⁴ So all the elders^(A) of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.^{(B) 5} They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king^(C) to lead^[a](D) us, such as all the other nations^(E) have.”

⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king^(F) to lead us,” this displeased^(G) Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord told him: “Listen^(H) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,^(I) but they have rejected me as their king.^(J)

¹⁰ Samuel told^(A) all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take^(B) your sons and make them serve^(C) with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.^{(D) 12} Some he will assign to be commanders^(E) of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your^(F) fields and vineyards^(G) and olive groves and give them to his attendants.^{(H) 15} He will take a tenth^(I) of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[a] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer^(J) you in that day.^(K)”

¹⁹ But the people refused^(L) to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want^(M) a king^(N) over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations,^(O) with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated^(P) it before the Lord. ²² The Lord answered, “Listen^(Q) to them and give them a king.”

Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man^(A)

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers^(B) that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,^(C) carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”^(D)

⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”^(E)

⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man^(F) has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,^(G) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”^(H)