Saul Consults a Medium

³ Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. Saul had expelled the mediums and the wizards from the land.^{(A) 4} The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa.^{(B) 5} When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶ When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, not by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.^{(C) 7} Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “There is a medium at Endor.”^(D)

⁸ So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and went there, he and two men with him. They came to the woman by night. And he said, “Consult a spirit for me, and bring up for me the one whom I name to you.”^{(E) 9} The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?”^{(F) 10} But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “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 answered, “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, “Have no fear; what do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being^[a] coming up out of the ground.” ¹⁴ He said to her, “What is his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up; he is wrapped in a robe.” So Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did obeisance.^(G)

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 God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams, so I have summoned you to tell me what I should do.”^{(H) 16} 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 just as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.^{(I) 18} 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 today.^{(J) 19} Moreover, the Lord will give Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me; the Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”^(K)

²⁰ Immediately Saul fell 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 The woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Your servant has listened to you; I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me.^{(L) 22} Now, therefore, you also listen to your servant; let me set a morsel of bread before you. 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 got up from the ground and sat on the bed.^{(M) 24} Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house. She quickly slaughtered it, and she took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened cakes. ²⁵ She put them before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

The Scroll Read in the Temple

36 In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:^{(A) 2} Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today.^{(B) 3} It may be that, when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.^(C)

⁴ Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words that the Lord had spoken to him.^{(D) 5} And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord,^{(E) 6} so you go, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. ⁷ It may be that their plea will come before the Lord and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”^{(F) 8} And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ In the fifth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.^{(G) 10} Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.^(H)

The Scroll Read in the Palace

¹¹ When Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll,^{(I) 12} he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials.^{(J) 13} And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people.^{(K) 14} Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.^{(L) 15} And they said to him, “Sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.^{(M) 16} When they heard all the words, they turned to one another in alarm and said to Baruch, “We certainly must report all these words to the king.”^{(N) 17} Then they questioned Baruch, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” ¹⁸ Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”^(O)

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

²⁰ Leaving the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, they went to the court of the king, and they reported all the words in the hearing of the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who stood beside the king.^{(P) 22} Now the king was sitting in his winter apartment (it was the ninth month), and there was a fire burning in the brazier before him.^{(Q) 23} As Jehudi read three or four columns, he would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. ²⁴ Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was alarmed, nor did they tear their garments.^{(R) 25} Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.^{(S) 26} And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the Lord hid them.^(T)

Peter and John before the Council

4 While Peter and John^[a] were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them,^{(A) 2} much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead.^{(B) 3} So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.^{(C) 4} But many of those who heard the word believed, and they numbered about five thousand.^(D)

⁵ The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,^{(E) 6} with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John,^[b] and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.^{(F) 7} When they had made the prisoners^[c] stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,^{(G) 9} if we are being questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are being asked how this man has been healed,^{[d] 10} let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,^[e] whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.^{(H) 11} This Jesus^[f] is

¹² “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”^(J)

¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.^{(K) 14} When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to leave the council while they discussed the matter with one another.^{(L) 16} They said, “What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it.^{(M) 17} But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸ So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.^{(N) 19} But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge;^{(O) 20} for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.”^{(P) 21} After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened.^{(Q) 22} For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

The Believers Pray for Boldness

²³ After they were released, they went to their own people and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them,^{(A) 25} it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:^[a]

²⁷ “For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant^[c] Jesus, whom you anointed,^{(D) 28} to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness,^{(E) 30} while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant^[d] Jesus.”^{(F) 31} When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.^(G)

Jesus the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes^[a] to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed^[b] by the word that I have spoken to you.^{(A) 4} Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.^{(B) 5} I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.^{(C) 8} My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become^[c] my disciples.^{(D) 9} As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.^{(E) 11} I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.^(F)

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.^{(G) 13} No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^{(H) 14} You are my friends if you do what I command you.^{(I) 15} I do not call you servants^[d] any longer, because the servant^[e] does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.^(J)