Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

With God We Do Valiantly

Psalm 108

Saul Meets Samuel

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah son of a Benjamite. He was a mighty man of valor ^{[a] 2} and he had a son whose name was Saul—young and handsome—there was no one among Bnei-Yisrael better than him. 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 one of the servants with you, get up and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but still did not find them. ⁵ When they arrived in the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant with him, “Come, let’s go back—otherwise my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

⁶ Then his servant said to him, “Behold now, there is a man of God in this town, and he is a man held in honor—everything he says is sure to come true. Now, let’s go there. Perhaps he’ll tell us the way we should go.”

⁷ Then said Saul to his servant, “But look, if we go, what would we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sacks, and there is nothing to bring to the man of God as a present. What do we have?”

⁸ The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a quarter of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let’s go to the seer”—for today’s prophet was formerly called a seer.)

¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said. Come, let’s go!” So they went to the town where the man of God was. ¹¹ As they went up the hill to the town, they found some girls going out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² They answered them and said, “He is there, ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come today to the town because people have a sacrifice at the high place today. ¹³ As soon as you enter the town, you’ll find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must first bless the sacrifice—afterward the guests can eat. So now, get up, for you will find him at once.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the town. As they were entering the town, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

Crowds Demand a Sign from Heaven

¹⁴ Now Yeshua was driving out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute one spoke and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some among them said, “By beelzebul, the ruler of demons, He drives out demons.” ¹⁶ Others, testing Him, were demanding from Him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷ But Yeshua, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and a house against a house falls. ¹⁸ Now if satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say by beelzebul I drive out the demons. ¹⁹ But if by beelzebul I drive out demons, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if by the finger of God^[a] I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

²¹ “When a strong one, fully-armed, protects his own estate, his possessions are safe. ²² But as soon as someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, then he takes away the armor that he had trusted in and divides up his plunder. ²³ He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

²⁴ “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places looking for rest. Not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house where I came from.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and settle there. And that man’s last condition becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷ Then as Yeshua was saying these things, a certain woman in the crowd, raising her voice, said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that carried You and the breasts that nursed You!”

²⁸ But He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”