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.

Saul’s Rash Oath

²⁴ And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had ^(T)placed the people under oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food.

²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be ^(A)wise in your own ^[a]opinion, that ^(B)blindness in part has happened to Israel ^(C)until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be ^[b]saved, as it is written:

²⁸ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are ^(F)beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are ^(G)irrevocable. ³⁰ For as you ^(H)were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has ^[c]committed them ^(I)all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

³⁶ For ^(M)of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, ^(N)to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Saul Spares King Agag

15 Samuel also said to Saul, ^(A)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, ^(B)how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. ³ Now go and ^(C)attack^[a] Amalek, and ^(D)utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

⁴ So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.

⁶ Then Saul said to ^(E)the Kenites, ^(F)“Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For ^(G)you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ^7 (H)And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from ^(I)Havilah all the way to ^(J)Shur, which is east of Egypt. ^8 (K)He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and ^(L)utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people ^(M)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Saul Rejected as King

¹⁰ Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ^11 (N)“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has ^(O)turned back from following Me, ^(P)and has not performed My commandments.” And it ^(Q)grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. ¹² So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to ^(R)Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” ¹³ Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^(S)“Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

¹⁵ And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; ^(T)for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

And he said to him, “Speak on.”

¹⁷ So Samuel said, ^(U)“When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? ¹⁸ Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are ^[b]consumed.’ ¹⁹ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the ^[c]spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”

²⁰ And Saul said to Samuel, ^(V)“But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ^21 (W)But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

²² So Samuel said:

^24 (AA)Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I ^(AB)feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, ^(AC)for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

²⁷ And as Samuel turned around to go away, ^(AD)Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, ^(AE)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. ²⁹ And also the Strength of Israel ^(AF)will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”

³⁰ Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ^(AG)honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously.

And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³ But Samuel said, ^(AH)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to ^(AI)Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at ^(AJ)Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ And ^(AK)Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)

6 Now ^(B)it happened ^[a]on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. ² And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing ^(C)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”

³ But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, ^(D)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, ^(E)which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?” ⁵ And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath^(F)

^6 (G)Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would ^(H)heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an ^(I)accusation against Him. ⁸ But He ^(J)knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: ^(K)Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or ^[b]to destroy?” ¹⁰ And when He had looked around at them all, He said to ^[c]the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored ^[d]as whole as the other. ¹¹ But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles^(L)

¹² Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in ^(M)prayer to God. ¹³ And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; ^(N)and from them He chose ^(O)twelve whom He also named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, ^(P)whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas ^(Q)the son of James, and ^(R)Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

Jesus Heals a Great Multitude^(S)

¹⁷ And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples ^(T)and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, ¹⁸ as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. ¹⁹ And the whole multitude ^(U)sought to ^(V)touch Him, for ^(W)power went out from Him and healed them all.