Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ So all the elders of Israel met together and went to Ramah to meet with Samuel. ⁵ The elders said to Samuel, “You’re old, and your sons don’t live right. They are not like you. Now, give us a king to rule us like all the other nations.”

⁶ So the elders asked for a king to lead them. Samuel thought this was a bad idea, so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ The Lord told Samuel, “Do what the people tell you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me. They don’t want me to be their king. ⁸ They are doing the same thing they have always done. I took them out of Egypt, but they left me and served other gods. They are doing the same to you. ⁹ So listen to the people and do what they say. But give them a warning. Tell the people what a king will do to them. Tell them how a king rules people.”

¹⁰ Those people asked for a king. So Samuel told them everything the Lord said. ¹¹ Samuel said, “If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take away your sons and force them to serve him. He will force them to be soldiers—they must fight from his chariots and become horse soldiers in his army. Your sons will become guards running in front of the king’s chariot.

¹² “A king will force your sons to become soldiers. He will choose which of your sons will be officers over 1000 men and which will be officers over 50 men.

“A king will force some of your sons to plow his fields and gather his harvest. He will force some of your sons to make weapons for war and to make things for his chariots.

¹³ “A king will take your daughters and force some of them to make perfume for him and some to cook and bake for him.

¹⁴ “A king will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves. He will take them from you and give them to his officers. ¹⁵ He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes, and he will give them to his officers and servants.

¹⁶ “A king will take your men and women servants. He will take your best cattle^[a] and your donkeys. He will use them all for his own work. ¹⁷ He will take one-tenth of your flocks.

“And you yourselves will become slaves of this king. ¹⁸ When that time comes, you will cry because of the king you chose. But the Lord won’t answer you at that time.”

¹⁹ But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, “No, we want a king to rule over us. ²⁰ Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will lead us. He will go before us and fight our battles.”

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal. At Gilgal we will again make Saul the king.”

¹⁵ All the people went to Gilgal. There, in front of the Lord, the people made Saul king. They offered fellowship offerings to the Lord. Saul and all the Israelites had a great celebration.

A song of David.

¹³ The Scriptures say, “I believed, so I spoke.”^[a] Our faith is like that too. We believe, and so we speak. ¹⁴ God raised the Lord Jesus from death, and we know that he will also raise us with Jesus. God will bring us together with you, and we will stand before him. ¹⁵ All these things are for you. And so the grace of God is being given to more and more people. This will bring more and more thanks to God for his glory.

Living by Faith

¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. ¹⁷ We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. ¹⁸ So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.

5 We know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a home for us to live in. It will not be the kind of home people build here. It will be a home in heaven that will continue forever.

Jesus’ Power Is From God^(A)

²⁰ Then Jesus went home, but again a large crowd gathered there. There were so many people that he and his followers could not eat. ²¹ His family heard about all these things. They went to get him because people said he was crazy.

²² And the teachers of the law from Jerusalem said, “Satan^[a] is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.”

²³ So Jesus called them together and talked to them using some stories. He said, “Satan will not force his own demons out of people. ²⁴ A kingdom that fights against itself will not survive. ²⁵ And a family that is divided will not survive. ²⁶ If Satan is against himself and is fighting against his own people, he will not survive. That would be the end of Satan.

²⁷ “Whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.

²⁸ “I want you to know that people can be forgiven for all the sinful things they do. They can even be forgiven for the bad things they say against God. ²⁹ But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. They will always be guilty of that sin.”

³⁰ Jesus said this because the teachers of the law had accused him of having an evil spirit inside him.

Jesus’ Followers Are His True Family^(B)

³¹ Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came. They stood outside and sent someone in to tell him to come out. ³² Many people were sitting around Jesus. They said to him, “Your mother, your brothers, and your sisters^[b] are waiting for you outside.”

³³ Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ³⁴ Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said, “These people are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.”