Saul’s Search

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite, a ^[a]valiant mighty man. ² He had a son whose name was Saul, a ^(B)young and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome man than he among the sons of Israel; ^(C)from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had wandered off. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Now take with you one of the servants and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴ So he passed through ^(D)the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^(E)Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^(F)Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjaminites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of ^(G)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let’s return, ^(H)or else my father will stop being concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious about us.” ⁶ But he said to him, “Behold now, there is ^(I)a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^(J)everything that he says definitely comes true. Now let’s go there, ^(K)perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sacks and there is ^(L)no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will ^(M)tell us our way.” ⁹ (Previously in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let’s go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was previously called ^(N)a seer.) ¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, “^[b]Good idea; come, let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the slope to the city, ^(O)they found young women going out to draw water, and they said to them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² They answered them and said, “He is; ^[c]see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, because ^(P)the people have a sacrifice on ^(Q)the high place today. ¹³ As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, because ^(R)he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now then, go up, for you will find him about this time.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

God’s Choice for King

¹⁵ Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^(S)the Lord had ^[d]revealed this to Samuel, saying, ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and ^(T)you shall anoint him as ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ^(U)I have considered My people, because their outcry has come to Me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord ^[e]said to him, “^(V)Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall rule over My people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” ¹⁹ And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you everything that is on your mind. ^20 (W)And as for your donkeys that wandered off three days ago, do not be concerned about them, for they have been found. And ^(X)for whom is everything that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?” ²¹ Saul replied, “^(Y)Am I not a Benjaminite, of ^(Z)the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the ^[f]tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men. ²³ And Samuel said to the cook, “^[g]Serve the portion that I gave you about which I said to you, ‘Set it ^[h]aside.’” ²⁴ Then the cook ^(AA)took up the leg with what was on it and placed it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been reserved! Place it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, ^[i]since I said I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ When they came down from the high place into the city, ^[j]Samuel spoke with Saul ^(AB)on the roof. ²⁶ And they got up early; and at daybreak Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, so that I may send you on your way.” So Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. ²⁷ As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Speak to the servant and have him go on ahead of us and pass by; but you stand here now, so that I may proclaim the word of God to you.”

Saul among the Prophets

10 Then ^(AC)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on ^[k]Saul’s head, ^(AD)kissed him, and said, “Has ^(AE)the Lord not anointed you as ruler over ^(AF)His inheritance?

Hoshea Reigns over Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(A)Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, only not as the kings of Israel who preceded him. ^3 (B)Shalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^(C)against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had then brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.

⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and went up to ^(D)Samaria and besieged it for three years.

Israel Captive

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^(E)the king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^(F)led the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^(G)settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^(H)Gozan, and ^(I)in the cities of the Medes.

Why Israel Fell

⁷ Now ^(J)this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^(K)who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; ^(L)and they had ^[a]feared other gods. ⁸ They also ^[b](M)followed the ^[c]customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^(N)of the kings of Israel which they had ^[d]introduced. ⁹ And the sons of Israel ^[e]did things secretly against the Lord their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^(O)watchtower to fortified city. ¹⁰ And ^(P)they set up for themselves memorial stones and ^[f](Q)Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, ¹¹ and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that the Lord had taken into exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the Lord. ¹² They served idols, ^(R)concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” ¹³ Yet the ^(S)Lord warned Israel and Judah ^[g](T)through all His prophets and ^(U)every seer, saying, “^(V)Turn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you ^[h]through My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ However, they did not listen, but ^(W)stiffened their neck ^[i]like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ^15 (X)They rejected His statutes and ^(Y)His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He ^[j]gave them. And ^(Z)they followed ^[k]idols and ^(AA)became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the ^(AB)Lord had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: ^(AC)two calves. And they ^(AD)made an ^[l]Asherah, and ^(AE)worshiped all the heavenly ^[m]lights, and ^(AF)served Baal. ¹⁷ Then ^(AG)they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they ^(AH)practiced divination and interpreting omens, and ^(AI)gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. ¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He ^(AJ)removed them from His ^[n]sight; ^(AK)no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

^19 (AL)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they ^[o](AM)followed the ^[p]customs ^[q]which Israel had ^[r]introduced. ²⁰ So the Lord rejected all the ^[s]descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^(AN)handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them ^[t]out of His sight.

²¹ When ^(AO)He had torn Israel from the house of David, ^(AP)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^(AQ)Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and misled them into a great sin. ²² And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them ^23 (AR)until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^(AS)just as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. ^(AT)So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Introduction

1 The first account I ^[a]composed, ^(A)Theophilus, about all that Jesus ^(B)began to do and teach, ² until the day when He ^(C)was taken up to heaven, after He ^(D)had given orders ^[b]by the Holy Spirit to ^(E)the apostles whom He had ^(F)chosen. ³ To ^[c]these ^(G)He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of ^(H)things regarding the kingdom of God. ^4 [d]Gathering them together, He commanded them ^(I)not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for ^[e](J)what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; ⁵ for ^(K)John baptized ^[f]with water, but you will be baptized ^[g]with the Holy Spirit ^[h](L)not many days from now.”

⁶ So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, ^(M)is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which ^(N)the Father has set by His own authority; ⁸ but you will receive power ^(O)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be ^(P)My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and ^(Q)Samaria, and as far as ^(R)the remotest part of the earth.”

The Ascension

⁹ And after He had said these things, ^(S)He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight. ¹⁰ And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, ^(T)two men in white clothing stood beside them, ¹¹ and they said, “^(U)Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who ^(V)has been taken up from you into heaven, will ^(W)come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

The Upper Room

¹² Then they ^(X)returned to Jerusalem from the ^[i](Y)mountain called ^[j]Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a ^[k]Sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³ When they had entered the city, they went up to ^(Z)the upstairs room where they were staying, that is, ^(AA)Peter, John, ^[l]James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, ^[m]James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and ^(AB)Judas the ^[n]son of ^[o]James. ¹⁴ All these ^(AC)were continually devoting themselves with one ^[p]mind to prayer, along with ^(AD)the women, and Mary the ^(AE)mother of Jesus, and with His ^(AF)brothers.

The Lord’s Supper

13 Now before the Feast of ^(A)the Passover, Jesus, knowing that ^(B)His hour had come that He would depart from this world ^(C)to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them ^[a]to the end. ² And during supper, ^(D)the devil having already put into the heart of ^(E)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, ^(F)knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that ^(G)He had come forth from God and was going back to God, ⁴ *got up from supper and *laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and ^(H)tied it around Himself.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

⁵ Then He *poured water into the basin, and began ^(I)washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. ⁶ So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand ^(J)later.” ⁸ Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “^(K)If I do not wash you, ^(L)you have no ^[b]place with Me.” ⁹ Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And ^(M)you are clean—but ^[c]not all of you.” ¹¹ For ^(N)He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² Then, when He had washed their feet, and ^(O)taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³ You call Me ^(P)‘Teacher’ and ^(Q)‘Lord’; and ^[d]you are correct, for so I am. ¹⁴ So if I, ^(R)the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I gave you ^(S)an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly I say to you, ^(T)a slave is not greater than his master, nor is ^(U)[e]one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are ^(V)blessed if you do them. ^18 (W)I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have ^(X)chosen; but this is happening ^(Y)so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘^(Z)He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ¹⁹ From now on ^(AA)I am telling you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that ^(AB)I am He. ²⁰ Truly, truly I say to you, ^(AC)the one who ^[f]receives anyone I send, ^[g]receives Me; and the one who ^[h]receives Me ^[i]receives Him who sent Me.”