Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Samuel Judges Saul’s Sin

13 Saul was 30 years old when he became king. He ruled over Israel for 42 years.

² Saul chose 3,000 of Israel’s men. Two thousand of them were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel. One thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul sent the rest back to their homes.

³ Some Philistine soldiers were stationed at Geba. Jonathan attacked them. The other Philistines heard about it. Saul announced, “Let the Hebrew people hear about what has happened!” He had trumpets blown all through the land. ⁴ So all the Israelites heard the news. They were told, “Saul has attacked the Philistine army camp at Geba. Now the Philistines can’t stand the Israelites.” The Israelites were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines gathered together to fight against Israel. They had 3,000 chariots and 6,000 chariot drivers. Their soldiers were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash. It was east of Beth Aven. ⁶ The Israelites saw that their army was in deep trouble. So they hid in caves. They hid among bushes and rocks. They also hid in pits and empty wells. ⁷ Some of them even went across the Jordan River. They went to the lands of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal. All the troops with him were shaking with fear. ⁸ He waited seven days, just as Samuel had told him to. But Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal. And Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹ So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the friendship offerings.” Then he offered up the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Just as Saul finished offering the sacrifice, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹ “What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “I saw that the men were scattering. I saw that the Philistines were gathering together at Mikmash. You didn’t come when you said you would. ¹² So I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down to attack me at Gilgal. And I haven’t asked the Lord for his blessing.’ So I felt I had to sacrifice the burnt offering.”

¹³ “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You haven’t obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. If you had, he would have made your kingdom secure over Israel for all time to come. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom won’t last. The Lord has already looked for a man who is dear to his heart. He has appointed him king of his people. That’s because you haven’t obeyed the Lord’s command.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul counted the men who were with him. The total number was about 600.

The Story of the Farmer

4 Again Jesus began to teach by the Sea of Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was very large. So he got into a boat. He sat down in it out on the lake. All the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things using stories. In his teaching he said, ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed. ⁴ He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. Birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn’t much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ When the sun came up, it burned the plants. They dried up because they had no roots. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants. So the plants did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It grew up and produced a crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted.”

⁹ Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears should listen.”

¹⁰ Later Jesus was alone. The 12 disciples asked him about the stories. So did the others around him. ¹¹ He told them, “The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you. But to outsiders everything is told using stories. ¹² In that way,

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this story? Then how will you understand any stories of this kind? ¹⁴ The seed the farmer plants is God’s message. ¹⁵ What is seed scattered on a path like? The message is planted. The people hear the message. Then Satan comes. He takes away the message that was planted in them. ¹⁶ And what is seed scattered on rocky places like? The people hear the message. At once they receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But they have no roots. So they last only a short time. They quickly fall away from the faith when trouble or suffering comes because of the message. ¹⁸ And what is seed scattered among thorns like? The people hear the message. ¹⁹ But then the worries of this life come to them. Wealth comes with its false promises. The people also long for other things. All of these are the kinds of things that crowd out the message. They keep it from producing fruit. ²⁰ And what is seed scattered on good soil like? The people hear the message. They accept it. They produce a good crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted.”