Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Praised and Supplicated to Give Victory.

A Song, a Psalm of David.

Saul’s Search

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of ^[a]valor. ² He had a son whose name was Saul, a ^(B)choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; ^(C)from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take now with you one of the servants, and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴ He passed through ^(D)the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^(E)Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^(F)Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of ^(G)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let us return, ^(H)or else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us.” ⁶ He said to him, “Behold now, there is ^(I)a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^(J)all that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, ^(K)perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack and there is ^(L)no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will ^(M)tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called ^(N)a seer.) ¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the slope to the city, ^(O)they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² They answered them and said, “He is; ^[b]see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for ^(P)the people have a sacrifice on ^(Q)the high place today. ¹³ As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, because ^(R)he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up for you will find him at once.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

^14 (A)And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons ^(B)by ^(C)Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, ^[a]to test Him, ^(D)were demanding of Him a ^[b]sign from heaven. ^17 (E)But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “^[c]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against ^[d]itself falls. ¹⁸ If ^(F)Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by ^(G)Beelzebul. ¹⁹ And if I by ^(H)Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out demons by the ^(I)finger of God, then ^(J)the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹ When ^[e]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ^[f]undisturbed. ²² But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. ^23 (K)He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

²⁴ “^(L)When the unclean spirit goes out of ^[g]a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷ While ^[h]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “^(M)Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” ²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are ^(N)those who hear the word of God and observe it.”