¹⁵ Now they were also bringing [even] babies to Him that He might touch them, and when the disciples noticed it, they reproved them.

¹⁶ But Jesus called them [^[a]the parents] to Him, saying, Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such [as these] belongs the kingdom of God.

¹⁷ Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter it [at all].

¹⁸ And a certain ruler asked Him, Good Teacher [You who are ^[b]essentially and perfectly ^[c]morally good], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?

¹⁹ Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [^[d]essentially and perfectly ^[e]morally] good? No one is [^[f]essentially and perfectly ^[g]morally] good—except God only.

²⁰ You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not witness falsely, honor your father and your mother.^(A)

²¹ And he replied, All these I have kept from my youth.

²² And when Jesus heard it, He said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell everything that you have and ^[h]divide [the money] among the poor, and you will have [rich] treasure in heaven; and come back [and] follow Me [become My disciple, join My party, and accompany Me].

²³ But when he heard this, he became distressed and very sorrowful, for he was rich—exceedingly so.

²⁴ Jesus, observing him, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle’s eye than [for] a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

²⁶ And those who heard it said, Then who can be saved?

²⁷ But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.^(B)

²⁸ And Peter said, See, we have left our own [things—home, family, and business] and have followed You.

²⁹ And He said to them, I say to you truly, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

³⁰ Who will not receive in return many times more in this world and, in the coming age, eternal life.

³¹ Then taking the Twelve [apostles] aside, He said to them, Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written about the Son of Man through and by the prophets will be fulfilled.^(C)

³² For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be made sport of and scoffed and jeered at and insulted and spit upon.^(D)

³³ They will flog Him and kill Him; and on the third day He will rise again.^(E)

³⁴ But they understood nothing of these things; His words were a mystery and hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was telling them.

³⁵ As He came near to Jericho, it occurred that a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.

³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he asked what it meant.

³⁷ They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.

³⁸ And he shouted, saying, Jesus, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!

³⁹ But those who were in front reproved him, telling him to keep quiet; yet he ^[i]screamed and shrieked so much the more, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!

⁴⁰ Then Jesus stood still and ordered that he be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,

⁴¹ What do you want Me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me receive my sight!

⁴² And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight! Your faith (^[j]your trust and confidence that spring from your faith in God) has healed you.

⁴³ And instantly he received his sight and began to follow Jesus, ^[k]recognizing, praising, and honoring God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

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11 And Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.

² But Nahash the Ammonite told them, On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I thrust out all your right eyes and thus lay disgrace on all Israel.

³ The elders of Jabesh said to Nahash, Give us seven days’ time, that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no man to save us, we will come out to you.

⁴ Then messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news in the ears of the people; and all the people wept aloud.

⁵ Now Saul came out of the field after the oxen, and [he] said, What ails the people that they are weeping? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

⁶ The Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was greatly kindled.

⁷ And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come forth after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen! And terror from the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.

⁸ And he numbered them at Bezek, and the Israelites were 300,000 and the men of Judah 30,000.

⁹ The messengers who came were told, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have help. The messengers came and reported to the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.

¹⁰ So the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us all that seems good to you.

¹¹ The next day Saul put the men in three companies; and they came into the midst of the enemy’s camp in the [darkness of the] morning watch and slew the Ammonites until midday; and the survivors were scattered, so that no two of them remained together.

¹² The people said to Samuel, Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, that we may put them to death.

¹³ But Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day, for today the Lord has brought deliverance to Israel.

¹⁴ Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.

¹⁵ All the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul king before the Lord. And there they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

12 And Samuel said to all Israel, I have listened to you in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you.

² And now, behold, the king walks before you. And I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.

³ Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and Saul His anointed. Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded or oppressed? Or from whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes? Tell me and I will restore it to you.

⁴ And they said, You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.

⁵ And Samuel said to them, The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

⁶ And Samuel said to the people, It is the Lord Who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of Egypt.

⁷ Now present yourselves, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and for your fathers.

⁸ When Jacob and his sons had come into Egypt [and the Egyptians oppressed them], and your fathers cried to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.

⁹ But when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, and into the hands of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, and they fought those foes.

¹⁰ And they cried to the Lord, saying, We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.

¹¹ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel, and He delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt safely.

¹² But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, No! A king shall reign over us—when the Lord your God was your King!

¹³ Now see the king whom you have chosen and for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

¹⁴ If you will revere and fear the Lord and serve Him and hearken to His voice and not rebel against His commandment, and if both you and your king will follow the Lord your God, it will be good!

¹⁵ But if you will not hearken to the Lord’s voice, but rebel against His commandment, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶ So stand still and see this great thing the Lord will do before your eyes now.

¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord and He will send thunder and rain; then you shall know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for a king for yourselves.

¹⁸ So Samuel called to the Lord, and He sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And [they] all said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil—to ask for a king.

²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, Fear not. You have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve Him with all your heart.

²¹ And turn not aside after vain and worthless things which cannot profit or deliver you, for they are empty and futile.

²² The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake, for it has pleased Him to make you a people for Himself.

²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

²⁴ Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; for consider how great are the things He has done for you.

²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away.

13 Saul was ^[a][forty] years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,

² Saul chose 3,000 men of Israel; 2,000 were with [him] in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent away, each one to his home.

³ Jonathan smote the Philistine garrison at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear!

⁴ All Israel heard that Saul had defeated the Philistine garrison and also that Israel had become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ And the Philistines gathered to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and troops like sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in a tight situation—for their troops were hard pressed—they hid in caves, holes, rocks, tombs, and pits or cisterns.

⁷ Some Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸ Saul waited seven days, according to the set time Samuel had appointed. But Samuel had not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from Saul.

⁹ So Saul said, Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering [which he was forbidden to do].

¹⁰ And just as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came! Saul went out to meet and greet him.

¹¹ Samuel said, What have you done? Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were assembled at Michmash,

¹² I thought, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord. So I forced myself to offer a burnt offering.

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly! You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God which He commanded you; for the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever;

¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue; the Lord has sought out [David] a man after His own ^[b]heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince and ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.

¹⁵ And Samuel went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were left with him, [only] about 600.

¹⁶ Saul and Jonathan his son and the people with them remained in Gibeah of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped at Michmash.

¹⁷ And raiders came out of the Philistine camp in three companies; one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual,

¹⁸ Another turned toward Beth-horon, and another toward the border overlooking the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now there was no metal worker to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.

²⁰ But each of the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines to get his plowshare, mattock, axe, or sickle sharpened.

²¹ And the price for plowshares and mattocks was a pim, and a third of a shekel for axes and for setting goads [with resulting blunt edges on the sickles, mattocks, forks, axes, and goads.]

²² So on the day of battle neither sword nor spear was found in the hand of any of the men who were with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and Jonathan his son had them.

²³ And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.