Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of ^(J)Ascents.

Samuel's Farewell Address

12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed ^(A)your voice in all that you have said to me ^(B)and have made a king over you. ² And now, behold, the king ^(C)walks before you, ^(D)and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. ³ Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before ^(E)his anointed. ^(F)Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me^[a] and I will restore it to you.” ⁴ They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” ⁵ And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and ^(G)his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything ^(H)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ And Samuel said to the people, ^(I)“The Lord is witness,^[b] who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. ^8 (J)When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,^{[c] (K)}then your fathers cried out to the Lord and ^(L)the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, ^(M)who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. ⁹ But ^(N)they forgot the Lord their God. ^(O)And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,^{[d] (P)}and into the hand of the Philistines, ^(Q)and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. ^10 (R)And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord ^(S)and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now ^(T)deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ ¹¹ And the Lord sent ^(U)Jerubbaal ^(V)and Barak^{[e] (W)}and Jephthah and ^(X)Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. ¹² And when you saw that ^(Y)Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, ^(Z)you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^(AA)when the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ And now ^(AB)behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, ^(AC)the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you will ^(AD)fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. ¹⁵ But ^(AE)if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then ^(AF)the hand of the Lord will be against you and ^(AG)your king.^{[f] 16} Now therefore ^(AH)stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. ^17 (AI)Is it not wheat harvest today? ^(AJ)I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that ^(AK)your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, ^(AL)and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, ^(AM)“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 ourselves a king.” ²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet ^(AN)do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ And ^(AO)do not turn aside after ^(AP)empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. ^22 (AQ)For the Lord will not forsake his people, ^(AR)for his great name's sake, because ^(AS)it has pleased the Lord 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 ^(AT)to pray for you, ^(AU)and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. ^24 (AV)Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider ^(AW)what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, ^(AX)you shall be swept away, ^(AY)both you and your king.”

Warning Against Idolatry

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[a] that our fathers were all under ^(A)the cloud, and all ^(B)passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and ^(C)all ate the same ^(D)spiritual food, ⁴ and ^(E)all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for ^(F)they were overthrown^[b] in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as ^(G)they did. ^7 (H)Do not be idolaters ^(I)as some of them were; as it is written, ^(J)“The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” ^8 (K)We must not indulge in sexual immorality ^(L)as some of them did, and ^(M)twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹ We must not put Christ^[c] to the test, ^(N)as some of them did and ^(O)were destroyed by serpents, ¹⁰ nor grumble, ^(P)as some of them did and ^(Q)were destroyed by ^(R)the Destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, but ^(S)they were written down for our instruction, ^(T)on whom the end of the ages has come. ¹² Therefore ^(U)let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. ^(V)God is faithful, and ^(W)he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, ^(X)flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak ^(Y)as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ^16 (Z)The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? ^(AA)The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are ^(AB)one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸ Consider ^(AC)the people of Israel:^{[d] (AD)}are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? ¹⁹ What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that ^(AE)an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice ^(AF)they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. ^21 (AG)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and ^(AH)the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and ^(AI)the table of demons. ^22 (AJ)Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? ^(AK)Are we stronger than he?

Do All to the Glory of God

^23 (AL)“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ^24 (AM)Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. ^25 (AN)Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁶ For ^(AO)“the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” ²⁷ If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, ^(AP)eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁸ But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— ²⁹ I do not mean ^(AQ)your conscience, but his. For ^(AR)why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? ³⁰ If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that ^(AS)for which I give thanks?

³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or ^(AT)whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ^32 (AU)Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to ^(AV)the church of God, ³³ just as ^(AW)I try to please everyone in everything I do, ^(AX)not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.