Book of Common Prayer

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.

The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

Saul among Prophets

10 Then ^(A)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, ^(B)kissed him and said, “Has not ^(C)the Lord anointed you a ruler over ^(D)His inheritance? ² When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to ^(E)Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘^(F)The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has ^[a]ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ ³ Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the ^[b](G)oak of Tabor, and there three men going up ^(H)to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine; ⁴ and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. ⁵ Afterward you will come to ^[c](I)the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet ^(J)a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and ^(K)they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then ^(L)the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and ^(M)you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. ⁷ It shall be when these signs come to you, ^(N)do for yourself what ^[d]the occasion requires, for ^(O)God is with you. ⁸ And ^(P)you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^(Q)sacrifice peace offerings. ^(R)You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.”

⁹ Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God ^(S)changed ^[e]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. ^10 (T)When they came to ^[f]the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. ¹¹ It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? ^(U)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹² A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “^(V)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴ Now ^(W)Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^(X)To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵ Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” ¹⁶ So Saul said to his uncle, “^(Y)He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

¹³ For ^(A)the promise to Abraham or to his ^[a]descendants ^(B)that he would be heir of the world was not ^[b]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(C)if those who are ^[c]of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; ¹⁵ for ^(D)the Law brings about wrath, but ^(E)where there is no law, there also is no violation.

¹⁶ For this reason it is ^[d]by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with ^(F)grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to ^(G)all the ^[e]descendants, not only to ^[f]those who are of the Law, but also to ^[g](H)those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is ^(I)the father of us all, ¹⁷ (as it is written, “^(J)A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, ^(K)who gives life to the dead and ^[h](L)calls into being ^(M)that which does not exist. ¹⁸ In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become ^(N)a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “^(O)So shall your ^[i]descendants be.” ¹⁹ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now ^(P)as good as dead since ^(Q)he was about a hundred years old, and ^(R)the deadness of Sarah’s womb; ²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, ^(S)giving glory to God, ²¹ and ^(T)being fully assured that ^(U)what God had promised, He was able also to perform. ²² Therefore ^(V)it was also credited to him as righteousness. ²³ Now ^(W)not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, ²⁴ but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those ^(X)who believe in Him who ^(Y)raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ He who was ^(Z)delivered over because of our transgressions, and was ^(AA)raised because of our justification.

Authority Challenged

^23 (A)When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(B)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one ^[a]thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the ^[b]people; for they all regard John as ^(C)a prophet.” ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two ^[c]sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘^[d]Son, go work today in the ^(D)vineyard.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that ^(E)the tax collectors and prostitutes ^[e]will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^(F)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.