Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

9 There was a man from Binyamin named Kish the son of Avi’el, the son of Tz’ror, the son of B’khorat, the son of Afiach, the son of a man from Binyamin. He was a man of substance and brave as well. ² He had a son named Sha’ul who was young and good-looking; among the people of Isra’el there was no one better-looking than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else in Isra’el.

³ Once the donkeys belonging to Kish Sha’ul’s father got lost. Kish said to his son Sha’ul, “Please take one of the servants with you, go out, and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ He went through the hills of Efrayim and the territory of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they went through the territory of Sha‘alim, but they weren’t there. They went through the territory of Binyamin but didn’t find them there either. ⁵ On reaching the territory of Tzuf, Sha’ul said to his servant with him, “Come, let’s go back; otherwise my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” ⁶ His servant replied, “Here now, there’s a man of God in this city, a man who is highly respected, and everything he says proves true. Let’s go to him; maybe he can tell us something about where we should go.” ⁷ “But look,” Sha’ul said to his servant, “if we go to the man, what can we bring him? We’ve used up all the bread in our packs, and there’s nothing for us to give the man of God — what do we have left?” ⁸ The servant replied again to Sha’ul: “See, I have here in my hand a silver quarter-shekel [one-tenth of an ounce]. I will give it to the man of God to tell us which way to go.” ⁹ (In Isra’el, back in the old days, when someone went to consult God, he would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer”; because a person now called a prophet used to be called a seer.) ¹⁰ “Well said,” Sha’ul answered his servant. “Come on, let’s go.”

So they went to the city where the man of God was. ¹¹ Ascending the slope to the town they found girls going out to draw water and asked them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² The girls answered them, “He’s here, he’s right ahead of you. Hurry now, he just came into the city today, because the people are sacrificing today at the high place. ¹³ Find him as soon as you enter the city, before he goes up to the high place to eat; because the people won’t eat until he comes and blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards, the ones invited will eat. So go on up, because this is when you will find him.”

¹⁴ They went up to the city; and as they entered the city, there was Sh’mu’el coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

¹⁴ He was expelling a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute spoke; and the people were astounded. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “It is by Ba‘al-Zibbul” — the ruler of the demons — “that he expels the demons.” ¹⁶ And others, trying to trap him, demanded from him a sign from Heaven. ¹⁷ But he, knowing what they were thinking, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, with one house collapsing on another. ¹⁸ So if the Adversary too is divided against himself, how can his kingdom survive? I’m asking because you claim it is by Ba‘al-Zibbul that I drive out the demons. ¹⁹ If I drive out demons by Ba‘al-Zibbul, by whom do your people drive them out? So, they will be your judges! ²⁰ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,^[a] then the Kingdom of God has come upon you!

²¹ “When a strong man who is fully equipped for battle guards his own house, his possessions are secure. ²² But when someone stronger attacks and defeats him, he carries off all the armor and weaponry on which the man was depending, and divides up the spoils. ²³ Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me are scattering.

²⁴ “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest. On finding none, it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there — so that in the end the person is worse off than he was before.”

²⁷ As Yeshua was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice to call out, “How blessed is the mother that gave birth to you and nursed you from her breast!” ²⁸ But he said, “Far more blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”