Saul Chosen to Be King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of ^[a]power. ² And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. ^(B)From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, “Please take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of ^(C)Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they had come to the land of ^(D)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let ^(E)us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.”

⁶ And he said to him, “Look now, there is in this city ^(F)a man of God, and he is an honorable man; ^(G)all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.”

⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, ^(H)what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”

⁸ And the servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have here at hand one-fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man ^(I)went ^[b]to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called ^(J)a seer.)

¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, ^[c]“Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

The Excellence of Wisdom

Jesus Heals a Great Multitude^(A)

²³ And Jesus went about all Galilee, ^(B)teaching in their synagogues, preaching ^(C)the gospel of the kingdom, ^(D)and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. ²⁴ Then ^[a]His fame went throughout all Syria; and they ^(E)brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. ^25 (F)Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from ^[b]Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.