Old/New Testament
Saul Anointed King
10 Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head. Then he kissed him and said, “Has Adonai not anointed you ruler over His inheritance? 2 When you leave me today, you will find two men near the tomb of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you: ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found—behold, your father has dropped the matter about the donkeys and is worried about you saying, “What should I do about my son?’” 3 Then you will go on from there until you reach the terebinth of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Beth-el will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and the other carrying a jug of wine. 4 Then they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will receive from their hand. 5 After that, you will arrive at the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. It will come about, as soon as you enter the town, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by a harp, a tambourine and a flute, and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the Ruach of Adonai will seize you and you will prophesy with them—you will turn into another man. 7 Now when these signs happen to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. 8 Afterward, you are to go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice fellowship offerings. Seven days you will wait, until I come to you and instruct you what you should do.”
9 Then it happened, as Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, that God transformed his heart, and all those signs came to pass that day. 10 When they arrived there, at the hill, behold, a band of prophets did meet him, and suddenly, the Ruach of God overtook him, and subsequently, he prophesied among them. 11 So when all who knew him formerly saw him prophesying with the prophets, they said one to another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 (Someone there asked, “Who is their father?”) Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
14 Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To look for the donkeys. But when we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me now, what did Samuel say to you?”
16 “He assured us that the donkeys had been found,” Saul said to his uncle. But concerning the matter of kingship about which Samuel spoke, he told him nothing.
17 Then Samuel summoned the people to Adonai at Mizpah. 18 He said to Bnei-Yisrael, “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. 19 But today you have spurned your God, who is your deliverer from all your calamities and your distresses. For you said to Him: ‘No! Rather set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before Adonai by your tribes and by your thousands.”
20 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was chosen. Finally, Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore, they inquired of Adonai further, “Has the man come here yet?” Adonai answered, “He has just hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 So they ran and brought him from there. When he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders up.
24 Then Samuel announced to all the people, “Do you see the one Adonai has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people!”
Then all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!” 25 Then Samuel explained to the people the rules of kingship, wrote them in a scroll and placed it before Adonai. Then Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26 Saul also went home to Gibeah, accompanied by men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But certain worthless men said, “How can this one save us?” So they despised him and brought him no present. But he kept silent.
Saul’s First Victory
11 Now Nahash the Ammonite marched up and encamped against Jabesh-gilead. Then all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”
2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “Only on this condition will I make a treaty with you—by gouging out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will bring disgrace on all Israel.”
3 So the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite, so we may send messengers throughout all the territory of Israel. If no one comes to deliver us, we will surrender to you.”
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, all the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5 Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen, so Saul asked, “Why are the people weeping?” Then they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6 Then the Ruach of God suddenly rushed upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger blazed. 7 So he took a pair of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so will it be done to his oxen.” So the dread of Adonai fell on the people, and they came out as one man. 8 He numbered them in Bezek, and Bnei-Yisrael were 300,000 and the men of Judah 30,000.
9 So they said to the messengers who came, “Thus will you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have deliverance.” The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.
10 Then the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you and you can do to us whatever seems good to you.” 11 So it was on the following day that Saul divided the people into three columns; they penetrated into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of day. It came about that the survivors were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who was it who said, ‘Should Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, so we may put them to death.”[a]
13 But Saul replied, “No man will be put to death this day, for today Adonai has brought deliverance to Israel.” 14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal and reaffirm the kingdom there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before Adonai in Gilgal. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before Adonai, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
Samuel Rebukes Israel
12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all you said to me, and have set a king over you. 2 Now here is the king who will go before you, while I am old and gray. Also here are my sons with you. I have gone before you from my youth to this day. 3 Here I am. Witness against me before Adonai and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken or whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded or whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to look the other way? I will restore it to you.”
4 They replied, “You haven’t defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
5 Then he said to them, “Adonai is then a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.”
“He is a witness,” they replied.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is Adonai who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7 So now, stand still, so that I may plead with you before Adonai concerning all the righteous acts of Adonai, which He did for you and your fathers. 8 When Jacob entered Egypt and your fathers cried out to Adonai, then Adonai sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot Adonai their God, so He gave them over into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 So they cried out to Adonai and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken Adonai and have worshipped the Baalim and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us from the hand of our enemies and we will worship You.’ 11 Then Adonai sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies on every side, so that you might live securely. 12 But when you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites marching against you, you said to me, ‘No! But a king must reign over us!’—even though Adonai your God is your king.
13 “Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have asked for, and behold, Adonai has set him as king over you. 14 If you fear Adonai and worship Him, and listen to His voice and do not rebel against the command of Adonai, then both you as well as the king who reigns over you will be following Adonai your God. 15 But if you do not listen to the voice of Adonai and rebel against the command of Adonai, then the hand of Adonai will be against you and against your fathers. 16 Now stand by and see this great thing that Adonai will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest season today? I will call to Adonai, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of Adonai by asking for yourselves a king.”
18 So Samuel prayed to Adonai, and Adonai sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Adonai and Samuel, 19 and all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to Adonai your God, that we would not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”
20 Samuel said to the people, “Fear not! Indeed you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following Adonai, but worship Adonai with all your heart. 21 Do not turn aside to go after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are futile. 22 For Adonai will not forsake His people for His great Name’s sake,[b] because it has pleased Adonai to make you a people to Himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Adonai by ceasing to pray for you! Yet I will keep instructing you in the good and straight way. 24 Only fear Adonai and worship Him in truth with all your heart, considering how magnificently He has dealt with you. 25 But if you persist in acting wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king.”
Coming Down from the Mountaintop
37 On the next day as they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Yeshua. 38 Suddenly a man from the crowd shouted out loudly, saying, “Teacher, I’m begging You to look at my son, for he’s my only child! 39 You see, a spirit takes hold of him, and he immediately screams. It throws him into convulsions with frothing. It hardly ever leaves him—it’s crushing him! 40 I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”
41 Then answering, Yeshua said, “O faithless and twisted generation,[a] how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And while the boy was still approaching Yeshua, the demon knocked him down to the ground and threw him into convulsions. But Yeshua rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and restored him to his father. 43 And all were amazed at the mighty power of God. But as everyone was marveling at all He was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 “Put these words into your ears: the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand this statement; it was yet concealed from them so they could not grasp it. And they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
46 Now a dispute began between the disciples as to who might be the greatest among them. 47 But Yeshua, knowing the reasoning of their heart, took a child and set him by His side. 48 He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in My name, welcomes Me. And whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One who sent Me. The one who is the least among all of you is the one who is great.”
49 John replied, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he doesn’t follow along with us.”
50 Yeshua said to him, “Do not stop him, for he who is not against you is for you.”
Samaria Turns Yeshua Away
51 When the days were approaching for Him to be taken up, Yeshua was determined to go up to Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers before Him, and they went and entered a Samaritan village to make His arrangements. 53 But they did not receive Him, because He was focused on going up to Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples Jacob and John saw this, they said, “Master, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them[b]?” 55 But Yeshua turned and rebuked them.[c]
56 Then they moved on to another village. 57 As they were traveling on the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 But Yeshua said to him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But that one said, “First let me go and bury my father.”
60 But Yeshua said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Then another also said, “I will follow You, Master, but first let me say goodbye to those in my home.”
62 But Yeshua said to him, “No one who has put his hand to the plow and looked back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.