Saul Defeats the Ammonites

11 Now ^(A)Nahash the Ammonite came up and ^[a]besieged ^(B)Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make ^(C)a covenant with us and we will serve you.” ² But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make it with you on this condition, ^(D)that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it ^(E)a reproach on all Israel.” ^3 (F)The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.” ⁴ Then the messengers came ^(G)to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people ^(H)lifted up their voices and wept.

⁵ Now behold, Saul was coming from the field ^(I)behind the oxen, and ^[b]he said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁶ Then ^(J)the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and ^[c]he became very angry. ⁷ He took a yoke of oxen and ^(K)cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “^(L)Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out ^(M)as one man. ⁸ He ^[d]numbered them in ^(N)Bezek; and the ^(O)sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000. ⁹ They said to the messengers who had come, “Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have deliverance.’” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. ¹⁰ Then the men of Jabesh said, “^(P)Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good ^[e]to you.” ¹¹ The next morning Saul put the people ^(Q)in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹² Then the people said to Samuel, “^(R)Who is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^[f](S)Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” ¹³ But Saul said, “^(T)Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today ^(U)the Lord has accomplished deliverance in Israel.”

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come and let us go to ^(V)Gilgal and ^(W)renew the kingdom there.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(X)before the Lord in Gilgal. There they also ^(Y)offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Samuel Addresses Israel

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, ^(Z)I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I ^(AA)have ^[g]appointed a king over you. ² Now, ^(AB)here is the king walking before you, but ^(AC)I am old and gray, and behold ^(AD)my sons are with you. And ^(AE)I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. ³ Here I am; bear witness against me before the Lord and ^(AF)His anointed. ^(AG)Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or ^(AH)from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? 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 He said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that ^(AI)you have found nothing ^(AJ)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who ^[h](AK)appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ So now, take your stand, ^(AL)that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and your fathers. ^8 (AM)When Jacob went into Egypt and ^(AN)your fathers cried out to the Lord, then ^(AO)the Lord sent Moses and Aaron ^[i](AP)who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹ But ^(AQ)they forgot the Lord their God, so ^(AR)He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and ^(AS)into the hand of the Philistines and ^(AT)into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. ^10 (AU)They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served ^(AV)the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but ^(AW)now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ ¹¹ Then the Lord sent ^(AX)Jerubbaal and ^[j](AY)Bedan and ^(AZ)Jephthah and ^(BA)Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

The King Confirmed

¹² When you saw ^(BB)that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘^(BC)No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^(BD)although the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ Now therefore, ^(BE)here is the king whom you have chosen, ^(BF)whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has set a king over you. ^14 (BG)If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the ^[k]command of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. ^15 (BH)If you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the ^[l]command of the Lord, then ^(BI)the hand of the Lord will be against you, ^(BJ)as it was against your fathers. ¹⁶ Even now, ^(BK)take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. ^17 (BL)Is it not the wheat harvest today? ^(BM)I will call to the Lord, that He may send ^[m]thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that ^(BN)your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord by asking for yourselves a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent ^[n]thunder and rain that day; and ^(BO)all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ Then all the people said to Samuel, “^(BP)Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins ^(BQ)this evil by asking for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet ^(BR)do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ You must not turn aside, for then you would go after ^(BS)futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. ²² For ^(BT)the Lord will not abandon His people ^(BU)on account of His great name, because the Lord ^(BV)has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. ²³ Moreover, as for me, ^(BW)far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but ^(BX)I will instruct you in the good and right way. ^24 (BY)Only ^[o]fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider ^(BZ)what great things He has done for you. ^25 (CA)But if you still do wickedly, ^(CB)both you and your king ^(CC)will be swept away.”

War with the Philistines

13 Saul was ^[p]thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ^[q]forty two years over Israel.

² Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in ^(CD)Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at ^(CE)Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. ³ Jonathan smote ^(CF)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(CG)Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul ^(CH)blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴ All Israel heard ^[r]the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel ^(CI)had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned ^[s]to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and ^(CJ)people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of ^(CK)Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then ^(CL)the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. ⁷ Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of ^(CM)Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸ Now ^(CN)he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And ^(CO)he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and ^(CP)Saul went out to meet him and to ^[t]greet him. ¹¹ But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that ^(CQ)the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, ¹² therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ Samuel said to Saul, “^(CR)You have acted foolishly; ^(CS)you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom ^[u]over Israel ^(CT)forever. ¹⁴ But ^(CU)now your kingdom shall not endure. ^(CV)The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to ^(CW)Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul ^[v]numbered the people who were present with him, ^(CX)about six hundred men. ¹⁶ Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were present with them were staying in ^(CY)Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. ¹⁷ And ^(CZ)the ^[w]raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three ^[x]companies: one ^[y]company turned ^[z]toward ^(DA)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ and another ^[aa]company turned ^[ab]toward ^(DB)Beth-horon, and another ^[ac]company turned ^[ad]toward the border which overlooks the valley of ^(DC)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now ^(DD)no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make ^[ae](DE)swords or spears.” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe. ²¹ The charge was ^[af]two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the hoes. ²² So it came about on the day of battle that ^(DF)neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan. ²³ And ^(DG)the garrison of the Philistines went out to ^(DH)the pass of Michmash.

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “^(A)I am the true vine, and My Father is the ^(B)vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He ^[a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ^3 (C)You are already ^[b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ^4 (D)Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit ^[c]of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he ^(E)bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is ^(F)thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ^(G)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My ^(H)Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so ^[d](I)prove to be My disciples. ⁹ Just as ^(J)the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. ^10 (K)If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as ^(L)I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ^11 (M)These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your ^(N)joy may be made full.

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

¹² “This is ^(O)My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ^13 (P)Greater love has no one than this, that one ^(Q)lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My ^(R)friends if ^(S)you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^(T)all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. ^16 (U)You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and ^(V)bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that ^(W)whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ¹⁷ This ^(X)I command you, that you love one another.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

¹⁸ “^(Y)If the world hates you, ^[e]you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but ^(Z)I chose you out of the world, ^(AA)because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘^(AB)A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, ^(AC)they will also persecute you; if they ^(AD)kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you ^(AE)for My name’s sake, ^(AF)because they do not know the One who sent Me. ^22 (AG)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have ^[f]sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ^24 (AH)If I had not done among them ^(AI)the works which no one else did, they would not have ^[g]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵ But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their ^(AJ)Law, ‘^(AK)They hated Me without a cause.’

²⁶ “When the ^[h](AL)Helper comes, ^(AM)whom I will send to you from the Father, that is ^(AN)the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, ^(AO)He will testify about Me, ^27 [i]and ^(AP)you will testify also, because you have been with Me ^(AQ)from the beginning.