Old/New Testament

Saul Among the Prophets

10 Then ^(A)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, ^(B)kissed him, and said, “Has not ^(C)Yahweh 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 search 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. And you will take them 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 Yahweh will ^[d]come upon you mightily, and ^(M)you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. ⁷ Now it will be when these signs come to you, ^(N)do for yourself whatever your hand finds to do, 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 make you know 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)And they came to ^[f]the hill there, and behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God ^[g]came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. ¹¹ Now it happened that all who knew him previously saw, and behold, he was prophesying with the prophets, so the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? ^(U)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹² And a man there answered and said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “^(V)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ Then he finished prophesying and came to the high place.

¹⁴ Now ^(W)Saul’s uncle said to him and his young man, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^(X)To look for the donkeys. And we saw that they were not anywhere, so we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵ And 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 said.

Saul the King

¹⁷ Then Samuel called the ^(Z)people together to Yahweh at Mizpah; ¹⁸ and he said to the sons of Israel, “^(AA)Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹ But you ^(AB)have today rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have ^[h]said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ So now, ^(AC)take your stand before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans.”

²⁰ Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but they looked for him, and he could not be found. ²² Therefore ^(AD)they inquired further of Yahweh, “Has the man come here yet?” So Yahweh said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.” ²³ So they ran and took him from there, and he stood among the people. And ^(AE)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(AF)whom Yahweh has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “^[i](AG)Long live the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel spoke with the people about ^(AH)the legal judgments of the kingdom and wrote them in the book and ^(AI)placed it before Yahweh. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. ²⁶ Saul also went ^(AJ)to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. ²⁷ But certain ^[j](AK)vile men said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and ^(AL)did not bring him any present. But he kept silent.

Saul Strikes Down the Ammonites

11 And ^(AM)Nahash the Ammonite came up and ^[k]besieged ^(AN)Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Cut ^(AO)a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” ² But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will cut it with you on this condition, ^(AP)that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it ^(AQ)a reproach on all Israel.” ^3 (AR)Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” ⁴ Then the messengers came ^(AS)to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people ^(AT)lifted up their voices and wept.

⁵ Now behold, Saul was coming from the field ^(AU)behind the oxen, and ^[l]he said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁶ Then ^(AV)the Spirit of God ^[m]came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and ^[n]he burned with anger exceedingly. ⁷ Then he took a pair of oxen and ^(AW)cut them in pieces and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “^(AX)Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out ^(AY)as one man. ⁸ And he ^[o]numbered them in ^(AZ)Bezek; and the ^(BA)sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000. ⁹ And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have salvation.’” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. ¹⁰ Then the men of Jabesh said, “^(BB)Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good in your eyes.” ¹¹ Then the next morning Saul put the people ^(BC)in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹² Then the people said to Samuel, “^(BD)Who is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^[p](BE)Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” ¹³ But Saul said, “^(BF)Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today ^(BG)Yahweh has accomplished salvation in Israel.”

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come and let us go to ^(BH)Gilgal and ^(BI)renew the kingdom there.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(BJ)before Yahweh in Gilgal. There they also ^(BK)offered sacrifices of peace offerings before Yahweh; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were exceedingly glad.

Samuel Speaks to Israel

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, ^(BL)I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and I ^(BM)have ^[q]appointed a king over you. ² So now, ^(BN)here is the king walking before you, but ^(BO)I am old and gray, and behold, ^(BP)my sons are with you. And ^(BQ)I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. ³ Here I am; bear witness against me before Yahweh and ^(BR)His anointed. ^(BS)Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or ^(BT)from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you.” ⁴ And they said, “You have not extorted us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” ⁵ So he said to them, “Yahweh is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that ^(BU)you have found nothing ^(BV)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is Yahweh who ^[r](BW)appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ So now, take your stand, ^(BX)that I may judge you before Yahweh concerning all the righteous acts of Yahweh which He did for you and your fathers. ^8 (BY)When Jacob went into Egypt and ^(BZ)your fathers cried out to Yahweh, then ^(CA)Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron ^[s](CB)who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹ But ^(CC)they forgot Yahweh their God, so ^(CD)He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and ^(CE)into the hand of the Philistines and ^(CF)into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. ^10 (CG)And they cried out to Yahweh and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served ^(CH)the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but ^(CI)now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ ¹¹ Then Yahweh sent ^(CJ)Jerubbaal and ^[t](CK)Bedan and ^(CL)Jephthah and ^(CM)Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security. ¹² But you saw ^(CN)that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, and you said to me, ‘^(CO)No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^(CP)although Yahweh your God was your king. ¹³ So now, ^(CQ)behold, the king whom you have chosen, ^(CR)whom you have asked for, and behold, Yahweh has set a king over you. ^14 (CS)If you will fear Yahweh and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against the ^[u]command of Yahweh, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow Yahweh your God. ^15 (CT)But if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh, but rebel against the ^[v]command of Yahweh, then ^(CU)the hand of Yahweh will be against you, ^(CV)as it was against your fathers. ¹⁶ Even now, ^(CW)take your stand and see this great thing which Yahweh will do before your eyes. ^17 (CX)Is it not the wheat harvest today? ^(CY)I will call to Yahweh, that He may send ^[w]thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that ^(CZ)your wickedness is great which you have done in the eyes of Yahweh by asking for yourselves a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called to Yahweh, and Yahweh sent ^[x]thunder and rain that day; and ^(DA)all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.

¹⁹ Then all the people said to Samuel, “^(DB)Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins ^(DC)this evil by asking for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet ^(DD)do not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart. ²¹ And you must not turn aside, for then you would go after ^(DE)meaningless things which cannot profit and cannot deliver, because they are meaningless. ²² For ^(DF)Yahweh will not abandon His people ^(DG)on account of His great name, because Yahweh ^(DH)has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. ²³ Moreover, as for me, ^(DI)far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you; but ^(DJ)I will instruct you in the good and upright way. ^24 (DK)Only ^[y]fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for see ^(DL)what great things He has done for you. ^25 (DM)But if you still do wickedly, ^(DN)both you and your king ^(DO)will be swept away.”

Jesus Casts Out a Demon

^37 (A)Now it happened on the next day, that when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my ^[a]only one, ³⁹ and behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth, and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. ⁴⁰ And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” ⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² Now while he was still approaching, the demon ^[b]slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And they were all astonished at the ^(B)majesty of God.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^(C)But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴ “Put these words into your ears; ^(D)for the Son of Man is going to be ^[c]delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵ But ^(E)they ^[d]did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

Who Is the Greatest?

^46 (F)Now an argument ^[e]started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, ^(G)knowing ^[f]what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, ⁴⁸ and said to them, “^(H)Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ^(I)for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

^49 (J)And John answered and said, “^(K)Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he does not follow along with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him, ^(L)for he who is not against you is ^[g]for you.”

⁵¹ Now it happened that when the days for ^(M)Him to be taken up were soon to be fulfilled, He set His face ^(N)to go to Jerusalem; ⁵² and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the ^(O)Samaritans to ^[h]make arrangements for Him. ⁵³ But they did not receive Him, ^(P)because ^[i]He was journeying with His face toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when His disciples ^(Q)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to ^(R)command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, ^[j][and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, ⁵⁶ for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

^57 (S)And as they were going along the road, ^(T)someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the ^[k]air have ^[l]nests, but ^(U)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ⁵⁹ And He said to another, “^(V)Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and ^(W)proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but ^(X)first permit me to say farewell to those at home.” ⁶² But Jesus said to him, “^(Y)No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”