Old/New Testament
10 Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him and said, Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over His heritage Israel?
2 When you have left me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, The donkeys you sought are found. And your father has quit caring about them and is anxious for you, asking, What shall I do about my son?
3 Then you will go on from there and you will come to the oak of Tabor, and three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin bottle of wine.
4 They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.
5 After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is; and when you come to the city, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you will show yourself to be a prophet with them; and you will be turned into another man.
7 When these signs meet you, do whatever you find to be done, for God is with you.
8 You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you shall do.
9 And when [Saul] had turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart, and all these signs came to pass that day.
10 When they came to the hill [Gibeah], behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he spoke under divine inspiration among them.
11 And when all who knew Saul before saw that he spoke by inspiration among the [schooled] prophets, the people said one to another, What has come over [him, who is nobody but] the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
12 One from that same place answered, But who is the father of the others? So it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?
13 When [Saul] had ended his inspired speaking, he went to the high place.
14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, Where did you go? And Saul said, To look for the donkeys, and when we found them nowhere, we went to Samuel.
15 Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, what did Samuel say to you?
16 And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys were found. But of the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel spoke he told him nothing.
17 And Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah
18 And said to the Israelites, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: It was I Who brought up Israel out of Egypt and delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.
19 But you have this day rejected your God, Who Himself saves you from all your calamities and distresses; and you have said to Him, No! Set a king over us. So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.
20 And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken [probably by lot].
21 When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken. And Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he could not be found.
22 Therefore they inquired of the Lord further, if the man would yet come back. And the Lord answered, Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.(A)
23 They ran and brought him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of them.
24 And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen, that none like him is among all the people? And all the people shouted and said, Long live the king!
25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom [defining the position of the king in relation to God and to the people], and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.
26 Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of valiant men whose hearts God had touched.
27 But some worthless fellows said, How can this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no gift. But he held his peace and was as if deaf.
11 And Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.
2 But Nahash the Ammonite told them, On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I thrust out all your right eyes and thus lay disgrace on all Israel.
3 The elders of Jabesh said to Nahash, Give us seven days’ time, that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no man to save us, we will come out to you.
4 Then messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news in the ears of the people; and all the people wept aloud.
5 Now Saul came out of the field after the oxen, and [he] said, What ails the people that they are weeping? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.
6 The Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was greatly kindled.
7 And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come forth after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen! And terror from the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.
8 And he numbered them at Bezek, and the Israelites were 300,000 and the men of Judah 30,000.
9 The messengers who came were told, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have help. The messengers came and reported to the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.
10 So the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us all that seems good to you.
11 The next day Saul put the men in three companies; and they came into the midst of the enemy’s camp in the [darkness of the] morning watch and slew the Ammonites until midday; and the survivors were scattered, so that no two of them remained together.
12 The people said to Samuel, Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, that we may put them to death.
13 But Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day, for today the Lord has brought deliverance to Israel.
14 Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.
15 All the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul king before the Lord. And there they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
12 And Samuel said to all Israel, I have listened to you in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you.
2 And now, behold, the king walks before you. And I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.
3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and Saul His anointed. Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded or oppressed? Or from whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes? Tell me and I will restore it to you.
4 And they said, You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.
5 And Samuel said to them, The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
6 And Samuel said to the people, It is the Lord Who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of Egypt.
7 Now present yourselves, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and for your fathers.
8 When Jacob and his sons had come into Egypt [and the Egyptians oppressed them], and your fathers cried to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.
9 But when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, and into the hands of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, and they fought those foes.
10 And they cried to the Lord, saying, We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.
11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel, and He delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt safely.
12 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, No! A king shall reign over us—when the Lord your God was your King!
13 Now see the king whom you have chosen and for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you.
14 If you will revere and fear the Lord and serve Him and hearken to His voice and not rebel against His commandment, and if both you and your king will follow the Lord your God, it will be good!
15 But if you will not hearken to the Lord’s voice, but rebel against His commandment, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16 So stand still and see this great thing the Lord will do before your eyes now.
17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord and He will send thunder and rain; then you shall know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for a king for yourselves.
18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and He sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 And [they] all said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil—to ask for a king.
20 And Samuel said to the people, Fear not. You have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve Him with all your heart.
21 And turn not aside after vain and worthless things which cannot profit or deliver you, for they are empty and futile.
22 The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake, for it has pleased Him to make you a people for Himself.
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; for consider how great are the things He has done for you.
25 But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away.
37 Now it occurred the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.
38 And behold, a man from the crowd shouted out, Master, I implore You to look at my son, for he is my only child;
39 And behold, a spirit seizes him and suddenly he cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and he is sorely shattered, and it will scarcely leave him.
40 And I implored Your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.
41 Jesus answered, O [faithless ones] unbelieving and without trust in God, a perverse ([a]wayward, [b]crooked and [c]warped) generation! Until when and how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here [to Me].
42 And even while he was coming, the demon threw him down and [completely] convulsed him. But Jesus censured and severely rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child and restored him to his father.
43 And all were astounded at the evidence of God’s mighty power and His majesty and magnificence. But [while] they were all marveling at everything Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples,
44 Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men [[d]whose conduct is opposed to God].
45 However, they did not comprehend this saying; and it was kept hidden from them, so that they should not grasp it and understand, and they were afraid to ask Him about the statement.
46 But a controversy arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest [surpassing the others in excellence, worth, and authority].
47 But Jesus, as He perceived the thoughts of their hearts, took a little child and put him at His side
48 And told them, Whoever receives and accepts and welcomes this child in My name and for My sake receives and accepts and welcomes Me; and whoever so receives Me so also receives Him Who sent Me. For he who is least and lowliest among you all—he is [the one who is truly] great.
49 John said, Master, we saw a man driving out demons in Your name and we commanded him to stop it, for he does not follow along with us.
50 But Jesus told him, Do not forbid [such people]; for whoever is not against you is for you.
51 Now when the time was almost come for Jesus to be received up [to heaven], He steadfastly and determinedly set His face to go to Jerusalem.
52 And He sent messengers before Him; and they reached and entered a Samaritan village to make [things] ready for Him;
53 But [the people] would not welcome or receive or accept Him, because His face was [set as if He was] going to Jerusalem.
54 And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord, do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, [e]even as Elijah did?(A)
55 But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. [f]He said, You do not know of what sort of spirit you are,
56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them [g][from the penalty of eternal death]. And they journeyed on to another village.
57 And it occurred that as they were going along the road, a man said to Him, Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.
58 And Jesus told him, Foxes have lurking holes and the birds of the air have roosts and nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.
59 And He said to another, [h]Become My disciple, side with My party, and accompany Me! But he replied, Lord, permit me first to go and bury ([i]await the death of) my father.
60 But Jesus said to him, Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and publish abroad [j]throughout all regions the kingdom of God.
61 Another also said, I will follow You, Lord, and become Your disciple and side with Your party; but let me first say good-bye to those at my home.
62 Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation