Book of Common Prayer

The Lord Is Always Merciful

(By David for praise.)

The Lord Is Kind and Merciful

10 ¹ Samuel took a small jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. Then he kissed^[a] Saul and told him:

The Lord has chosen you to be the leader and ruler of his people.^{[b] 2} When you leave me today, you'll meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They'll tell you, “The donkeys you've been looking for have been found. Your father has forgotten about them, and now he's worrying about you! He's wondering how he can find you.”

³ Go on from there until you reach the big oak tree at Tabor, where you'll meet three men on their way to worship God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and the last one will be carrying a clay jar of wine. ⁴ After they greet you, they'll give you two loaves of bread.

⁵ Next, go to Gibeah,^[c] where the Philistines have an army camp. As you're going into the town, you'll meet a group of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They'll be going along prophesying while others are walking in front of them, playing small harps, small drums, and flutes.

⁶ The Spirit of the Lord will suddenly take control of you.^[d] You'll become a different person and start prophesying right along with them. ⁷ After these things happen, do whatever you think is right! God will help you.

⁸ Then go to Gilgal. I'll come a little later, so wait for me. It may even take a week for me to get there, but when I come, I'll offer sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask for his blessings. I'll also tell you what to do next.

Saul Goes Back Home

⁹ As Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God made Saul feel like a different person. That same day, everything happened just as Samuel had said. ¹⁰ When Saul arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. The Spirit of God suddenly took control of him,^[e] and right there in the middle of the group he began prophesying.

¹¹ Some people who had known Saul for a long time saw that he was speaking and behaving like a prophet. They said to each other, “What's happened? How can Saul be a prophet?”

^12 (A) “Why not?” one of them answered. “Saul has as much right to be a prophet as anyone else!”^[f] That's why everyone started saying, “How can Saul be a prophet?”

¹³ After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the place of worship.

¹⁴ Later, Saul's uncle asked him, “Where have you been?”

Saul answered, “Looking for the donkeys. We couldn't find them, so we went to talk with Samuel.”

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

¹⁶ Saul answered, “He told us the donkeys had been found.” But Saul didn't mention that Samuel had chosen him to be king.

The Promise Is for All Who Have Faith

^13 (A) God promised Abraham and his descendants that he would give them the world. This promise wasn't made because Abraham had obeyed a law, but because his faith in God made him acceptable. ^14 (B) If Abraham and his descendants were given this promise because they had obeyed a law, then faith would mean nothing, and the promise would be worthless.

¹⁵ God becomes angry when his Law is broken. But where there isn't a law, it cannot be broken. ^16 (C) Everything depends on having faith in God, so that God's promise is assured by his gift of undeserved grace. This promise isn't only for Abraham's descendants who have the Law. It is for all who are Abraham's descendants because they have faith, just as he did. Abraham is the ancestor of us all. ^17 (D) The Scriptures say that Abraham would become the ancestor of many nations. This promise was made to Abraham because he had faith in God, who raises the dead to life and creates new things.

^18 (E) God promised Abraham a lot of descendants. And when it all seemed hopeless, Abraham still had faith in God and became the ancestor of many nations. ^19 (F) Abraham's faith never became weak, not even when he was nearly 100 years old. He knew he was almost dead and that his wife Sarah could not have children. ²⁰ But Abraham never doubted or questioned God's promise. His faith made him strong, and he gave all the credit to God.

²¹ Abraham was certain that God could do what he had promised. ²² So God accepted him, ²³ just as we read in the Scriptures. But these words were not written only for Abraham. ²⁴ They were written for us, since we will also be accepted because of our faith in God, who raised our Lord Jesus to life. ^25 (G) God gave Jesus to die for our sins, and he raised him to life, so that we would be made acceptable to God.

A Question about Jesus' Authority

(Mark 11.27-33; Luke 20.1-8)

²³ Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ²⁵ Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”

They thought it over and said to each other, “We can't say God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. ²⁶ On the other hand, these people think John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That's why we can't say it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” ²⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don't know.”

Jesus said, “Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”

A Story about Two Sons

²⁸ Jesus said:

I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, “Go work in the vineyard today!” ²⁹ His son told him he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go. ³¹ Which one of the sons obeyed his father?

“The older one,” the chief priests and leaders answered.

Then Jesus told them:

You can be sure tax collectors^[a] and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! ^32 (A) When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.