Book of Common Prayer

A Prayer of Thanks for Victory

A Hymn of Praise^[a]

10 Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, “The Lord anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the Lord has chosen you^[a] to be the ruler of his people: ² When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, ‘What shall I do about my son?’ ³ You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept. ⁵ Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. ⁶ Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. ⁷ When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. ⁸ You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do.”

⁹ When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. ¹⁰ When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. ¹¹ People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?” ^12 (A)A man who lived there asked, “How about these other prophets—who do you think their fathers are?” This is how the saying originated, “Has even Saul become a prophet?” ¹³ When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.

¹⁴ Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, “Where have you been?”

“Looking for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel.”

¹⁵ “And what did he tell you?” Saul's uncle asked.

¹⁶ “He told us that the animals had been found,” Saul answered—but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.

God's Promise Is Received through Faith

^13 (A)When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him, he did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because he believed and was accepted as righteous by God. ^14 (B)For if what God promises is to be given to those who obey the Law, then faith means nothing and God's promise is worthless. ¹⁵ The Law brings down God's anger; but where there is no law, there is no disobeying of the law.

^16 (C)And so the promise was based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God's free gift to all of Abraham's descendants—not just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham did. For Abraham is the spiritual father of us all; ^17 (D)as the scripture says, “I have made you father of many nations.” So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed—the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist. ^18 (E)Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became “the father of many nations.” Just as the scripture says, “Your descendants will be as many as the stars.” ^19 (F)He was then almost one hundred years old; but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children. ²⁰ His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God's promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God. ²¹ He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why Abraham, through faith, “was accepted as righteous by God.” ²³ The words “he was accepted as righteous” were not written for him alone. ²⁴ They were written also for us who are to be accepted as righteous, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from death. ^25 (G)Because of our sins he was given over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God.

The Question about Jesus' Authority^(A)

²³ Jesus came back to the Temple; and as he taught, the chief priests and the elders came to him and asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?”

²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things. ²⁵ Where did John's right to baptize come from: was it from God or from human beings?”

They started to argue among themselves, “What shall we say? If we answer, ‘From God,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not believe John?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ we are afraid of what the people might do, because they are all convinced that John was a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don't know.”

And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “Now, what do you think? There was once a man who had two sons. He went to the older one and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ ‘I don't want to,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered, but he did not go. ³¹ Which one of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The older one,” they answered.

So Jesus said to them, “I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. ^32 (B)For John the Baptist came to you showing you the right path to take, and you would not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him.