Old/New Testament
Samuel Appoints Saul
10 Samuel took a jar of olive oil. He poured the oil on Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has appointed you to be leader of his people Israel. You will rule over the people of the Lord. You will save them from their enemies all around. This will be the sign that the Lord has appointed you as leader of his people. 2 After you leave me today, you will meet two men. They will be near Rachel’s tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you were looking for have been found. But now your father has stopped thinking about his donkeys. He is worrying about you. He is asking, “What will I do about my son?”’
3 “Then you will go on until you reach the great tree at Tabor. There three men will meet you. They will be on their way to worship God at Bethel. One man will be carrying three young goats. The second man 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 loaves of bread. You will accept the bread from them. 5 Then you will go to Gibeah of God. There is a Philistine camp there. When you come near this town, a group of prophets will come out. They will be coming from the place of worship. And they will be playing harps, tambourines, flutes and lyres. And they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the Lord will enter you with power. You will prophesy with these prophets. You will be changed into a different man. 7 After these signs happen, do whatever you find to do. God will help you.
8 “Go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come down to you. Then I will offer whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. But you must wait seven days. Then I will come and tell you what to do.”
Saul Made King
9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart. All these signs came true that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, Saul met a group of prophets. The Spirit of God entered him. And he prophesied with the prophets. 11 People who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets. They asked each other, “What has happened to Kish’s son? Is even Saul one of the prophets?”
12 A man who lived there said, “Who is the father of these prophets?” This became a famous saying: “Is even Saul one of the prophets?” 13 When Saul finished prophesying, he went to the place of worship.
14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”
Saul said, “We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we went to talk to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle asked, “Please tell me. What did Samuel say to you?”
16 Saul answered, “He told us the donkeys had already been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.
17 Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. 18 He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I led Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control. And I saved you from other kingdoms that were troubling you.’ 19 But now you have rejected your God. He saves you from all your troubles and problems. But you said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us.’ Now come, stand before the Lord in your tribes and family groups.”
20 Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near. And the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Samuel had them pass by in family groups, and Matri’s family was chosen. Then he had each man of Matri’s family pass by. And Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for Saul, they could not find him. 22 Then they asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?”
The Lord said, “Yes. He’s hiding behind the baggage.”
23 So they ran and brought him out. When Saul stood among the people, he was a head taller than anyone else. 24 Then Samuel said to the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. There is no one like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained the rights and duties of the king. He wrote the rules in a book and put the book before the Lord. Then he told the people to go to their homes.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. God touched the hearts of certain brave men who went along with him. 27 But some troublemakers said, “How can this man save us?” They hated Saul and refused to bring gifts to him. But Saul kept quiet.
Nahash Troubles Jabesh Gilead
11 About a month later Nahash the Ammonite and his army surrounded the city of Jabesh in Gilead. All the people of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us. And we will serve you.”
2 But he answered, “I will make a treaty with you. But I will only do it if I’m allowed to tear out the right eye of each of you. Then all Israel will be ashamed!”
3 The elders of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Let us have seven days. We will send messengers through all Israel. If no one comes to help us, we will give ourselves up to you.”
4 The messengers came to Gibeah where Saul lived. When they told the people the news, the people cried loudly. 5 Saul had finished plowing in the fields with his oxen. He was coming home when he heard the people crying. He asked, “What’s wrong with the people? Why are they crying?” Then they told Saul what the messengers from Jabesh had said. 6 When Saul heard their words, God’s Spirit entered him with power. Saul became very angry. 7 So he took a pair of oxen and cut them into pieces. Then he gave the pieces of the oxen to messengers. He ordered them to carry the pieces through all the land of Israel.
The messengers made an announcement to the people. They said, “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” So the people became very afraid of the Lord. They all came together as if they were one person. 8 Saul gathered the people together at Bezek. There were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 men from Judah.
9 They spoke to the messengers who had come. They said, “Tell the people at Jabesh Gilead this: ‘Before the day becomes hot tomorrow, you will be saved.’” So the messengers went and reported this to the people at Jabesh. They were very happy. 10 The people said to Nahash the Ammonite, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you. Then you can do anything you want to us.”
11 The next morning Saul divided his soldiers into three groups. At dawn they entered the Ammonite camp. And they defeated the Ammonites before the heat of the day. The Ammonites who were left alive were scattered. Not even two of them were still together.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who was it that didn’t want Saul as king? Bring them here, and we will kill them!”
13 But Saul said, “No! No one will be put to death today. The Lord has saved Israel today!”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal. At Gilgal we will again promise to obey the king.” 15 All the people went to Gilgal. And there, before the Lord, the people made Saul king. They offered fellowship offerings to the Lord. Saul and all the Israelites had a great celebration.
Samuel’s Farewell Speech
12 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done everything you wanted me to do. I have put a king over you. 2 Now you have a king to lead you. I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader since I was young. 3 Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, you must testify against me. Do this before the Lord and his appointed king. Did I steal anyone’s ox or donkey? Did I hurt or cheat anyone? Did I ever secretly take money to pretend not to see something wrong? If I did any of these things, I will make it right.”
4 The Israelites answered, “You have not cheated us. You have not hurt us. You have not taken anything unfairly from anyone.”
5 Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness to what you have said. His appointed king is also a witness today. They are both witnesses that you did not find anything wrong in me.”
“He is our witness,” they said.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is our witness. He chose Moses and Aaron. He brought your ancestors out of Egypt. 7 Now, stand there. And I will talk with you about all the good things the Lord did for you and your ancestors.
8 “After Jacob entered Egypt, his descendants cried to the Lord for help. So the Lord sent Moses and Aaron. They took your ancestors out of Egypt and brought them to live in this place.
9 “But they forgot the Lord their God. So he let them become the slaves of Sisera. He was the commander of the army of Hazor. The Lord let them become the slaves of the Philistines and the king of Moab. They all fought against your ancestors. 10 Then your ancestors cried to the Lord. They said, ‘We have sinned. We have left the Lord. We served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now save us from our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11 The Lord sent Gideon, who is also called Jerub-Baal. And he sent Barak, Jephthah and Samuel. Then he saved you from your enemies around you. And you lived in safety. 12 But then you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites coming against you. You said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us!’ 13 Now here is the king you chose. The Lord has put him over you. 14 You must honor the Lord and serve him. You must obey his commands. Both you and the king ruling over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, it will be well with you. 15 But if you don’t obey the Lord, and if you fight against his commands, he will be against you. He will do to you what he did to your ancestors.
16 “Now stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 It is now the time of the wheat harvest.[a] I will pray for the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will know what an evil thing you did against the Lord when you asked for a king.”
18 Then Samuel prayed to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. And the people became very afraid of the Lord and Samuel. 19 They said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants! Don’t let us die! We’ve added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
20 Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. It’s true that you did wrong. But don’t turn away from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Idols are of no use. So don’t worship them. They can’t help you or save you. They are useless! 22 For his own sake, the Lord won’t leave his people. Instead, he was pleased to make you his own people. 23 I will surely not stop praying for you. If I did, I would be sinning against the Lord. I will teach you what is good and right. 24 But you must honor the Lord. You must always serve him with all your heart. Remember the wonderful things he did for you! 25 But if you are stubborn and do evil, God will sweep you and your king away.”
Jesus Heals a Sick Boy
37 The next day, Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain. A large crowd met Jesus. 38 A man in the crowd shouted to Jesus, “Teacher, please come and look at my son. He is the only child I have. 39 An evil spirit comes into my son, and then he shouts. He loses control of himself, and he foams at the mouth. The evil spirit keeps on hurting him and almost never leaves him. 40 I begged your followers to make the evil spirit leave my son, but they could not do it.”
41 Jesus answered, “You people who live now have no faith. Your lives are all wrong. How long must I be with you and be patient with you?” Then Jesus said to the man, “Bring your son here.”
42 While the boy was coming, the demon threw him on the ground. The boy lost control of himself. But Jesus gave a strong command to the evil spirit. Then the boy was healed, and Jesus gave him back to his father. 43 All the people were amazed at the great power of God.
Jesus Talks About His Death
The people were all wondering about the things Jesus did. But he said to his followers, 44 “Don’t forget the things I tell you now: The Son of Man will be handed over into the control of men.” 45 But the followers did not understand what Jesus meant. The meaning was hidden from them so that they could not understand it. But they were afraid to ask Jesus about what he said.
The Most Important Person
46 Jesus’ followers began to have an argument about which one of them was the greatest. 47 Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he took a little child and stood the child beside him. 48 Then Jesus said, “If anyone accepts a little child like this in my name, then he accepts me. And when he accepts me, he accepts the One who sent me. He who is least among you all—he is the greatest.”
Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us
49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone using your name to force demons out of people. We told him to stop because he does not belong to our group.”
50 Jesus said to him, “Don’t stop him. If a person is not against you, then he is for you.”
A Samaritan Town
51 The time was coming near when Jesus would leave and be taken to heaven. He was determined to go to Jerusalem 52 and sent some men ahead of him. The men went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for Jesus. 53 But the people there would not welcome him because he was going toward Jerusalem. 54 James and John, the followers of Jesus, saw this. They said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?”[a]
55 But Jesus turned and scolded them. [And Jesus said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to. 56 The Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of men but to save them.”][b] Then he and his followers went to another town.
Following Jesus
57 They were all going along the road. Someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you any place you go.”
58 Jesus answered, “The foxes have holes to live in. The birds have nests to live in. But the Son of Man has no place to rest his head.”
59 Jesus said to another man, “Follow me!”
But the man said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the people who are dead bury their own dead! You must go and tell about the kingdom of God.”
61 Another man said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.”
62 Jesus said, “Anyone who begins to plow a field but keeps looking back is of no use in the kingdom of God.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.