Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A psalm of David.

²⁷ As they were on their way down to the edge of town, Samuel spoke to Saul. He said, “Tell the servant to go ahead of us.” So the servant went on ahead. Then Samuel continued, “Stay here for a while. I’ll give you a message from God.”

10 Then Samuel took a bottle of olive oil. He poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him. He said, “The Lord has anointed you to be the king of his people. ² When you leave me today, you will meet two men. They will be near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They’ll say to you, ‘The donkeys you have been looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped thinking about them. Instead, he’s worried about you. He’s asking, “What can I do to find my son?” ’

³ “You will go on from Zelzah until you come to the large tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They’ll be on their way up to Bethel to worship God. One of them will be carrying three young goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. A third will be carrying a bottle of wine. It will be a bottle made out of animal skin. ⁴ The men will greet you. They’ll offer you two loaves of bread. You will accept the loaves from them.

⁵ “After that, you will go to Gibeah of God. Some Philistine soldiers are stationed there. As you approach the town, you will meet a group of prophets. They’ll be coming down from the high place where they worship. People will be playing lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps at the head of the group. The prophets will be prophesying. ⁶ The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully on you. Then you will prophesy along with them. You will become a different person. ⁷ All these things will happen. Then do what you want to do. God is with you.

⁸ “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. You can be sure that I’ll come down to you there. I’ll come and sacrifice burnt offerings and friendship offerings. But you must wait there for seven days until I come to you. Then I’ll tell you what to do.”

Paul Is Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem. This time I went with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. ² I went because God showed me what he wanted me to do. I spoke in private to those who are respected as leaders. I told them the good news that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t running my race for no purpose. And I wanted to know that I had not been running my race for no purpose. ³ Titus was with me. He was a Greek. But even he was not forced to be circumcised. ⁴ This matter came up because some people had slipped in among us. They had pretended to be believers. They wanted to find out about the freedom we have because we belong to Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves again. ⁵ We didn’t give in to them for a moment. We did this so that the truth of the good news would be kept safe for you.

⁶ Some people in Jerusalem were thought to be important. But it makes no difference to me what they were. God does not treat people differently. Those people added nothing to my message. ⁷ In fact, it was just the opposite. They recognized the task I had been trusted with. It was the task of preaching the good news to the Gentiles. My task was like Peter’s task. He had been trusted with the task of preaching to the Jews. ⁸ God was working in Peter as an apostle to the Jews. God was also working in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. ⁹ James, Peter and John are respected as pillars in the church. They recognized the special grace given to me. So they shook my hand and the hand of Barnabas. They wanted to show they accepted us. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles. They would go to the Jews. ¹⁰ They asked only one thing. They wanted us to continue to remember poor people. That was what I had wanted to do all along.