Israel Demands a King

8 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.^{(A) 2} The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah; they were judges in Beer-sheba. ³ Yet his sons did not follow in his ways but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice.^(B)

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah^{(C) 5} and said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.”^{(D) 6} But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord,^{(E) 7} and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.^{(F) 8} Just as they have done to me^[a] from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. ⁹ Now then, listen to their voice; only, you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”^(G)

¹⁰ So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots,^{(H) 12} and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.^{(I) 13} He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers.^{(J) 15} He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves and the best of your cattle^[b] and donkeys and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸ And on that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you on that day.”^(K)

Israel’s Request for a King Granted

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! We are determined to have a king over us, ²⁰ so that we also may be like other nations and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.”^{(L) 21} When Samuel heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. ²² The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and set a king over them.” Samuel then said to the Israelites, “Each of you return home.”^(M)

Future Glory

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.^{(A) 24} For in^[a] hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes^[b] with groanings too deep for words.^{(B) 27} And God,^[c] who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit^[d] intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.^(C)

²⁸ We know that all things work together^[e] for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.^{(D) 29} For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.^{[f](E) 30} And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.^(F)

God’s Love in Christ Jesus

³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?^{(G) 32} He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.^{(H) 34} Who is to condemn? It is Christ^[g] who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.^{(I) 35} Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.^{(K) 38} For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,^{(L) 39} nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Saul Chosen to Be King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth.^{(A) 2} He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the Israelites more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.^(B)

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had strayed. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the young men with you; go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them.^(C)

⁵ When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the young man who was with him, “Let us turn back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and worry about us.”^{(D) 6} But he said to him, “There is a man of God in this town; he is a man held in honor. Whatever he says always comes true. Let us go there now; perhaps he will tell us about the journey on which we have set out.”^{(E) 7} Then Saul replied to the young man, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What have we?”^{(F) 8} The young man answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, to tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, anyone who went to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for the one who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.)^{(G) 10} Saul said to the young man, “Good; come, let us go.” So they went to the town where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?”^{(H) 12} They answered, “Yes, there he is just ahead of you. Hurry; he has come just now to the town because the people have a sacrifice today at the shrine.^{(I) 13} As soon as you enter the town, you will meet him before he goes up to the shrine to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those eat who are invited. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the town. As they were entering the town, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the shrine.

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: ¹⁶ “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen the suffering of^[a] my people, because their outcry has come to me.”^{(J) 17} When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people.”^{(K) 18} Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate and said, “Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?” ¹⁹ Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer; go up before me to the shrine, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. ²⁰ As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, give no further thought to them, for they have been found. And on whom is all Israel’s desire fixed, if not on you and on all your ancestral house?”^{(L) 21} Saul answered, “I am only a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the humblest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”^(M)

²² Then Samuel took Saul and the young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, of whom there were about thirty. ²³ And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, the one I asked you to put aside.” ²⁴ The cook took up the upper thigh^[b] and set it before Saul. Samuel said, “See, what was reserved is set before you. Eat, for it was kept for you for this appointed time, so that you might eat with the guests.”^[c]

So Saul ate with Samuel that day.^{(N) 25} When they came down from the shrine into the town, a bed was spread for Saul^[d] on the roof, and he lay down to sleep.^[e](O)

The Testing of Jesus

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,^{(A) 2} where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.^{(B) 3} The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”^(C)

⁵ Then the devil^[a] led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And the devil^[b] said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.^{(D) 7} If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written,

⁹ Then the devil^[c] led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

¹¹ and

¹² Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”^{(G) 13} When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.^(H)

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

¹⁴ Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.^{(I) 15} He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.^(J)

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

¹⁶ When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,^{(K) 17} and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.^{(N) 21} Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”^{(O) 23} He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ”^{(P) 24} And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.^{(Q) 25} But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land,^{(R) 26} yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”^{(S) 28} When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.^{(T) 30} But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.^(U)