Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Samuel Addresses Israel

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, ^(A)I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I ^(B)have ^[a]appointed a king over you. ² Now, ^(C)here is the king walking before you, but ^(D)I am old and gray, and behold ^(E)my sons are with you. And ^(F)I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. ³ Here I am; bear witness 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 defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or ^(I)from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you.” ⁴ They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” ⁵ 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 ^[b](L)appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ So now, take your stand, ^(M)that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which 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 ^[c](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, captain 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 forsaken the Lord and have served ^(W)the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but ^(X)now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ ¹¹ Then the Lord sent ^(Y)Jerubbaal and ^[d](Z)Bedan and ^(AA)Jephthah and ^(AB)Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

The King Confirmed

¹² When you saw ^(AC)that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘^(AD)No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^(AE)although the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ Now therefore, ^(AF)here is the king whom you have chosen, ^(AG)whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has set 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 also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. ^15 (AI)If you will 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)as it was against your fathers. ¹⁶ Even now, ^(AL)take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. ^17 (AM)Is it not the wheat harvest today? ^(AN)I will call to the Lord, that He may 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 for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may 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 You must not turn aside, for then you would go after ^(AT)futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. 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 Moreover, as for me, ^(AX)far be it from me that I should 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 wickedly, ^(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 out of this world ^(C)to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them ^[a]to the end. ² 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 given all things into His hands, and that ^(G)He had come forth from God and was going back to God, ⁴ *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He ^(H)girded Himself.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

⁵ Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to ^(I)wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. ⁶ So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand ^(J)hereafter.” 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 part 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, but is completely clean; and ^(M)you are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For ^(N)He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² So 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 to you? ¹³ You call Me ^(P)Teacher and ^(Q)Lord; and ^[b]you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, ^(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 that you also should do as I did to you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(T)a slave is not greater than his master, nor is ^(U)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.