⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵ and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(A)make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶ But the thing ^(B)displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel ^(C)prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for ^(D)they have not rejected you, but ^(E)they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹ Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and ^(F)show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. ¹¹ And he said, ^(G)“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your ^(H)sons and appoint them for his own ^(I)chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² He will ^(J)appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴ And ^(K)he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ^[a]young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. ¹⁸ And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord ^(L)will not hear you in that day.”

¹⁹ Nevertheless the people ^(M)refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, ²⁰ that we also may be ^(N)like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

The Lord’s Goodness to the Faithful

A Psalm of David.

¹³ And since we have ^(A)the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ^(B)“I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ knowing that ^(C)He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. ¹⁵ For ^(D)all things are for your sakes, that ^(E)grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Seeing the Invisible

¹⁶ Therefore we ^(F)do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is ^(G)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For ^(H)our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ^18 (I)while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Assurance of the Resurrection

5 For we know that if ^(J)our earthly ^[a]house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house ^(K)not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(A)

²⁰ Then the multitude came together again, ^(B)so that they could not so much as eat bread. ²¹ But when His ^(C)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, ^(D)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ^(E)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ^(F)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

^23 (G)So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. ^27 (H)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin^(I)

^28 (J)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; ²⁹ but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— ³⁰ because they ^(K)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him^(L)

^31 (M)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. ³² And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers ^[a]are outside seeking You.”

³³ But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” ³⁴ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the ^(N)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”