Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

An Exuberant Declaration of Faith

A Psalm of David.

Saul Anointed King

²⁷ As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” And he went on. “But you stand here ^[a]awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God.”

Samuel Anoints Saul

10 Then ^(A)Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, ^(B)and kissed him and said: “Is it not because ^(C)the Lord has anointed you commander over ^(D)His ^[b]inheritance? ² When you have departed from me today, you will find two men by ^(E)Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin ^(F)at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. And now your father has ceased caring about the donkeys and is worrying about ^(G)you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ ³ Then you shall go on forward from there and come to the terebinth tree of Tabor. 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 skin of wine. ⁴ And they will ^[c]greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands. ⁵ After that you shall come to the hill of God ^(I)where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down ^(J)from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; ^(K)and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then ^(L)the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and ^(M)you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. ⁷ And let it be, when these ^(N)signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for ^(O)God is with you. ⁸ You shall go down before me ^(P)to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. ^(Q)Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”

Defending the Gospel^(A)

2 Then after fourteen years ^(B)I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. ² And I went up ^[a]by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but ^(C)privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means ^(D)I might run, or had run, in vain. ³ Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ And this occurred because of ^(E)false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our ^(F)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, ^(G)that they might bring us into bondage), ⁵ to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that ^(H)the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

⁶ But from those ^(I)who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; ^(J)God ^[b]shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something ^(K)added nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, ^(L)when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised ^(M)had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter ⁸ (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the ^(N)circumcised ^(O)also ^(P)worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), ⁹ and when James, ^[c]Cephas, and John, who seemed to be ^(Q)pillars, perceived ^(R)the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, ^(S)that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They desired only that we should remember the poor, ^(T)the very thing which I also was eager to do.