Samuel's Farewell Address

12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed ^(A)your voice in all that you have said to me ^(B)and have made a king over you. ² And now, behold, the king ^(C)walks before you, ^(D)and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. ³ Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before ^(E)his anointed. ^(F)Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me^[a] and I will restore it to you.” ⁴ They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” ⁵ And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and ^(G)his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything ^(H)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ And Samuel said to the people, ^(I)“The Lord is witness,^[b] who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. ^8 (J)When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,^{[c] (K)}then your fathers cried out to the Lord and ^(L)the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, ^(M)who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. ⁹ But ^(N)they forgot the Lord their God. ^(O)And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,^{[d] (P)}and into the hand of the Philistines, ^(Q)and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. ^10 (R)And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord ^(S)and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now ^(T)deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ ¹¹ And the Lord sent ^(U)Jerubbaal ^(V)and Barak^{[e] (W)}and Jephthah and ^(X)Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. ¹² And when you saw that ^(Y)Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, ^(Z)you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^(AA)when the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ And now ^(AB)behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, ^(AC)the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you will ^(AD)fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. ¹⁵ But ^(AE)if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then ^(AF)the hand of the Lord will be against you and ^(AG)your king.^{[f] 16} Now therefore ^(AH)stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. ^17 (AI)Is it not wheat harvest today? ^(AJ)I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that ^(AK)your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, ^(AL)and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, ^(AM)“Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet ^(AN)do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ And ^(AO)do not turn aside after ^(AP)empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. ^22 (AQ)For the Lord will not forsake his people, ^(AR)for his great name's sake, because ^(AS)it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. ²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing ^(AT)to pray for you, ^(AU)and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. ^24 (AV)Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider ^(AW)what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, ^(AX)you shall be swept away, ^(AY)both you and your king.”

Saul Fights the Philistines

13 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,^{[g] 2} Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in ^(AZ)Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in ^(BA)Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. ³ Jonathan defeated ^(BB)the garrison of the Philistines that was ^(BC)at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul ^(BD)blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴ And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops ^(BE)like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(BF)Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves ^(BG)in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, ⁷ and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice

^8 (BH)He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. ¹¹ Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, ¹² I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, ^(BI)“You have done foolishly. ^(BJ)You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now ^(BK)your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man ^(BL)after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince^[h] over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” ¹⁵ And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal^[i] to ^(BM)Gibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, ^(BN)about six hundred men. ¹⁶ And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in ^(BO)Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷ And ^(BP)raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; ¹⁸ another company turned toward ^(BQ)Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of ^(BR)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

^19 (BS)Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” ²⁰ But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle,^{[j] 21} and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel^[k] for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel^[l] for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.^{[m] 22} So on the day of the battle ^(BT)there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. ²³ And ^(BU)the garrison of the Philistines went out to the ^(BV)pass of ^(BW)Michmash.

Jesus at the Feast of Booths

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because ^(A)the Jews^[a] were seeking to kill him. ² Now ^(B)the Jews' Feast of ^(C)Booths was at hand. ^3 (D)So his brothers^[b] said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴ For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, ^(E)show yourself to the world.” ^5 (F)For not even ^(G)his brothers believed in him. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ^(H)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but ^(I)it hates me because I testify about it that ^(J)its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not^[c] going up to this feast, for ^(K)my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

¹⁰ But after ^(L)his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ^11 (M)The Jews ^(N)were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much ^(O)muttering about him among the people. ^(P)While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, ^(Q)he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet ^(R)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

¹⁴ About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^(S)into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵ The Jews therefore ^(T)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,^[d] when he has never studied?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them, ^(U)“My teaching is not mine, but his ^(V)who sent me. ^17 (W)If anyone's will is to do God's^[e] will, ^(X)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ^(Y)am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own authority ^(Z)seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ^19 (AA)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^(AB)Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, ^(AC)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(AD)one work, and you all marvel at it. ^22 (AE)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^(AF)from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^(AG)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? ^24 (AH)Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^(AI)they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, ^(AJ)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^(AK)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But ^(AL)we know ^(AM)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^(AN)no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸ So Jesus proclaimed, ^(AO)as he taught in the temple, ^(AP)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^(AQ)I have not come of my own accord. ^(AR)He who sent me is true, ^(AS)and him you do not know. ^29 (AT)I know him, for I come ^(AU)from him, and ^(AV)he sent me.” ^30 (AW)So they were seeking to arrest him, but ^(AX)no one laid a hand on him, ^(AY)because his hour had not yet come.

With God We Shall Do Valiantly

A Song. A Psalm of David.