The Lord Rejects Saul

15 And Samuel said to Saul, ^(A)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel ^(B)in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. ³ Now go and strike Amalek and ^(C)devote to destruction^[a] all that they have. Do not spare them, ^(D)but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

⁴ So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶ Then Saul said to ^(E)the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. ^(F)For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ^7 (G)And Saul defeated the Amalekites from ^(H)Havilah as far as ^(I)Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸ And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive ^(J)and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. ^9 (K)But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves^[b] and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

¹⁰ The word of the Lord came to Samuel: ^11 (L)“I regret^[c] that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and ^(M)has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. ¹² And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to ^(N)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” ¹³ And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^(O)“Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” ¹⁴ And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” ¹⁵ Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, ^(P)for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” ¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

¹⁷ And Samuel said, ^(Q)“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸ And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ ¹⁹ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^(R)Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰ And Saul said to Samuel, ^(S)“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ^21 (T)But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” ²² And Samuel said,

²⁴ Saul said to Samuel, ^(Z)“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, please pardon my sin and ^(AA)return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” ²⁶ And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. ^(AB)For you have rejected the word of the Lord, ^(AC)and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ^27 (AD)As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ And Samuel said to him, ^(AE)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. ²⁹ And also the Glory of Israel ^(AF)will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” ³⁰ Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ^(AG)honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, ^(AH)and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.^[d] Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” ³³ And Samuel said, ^(AI)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^(AJ)in Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went ^(AK)to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ^(AL)Gibeah of Saul. ^35 (AM)And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^(AN)but Samuel grieved over Saul. ^(AO)And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, ^(AP)“How long will you grieve over Saul, since ^(AQ)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(AR)Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ^(AS)for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” ² And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ^(AT)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ^(AU)And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” ⁴ Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city ^(AV)came to meet him trembling and said, ^(AW)“Do you come peaceably?” ⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(AX)Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they came, he looked on ^(AY)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(AZ)“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, ^(BA)but the Lord looks on the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(BB)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made ^(BC)Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, ^(BD)“There remains yet the youngest,^[e] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, ^(BE)“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹² And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(BF)ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^(BG)“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³ Then Samuel took ^(BH)the horn of oil ^(BI)and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^(BJ)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David in Saul's Service

^14 (BK)Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, ^(BL)and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵ And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command your servants ^(BM)who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will ^(BN)play it, and you will be well.” ¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, ^(BO)a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, ^(BP)and the Lord is with him.” ¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, ^(BQ)who is with the sheep.” ^20 (BR)And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. ²¹ And David came to Saul ^(BS)and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. ²² And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ And ^(BT)whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre ^(BU)and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Descendants of Reuben

5 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (^(A)for he was the firstborn, but because ^(B)he defiled his father's couch, ^(C)his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; ^2 (D)though Judah became strong among his brothers and a ^(E)chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), ³ the ^(F)sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ⁴ The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, ⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶ Beerah his son, whom ^(G)Tiglath-pileser^[a] king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chief of the Reubenites. ⁷ And his kinsmen by their clans, ^(H)when the genealogy of their generations was recorded: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, ⁸ and Bela the son of Azaz, son of ^(I)Shema, son of Joel, who lived in ^(J)Aroer, as far as ^(K)Nebo and ^(L)Baal-meon. ⁹ He also lived to the east as far as the entrance of the desert this side of the Euphrates, because their livestock had multiplied ^(M)in the land of Gilead. ¹⁰ And in the days of Saul they waged war against the ^(N)Hagrites, who fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead.

Descendants of Gad

¹¹ The sons of Gad lived over against them in the land of Bashan as far as ^(O)Salecah: ¹² Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. ¹³ And their kinsmen according to their fathers' houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber, seven. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz. ¹⁵ Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their fathers' houses, ¹⁶ and they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of ^(P)Sharon to their limits. ¹⁷ All of these were recorded in genealogies in the days of ^(Q)Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of ^(R)Jeroboam king of Israel.

¹⁸ The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, ^(S)expert in war, 44,760, able to go to war. ¹⁹ They waged war against the ^(T)Hagrites, ^(U)Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰ And when they prevailed^[b] over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, ^(V)for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea ^(W)because they trusted in him. ²¹ They carried off their livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive. ²² For many fell, because the war was of God. And they lived ^(X)in their place until ^(Y)the exile.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

²³ The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, ^(Z)Senir, and Mount Hermon. ²⁴ These were the heads of their fathers' houses: Epher,^[c] Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty warriors, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses. ²⁵ But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and ^(AA)whored ^(AB)after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. ²⁶ So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of ^(AC)Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of ^(AD)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them ^(AE)to Halah, ^(AF)Habor, Hara, and ^(AG)the river Gozan, to this day.

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house ^(A)and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, ^(B)so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And ^(C)he told them many things in parables, saying: ^(D)“A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but ^(E)when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^(F)they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among ^(G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ^(H)a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ^9 (I)He who has ears,^[a] let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(J)“To you it has been given to know ^(K)the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ^12 (L)For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, ^(M)even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because ^(N)seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, ^(O)nor do they understand. ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

¹⁶ But ^(U)blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ^17 (V)For truly, I say to you, ^(W)many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

^18 (X)“Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of ^(Y)the kingdom and ^(Z)does not understand it, ^(AA)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately ^(AB)receives it with joy, ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but ^(AC)endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^(AD)he falls away.^{[b] 22} As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^(AE)the cares of ^(AF)the world and ^(AG)the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and ^(AH)understands it. He indeed ^(AI)bears fruit and yields, in one case ^(AJ)a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(AK)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds^[c] among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷ And the servants^[d] of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he said, ^(AL)‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ^(AM)“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

³¹ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(AN)“The kingdom of heaven is like ^(AO)a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³ He told them another parable. ^(AP)“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in ^(AQ)three measures of flour, till it was ^(AR)all leavened.”

Prophecy and Parables

^34 (AS)All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:^[e]

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into ^(AW)the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ^(AX)“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed is ^(AY)the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are ^(AZ)the sons of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. ^(BA)The harvest is ^(BB)the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds ^(BC)are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at ^(BD)the end of the age. ^41 (BE)The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all ^(BF)causes of sin and ^(BG)all law-breakers, ^42 (BH)and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place ^(BI)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then ^(BJ)the righteous will shine like the sun ^(BK)in the kingdom of their Father. ^(BL)He who has ears, let him hear.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven ^(BM)is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy ^(BN)he goes and sells all that he has and ^(BO)buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶ who, on finding ^(BP)one pearl of great value, ^(BQ)went and sold all that he had and ^(BR)bought it.

The Parable of the Net

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is ^(BS)like a net that was thrown into the sea and ^(BT)gathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸ When it was full, ^(BU)men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. ⁴⁹ So it will be at ^(BV)the end of the age. The angels will come out and ^(BW)separate the evil from the righteous ^50 (BX)and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place ^(BY)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

New and Old Treasures

^51 (BZ)“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” ⁵² And he said to them, “Therefore every ^(CA)scribe ^(CB)who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who ^(CC)brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

⁵³ And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, ^54 (CD)and coming to ^(CE)his hometown ^(CF)he taught them in their synagogue, so that ^(CG)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ^55 (CH)Is not this ^(CI)the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not ^(CJ)his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And ^(CK)they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ^(CL)“A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And he did not do many mighty works there, ^(CM)because of their unbelief.