²³ Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”^(A)

¹² But when you saw that King Nahash of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ though the Lord your God was your king.^(A)

¹⁹ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said, ‘No, but set a king over us.’ Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”^(A)

³ Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.^(A)

²⁴ I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy because you stand firm in faith.^(A)

The Dispute about Greatness

²⁴ A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.^{(A) 25} But he said to them, “The kings of the gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.^{(B) 26} But not so with you; rather, the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves.^{(C) 27} For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.^(D)

⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord,^{(A) 7} and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.^(B)

⁹ Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” ¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be witness between us; we will surely do as you say.”^{(A) 11} So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them, and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.^(B)