Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ Then all the leaders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “See, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Choose a king to rule over us like all the nations.” ⁶ But Samuel was not pleased when they said, “Give us a king to rule over us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all they say to you. For they have not turned away from you. They have turned away from Me, that I should not be king over them. ⁸ They are doing to you what they have done since the day I brought them out of Egypt until now. They have turned away from Me and worshiped other gods. ⁹ So listen to their voice. But tell them of the danger and show them the ways of the king who will rule over them.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “This will be the way the king will rule over you. He will take your sons and make them drive his war-wagons, be his horsemen, and run in front of his war-wagons.

¹² He will choose leaders of thousands and of fifties. He will choose men to plow his ground, gather his grain, and make objects for war and for his war-wagons. ¹³ He will take your daughters to make perfume, work with the food, and make bread. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vines and olives, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth part of your grain and your vines to give to his leaders and his servants.

¹⁶ He will take your men servants and your women servants and the best of your cattle and your donkeys, and use them for his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth part of your flocks, and you yourselves will be made to work for him. ¹⁸ You will cry out in that day because of your king you have chosen for yourselves. But the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹ But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, “No! We will have a king rule over us, ²⁰ so we may be like other nations. Our king may rule over us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

¹⁴ Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and make it the place for the king.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal. There they made Saul king before the Lord, in Gilgal. There they gave peace gifts to the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel were filled with much joy.

A Song of Praise

138 I will give You thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to You in front of the gods. ² I will bow down toward Your holy house. And I will give thanks to Your name for Your loving-kindness and Your truth. For You have honored Your Word because of what Your name is. ³ You answered me on the day I called. You gave me strength in my soul.

⁴ O Lord, all the kings of the earth will give thanks to You when they have heard the words of Your mouth. ⁵ And they will sing of the ways of the Lord. For the shining beauty of the Lord is great. ⁶ For even if the Lord is honored, He thinks about those who have no pride. But He knows the proud from far away. ⁷ Even if I walk into trouble, You will keep my life safe. You will put out Your hand against the anger of those who hate me. And Your right hand will save me. ⁸ The Lord will finish the work He started for me. O Lord, Your loving-kindness lasts forever. Do not turn away from the works of Your hands.

¹³ The Holy Writings say, “I believed, so I spoke.” ^(A) We have the same kind of faith as David had. We also believe, so we speak. ¹⁴ We know that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. He will raise us up also. God will take us to Himself and He will take you. ¹⁵ These things happened for your good. As more people receive God’s favor, they will give thanks for the shining-greatness of God.

Life Now—Life in Heaven

¹⁶ This is the reason we do not give up. Our human body is wearing out. But our spirits are getting stronger every day. ¹⁷ The little troubles we suffer now for a short time are making us ready for the great things God is going to give us forever. ¹⁸ We do not look at the things that can be seen. We look at the things that cannot be seen. The things that can be seen will come to an end. But the things that cannot be seen will last forever.

Our Weak Human Bodies

5 Our body is like a house we live in here on earth. When it is destroyed, we know that God has another body for us in heaven. The new one will not be made by human hands as a house is made. This body will last forever.

The Family of Jesus Holds Him Back

²⁰ When Jesus came into a house, many people gathered around Him again. Jesus and His followers could not even eat. ²¹ When His family heard of it, they went to take Him. They said, “He must be crazy.”

A Nation That Cannot Stand ^(A)

²² Teachers of the Law came down from Jerusalem. They said, “Jesus has Satan in Him. This Man puts out demons by the king of demons.” ²³ Jesus called them to Him and spoke to them in picture-stories. He said, “How can the devil put out the devil? ²⁴ A nation cannot last if it is divided against itself. ²⁵ A family cannot last if it is divided against itself. ²⁶ If the devil fights against himself and is divided, he cannot last. He will come to an end. ²⁷ No man can go into a strong man’s house and take away his things, unless he ties up the strong man first. Only then can he take things from his house. ²⁸ For sure, I tell you, all sins will be forgiven people, and bad things they speak against God. ²⁹ But if anyone speaks bad things against the Holy Spirit, he will never be forgiven. He is guilty of a sin that lasts forever.” ³⁰ Jesus told them this because they said, “He has a demon.”

The New Kind of Family ^(B)

³¹ Then His mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent for Jesus. ³² Many people were sitting around Him. They said, “See! Your mother and brothers are outside looking for You.” ³³ He said to them, “Who is My mother or My brothers?” ³⁴ He turned to those sitting around Him and said, “See! My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ Whoever does what My Father wants is My brother and My sister and My mother.”