Book of Common Prayer

A song of praise by David.

Saul Anointed by Samuel

10 Samuel took a flask of olive oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “The Lord has anointed you to be ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and save them from all their enemies. This will be the sign that the Lord has anointed you ^[a] to be ruler of his people. ² When you leave me today, two men will be at Rachel’s grave on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They’ll tell you, ‘We’ve found the donkeys you went looking for. Your father no longer cares about them. Instead, he’s worried about you. He keeps asking, “What can I do ⌞to find⌟ my son?” ’ ³ Keep going until you come to the oak tree at Tabor. There you will find three men on their way to worship God at Bethel: One will be carrying three young goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a ⌞full⌟ wineskin. ⁴ They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you should accept from them. ⁵ After that, you will come to the hill of God, where the Philistines have a military post. When you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets prophesying as they come from the worship site. They will be led by men playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre. ⁶ Then the Lord’s Spirit will come over you. You will be a different person while you prophesy with them. ⁷ When these signs happen to you, do what you must, because God is with you. ⁸ Go ahead of me to Gilgal. Then I will come to sacrifice burnt offerings and make fellowship offerings. Wait seven days until I come to tell you what to do.”

Saul’s Anointing Confirmed by Signs

⁹ When Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s attitude. That day all these signs happened. ¹⁰ When Saul came to the hill, a group of prophets came to meet him, and God’s Spirit came over him. He prophesied with them. ¹¹ When all who had known him before saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul one of the prophets?” ¹² But a man from that place asked, “But who’s the chief prophet?” So it became a proverb: “Is Saul one of the prophets?” ¹³ And when he had finished prophesying, he came to the worship site.

¹⁴ Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?”

Saul answered, “To look for the donkeys, and when we couldn’t find them, we went to Samuel.”

¹⁵ Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

¹⁶ “He assured us the donkeys had been found,” Saul answered his uncle. But Saul didn’t tell him what Samuel said ⌞about his becoming king⌟.

¹³ So it was not by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings that Abraham or his descendants received the promise that he would inherit the world. Rather, he received this promise through God’s approval that comes by faith. ¹⁴ If those who obey Moses’ Teachings are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless. ¹⁵ The laws in Moses’ Teachings bring about anger. But where those laws don’t exist, they can’t be broken. ¹⁶ Therefore, the promise is based on faith so that it can be a gift.^[a] Consequently, the promise is guaranteed for every descendant, not only for those who are descendants by obeying Moses’ Teachings but also for those who are descendants by believing as Abraham did. He is the father of all of us, ¹⁷ as Scripture says: “I have made you a father of many nations.”

Abraham believed when he stood in the presence of the God who gives life to dead people and calls into existence things that don’t even exist. ¹⁸ When there was nothing left to hope for, Abraham still hoped and believed. As a result, he became a father of many nations, as he had been told: “That is how many descendants you will have.” ¹⁹ Abraham didn’t weaken. Through faith he regarded the facts: His body was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old, and Sarah was unable to have children. ²⁰ He didn’t doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God ⌞for the promise⌟, he became strong because of faith ²¹ and was absolutely confident that God would do what he promised. ²² That is why Abraham’s faith was regarded as the basis of his approval by God.

²³ But the words “his faith was regarded as the basis of his approval by God” were written not only for him ²⁴ but also for us. Our faith will be regarded as the basis of our approval by God—each of us who believe in the one who brought Jesus, our Lord, back to life. ²⁵ Jesus, our Lord, was handed over to death because of our failures and was brought back to life so that we could receive God’s approval.

Jesus’ Authority Challenged^(A)

²³ Then Jesus went into the temple courtyard and began to teach. The chief priests and the leaders of the people came to him. They asked, “What gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”

²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I, too, have a question for you. If you answer it for me, I’ll tell you why I have the right to do these things. ²⁵ Did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans?”

They discussed this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘from humans,’ we’re afraid of what the crowd might do. All those people think of John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you why I have the right to do these things.

A Story about Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go to work in the vineyard today.’

²⁹ “His son replied, ‘I don’t want to!’ But later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ “The father went to the other son and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I will, sir,’ but he didn’t go.

³¹ “Which of the two sons did what the father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom ahead of you. ³² John came to you and showed you the way that God wants you to live, but you didn’t believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. But even after you had seen that, you didn’t change your minds and believe him.