Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Samuel Addresses Israel

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, ^(A)I have listened to your voice for all that you said to me, and I ^(B)have appointed a king over you. ² Now, ^(C)here is the king walking before you, but as for me, ^(D)I am old and gray, and ^(E)my sons are here with you. And ^(F)I have walked before you since my youth to this day. ³ Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and ^(G)His anointed. ^(H)Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed, or ^(I)from whose hand have I taken a bribe to close my eyes with it? I will return it to you.” ⁴ And they said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us, or taken anything from anyone’s hand.” ⁵ So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that ^(J)you have found nothing ^(K)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who ^[a](L)appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now then, take your stand, ^(M)so that I may enter into judgment with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord that He did for you and your fathers. ^8 (N)When Jacob went into Egypt and ^(O)your fathers cried out to the Lord, then ^(P)the Lord sent Moses and Aaron ^[b](Q)who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹ But ^(R)they forgot the Lord their God, so ^(S)He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and ^(T)into the hand of the Philistines, and ^(U)into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. ^10 (V)They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have abandoned the Lord and have served ^(W)the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but ^(X)now save us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ ¹¹ Then the Lord sent ^(Y)Jerubbaal, ^[c](Z)Bedan, ^(AA)Jephthah, and ^(AB)Samuel, and saved you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

The King Confirmed

¹² But when you saw ^(AC)that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon was coming against you, you said to me, ‘^(AD)No, but a king shall reign over us!’ ^(AE)Yet the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ And now, ^(AF)behold, the king whom you have chosen, ^(AG)whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has ^[d]put a king over you. ^14 (AH)If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the ^[e]command of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. ¹⁵ But ^(AI)if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the ^[f]command of the Lord, then ^(AJ)the hand of the Lord will be against you, ^(AK)even as it was against your fathers. ¹⁶ Even now, ^(AL)take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord is going to do before your eyes. ^17 (AM)Is it not the wheat harvest today? ^(AN)I will call to the Lord, that He will send ^[g]thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that ^(AO)your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord, by asking for yourselves a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent ^[h]thunder and rain that day; and ^(AP)all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ Then all the people said to Samuel, “^(AQ)Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we do not die; for we have added to all our sins ^(AR)this evil, by asking for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet ^(AS)do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ Indeed, you must not turn aside, for then you would go after ^(AT)useless things which cannot benefit or save, because they are useless. ²² For ^(AU)the Lord will not abandon His people ^(AV)on account of His great name, because the Lord ^(AW)has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. ²³ Furthermore, as for me, ^(AX)far be it from me that I would sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but ^(AY)I will instruct you in the good and right way. ^24 (AZ)Only ^[i]fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider ^(BA)what great things He has done for you. ^25 (BB)But if you still do evil, ^(BC)both you and your king ^(BD)will be swept away.”

The Lord’s Supper

13 Now before the Feast of ^(A)the Passover, Jesus, knowing that ^(B)His hour had come that He would depart from this world ^(C)to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them ^[a]to the end. ² And during supper, ^(D)the devil having already put into the heart of ^(E)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, ^(F)knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that ^(G)He had come forth from God and was going back to God, ⁴ *got up from supper and *laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and ^(H)tied it around Himself.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

⁵ Then He *poured water into the basin, and began ^(I)washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. ⁶ So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand ^(J)later.” ⁸ Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “^(K)If I do not wash you, ^(L)you have no ^[b]place with Me.” ⁹ Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And ^(M)you are clean—but ^[c]not all of you.” ¹¹ For ^(N)He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² Then, when He had washed their feet, and ^(O)taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³ You call Me ^(P)‘Teacher’ and ^(Q)‘Lord’; and ^[d]you are correct, for so I am. ¹⁴ So if I, ^(R)the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I gave you ^(S)an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly I say to you, ^(T)a slave is not greater than his master, nor is ^(U)[e]one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are ^(V)blessed if you do them.