³⁴ Then Samuel went to ^(A)Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at ^(B)Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ And ^(C)Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, ^(D)“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? ^(E)Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to ^(F)Jesse the Bethlehemite. For ^(G)I have ^[a]provided Myself a king among his sons.”

² And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ^(H)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”

⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town ^(I)trembled at his coming, and said, ^(J)“Do you come peaceably?”

⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(K)Sanctify^[b] yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ So it was, when they came, that he looked at ^(L)Eliab and ^(M)said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(N)“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have ^[c]refused him. ^(O)For^[d] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man ^(P)looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the ^(Q)heart.”

⁸ So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the ^(R)sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not ^[e]sit down till he comes here.” ¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(S)ruddy, ^(T)with ^[f]bright eyes, and good-looking. ^(U)And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(V)the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷ For ^(A)we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, ^(B)well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

⁹ Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. ^10 (C)For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ^(D)that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. ¹¹ Knowing, therefore, ^(E)the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

Be Reconciled to God

¹² For ^(F)we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity ^(G)to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. ¹³ For ^(H)if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that ^(I)if One died for all, then all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, ^(J)that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

^16 (K)Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, ^(L)yet now we know Him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone ^(M)is in Christ, he is ^(N)a new creation; ^(O)old things have passed away; behold, all things have become ^(P)new.

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ And He said, ^(A)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should ^[a]scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and ^(B)grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ For the earth ^(C)yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately ^(D)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(E)

³⁰ Then He said, ^(F)“To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

Jesus’ Use of Parables

^33 (G)And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, ^(H)He explained all things to His disciples.