(T)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now ^(U)there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” ²⁰ But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; ²¹ and the charge for a sharpening was a ^[g]pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. ²² So it came about, on the day of battle, that ^(V)there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.

^23 (W)And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

Israel’s Rejection Not Total

11 I say then, ^(A)has God cast away His people? ^(B)Certainly not! For ^(C)I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not cast away His people whom ^(D)He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ^3 (E)“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? ⁴ But what does the divine response say to him? ^(F)“I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ^5 (G)Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. ⁶ And ^(H)if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. ^[a]But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

⁷ What then? ^(I)Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were ^(J)blinded. ⁸ Just as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

Israel’s Rejection Not Final

¹¹ I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But ^(N)through their ^[b]fall, to provoke them to ^(O)jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. ¹² Now if their ^[c]fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as ^(P)I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and ^(Q)save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be ^(R)but life from the dead?

¹⁶ For if ^(S)the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ And if ^(T)some of the branches were broken off, ^(U)and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and ^[d]fatness of the olive tree, ^18 (V)do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ Well said. Because of ^(W)unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. ²² Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, ^[e]goodness, ^(X)if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise ^(Y)you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, ^(Z)if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

Jonathan Defeats the Philistines

14 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who ^[a]bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. ² And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of ^(A)Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men. ^3 (B)Ahijah the son of Ahitub, ^(C)Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was ^(D)wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

⁴ Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over ^(E)to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. ⁵ The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.

⁶ Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these ^(F)uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord ^(G)from saving by many or by few.”

⁷ So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.”

⁸ Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. ⁹ If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and ^(H)this will be a sign to us.”

¹¹ So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have ^(I)hidden.” ¹² Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will ^[b]show you something.”

Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” ¹³ And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they ^(J)fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. ¹⁴ That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about ^[c]half an acre of land.

¹⁵ And ^(K)there was ^[d]trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and ^(L)the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was ^(M)a very great trembling. ¹⁶ Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they ^(N)went here and there. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Now call the roll and see who has gone from us.” And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. ¹⁸ And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ^[e]ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel). ¹⁹ Now it happened, while Saul ^(O)talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” ²⁰ Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed ^(P)every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion. ²¹ Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² Likewise all the men of Israel who ^(Q)had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. ^23 (R)So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted ^(S)to Beth Aven.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(A)

¹⁷ Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present ^[a]to heal them. ^18 (B)Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. ¹⁹ And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst ^(C)before Jesus.

²⁰ When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

^21 (D)And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? ^(E)Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² But when Jesus ^(F)perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, ^(G)“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

²⁵ Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, ^(H)glorifying God. ²⁶ And they were all amazed, and they ^(I)glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

Matthew the Tax Collector^(J)

^27 (K)After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(L)“Follow Me.” ²⁸ So he left all, rose up, and ^(M)followed Him.

^29 (N)Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And ^(O)there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. ^30 [b]And their scribes and the Pharisees ^[c]complained against His disciples, saying, ^(P)“Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^32 (Q)I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(R)

³³ Then they said to Him, ^(S)“Why^[d] do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”

³⁴ And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the ^(T)bridegroom is with them? ³⁵ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

^36 (U)Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one ^[e]puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into new wineskins, ^[f]and both are preserved. ³⁹ And no one, having drunk old wine, ^[g]immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is ^[h]better.’ ”