7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of ^(A)Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. ² From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel

³ And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, ^(B)“If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then ^(C)put away the foreign gods and the ^(D)Ashtaroth from among you and ^(E)direct your heart to the Lord ^(F)and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at ^(G)Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered at ^(H)Mizpah ^(I)and drew water and poured it out before the Lord ^(J)and fasted on that day and said there, ^(K)“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. ⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And ^(L)Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. ^(M)But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. ¹¹ And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel ^(N)took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen^[a] and called its name Ebenezer;^[b] for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” ^13 (O)So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴ The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

^15 (P)Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷ Then he would return to ^(Q)Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. ^(R)And he built there an altar to the Lord.

Israel Demands a King

8 When Samuel became old, ^(S)he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways ^(T)but turned aside after gain. ^(U)They took bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(V)Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^(W)Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, ^(X)for they have not rejected you, ^(Y)but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them ^(Z)and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel's Warning Against Kings

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. ¹¹ He said, ^(AA)“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^(AB)he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. ¹² And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^(AC)to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ^14 (AD)He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men^[c] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ^(AE)but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel's Request

¹⁹ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, ^20 (AF)that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. ²² And the Lord said to Samuel, ^(AG)“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^(A)the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided ^(B)his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in ^(C)reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to^[a] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he ^(D)was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “But ^(E)when he ^(F)came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^(G)I have sinned against ^(H)heaven and before you. ^19 (I)I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ^(J)ran and ^(K)embraced him and ^(L)kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ^(M)I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[b] 22} But the father said to his servants,^[c] ‘Bring quickly ^(N)the best robe, and put it on him, and put ^(O)a ring on his hand, and ^(P)shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring ^(Q)the fattened calf and kill it, and ^(R)let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son ^(S)was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ^(T)celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, ^(U)who has devoured ^(V)your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, ^(W)you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting ^(X)to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother ^(Y)was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when ^(A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.