Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the director: A song of David.

Saul Makes His First Mistake

13 Saul was 30^[a] years old when he became king. He ruled over Israel 42 years.^{[b] 2} Saul chose 3000 men from Israel. There were 2000 men who stayed with him at Micmash in the hill country of Bethel. There were 1000 men who stayed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul sent the other men in the army back home.

³ Jonathan defeated the Philistines at their camp in Geba. The Philistines heard about this. They said, “The Hebrews have rebelled.”^[c]

Saul said, “Let the Hebrew people hear what happened.” So Saul told the men to blow trumpets through all the land of Israel. ⁴ All the Israelites heard this news: “Saul has killed the Philistine leader. Now the Philistines will really hate the Israelites!”

The Israelites were called to join Saul at Gilgal. ⁵ The Philistines gathered to fight Israel. The Philistines camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. They had 3000^[d] chariots and 6000 horse soldiers. There were so many Philistines that they were like sand on the seashore.

⁶ The Israelites saw that they were in trouble. They felt trapped. They ran away to hide in caves and cracks in the rock. They hid among the rocks, in wells, and in other holes in the ground. ⁷ Some Hebrews even went across the Jordan River to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal. All the men in his army were shaking with fear.

⁸ Samuel said he would meet Saul at Gilgal. Saul waited there seven days. But Samuel had not yet come to Gilgal, and the soldiers began to leave Saul. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings.” Then Saul offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as Saul finished offering that sacrifice, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet him.

¹¹ Samuel asked, “What have you done?”

Saul answered, “I saw the soldiers leaving me. You were not here on time, and the Philistines were gathering at Micmash. ¹² I thought to myself, ‘The Philistines will come here and attack me at Gilgal, and I haven’t asked the Lord to help us yet.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³ Samuel said, “You did a foolish thing. You did not obey the Lord your God. If you had done what he commanded, the Lord would have let your family rule Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom won’t continue. The Lord was looking for a man who wants to obey him.^[e] He has found that man—and the Lord has chosen him to be the new leader of his people, because you didn’t obey his command.” ¹⁵ Then Samuel got up and left Gilgal.

The Battle at Micmash

Saul and the rest of his army left Gilgal^[f] and went to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted the men who were still with him. There were about 600.

A Story About a Farmer Sowing Seed^(A)

4 Another time Jesus began teaching by the lake, and a large crowd gathered around him. He got into a boat so that he could sit and teach from the lake. All the people stayed on the shore near the water. ² Jesus used stories to teach them many things. One of his lessons included this story:

³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow seed. ⁴ While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell by the road. The birds came and ate all that seed. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not enough dirt. It grew quickly there because the soil was not deep. ⁶ But then the sun rose and the plants were burned. They died because they did not have deep roots. ⁷ Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. The weeds grew and stopped the good plants from growing. So they did not make grain. ⁸ But some of the seed fell on good ground. There it began to grow, and it made grain. Some plants made 30 times more grain, some 60 times more, and some 100 times more.”

⁹ Then Jesus said, “You people who hear me, listen!”

Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach^(B)

¹⁰ Later, Jesus was away from the people. The twelve apostles and his other followers asked him about the stories.

¹¹ Jesus said, “Only you can know the secret truth about God’s kingdom. But to those other people I tell everything by using stories. ¹² I do this so that

Jesus Explains the Story About Seed^(D)

¹³ Then Jesus said to the followers, “Do you understand this story? If you don’t, how will you understand any story? ¹⁴ The farmer is like someone who plants God’s teaching in people. ¹⁵ Sometimes the teaching falls on the path. That is like some people who hear the teaching of God. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them.

¹⁶ “Other people are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching, and they quickly and gladly accept it. ¹⁷ But they don’t allow it to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.

¹⁸ “Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, ¹⁹ but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop^[a] in their lives.

²⁰ “And others are like the seed planted on the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce a good crop—sometimes 30 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 100 times more.”