Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 115

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed the following to Samuel: ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the Benjaminite territory. You will anoint him as leader of my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines’ power because I have seen the suffering of^[a] my people, and their cry for help has reached me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “That’s the man I told you about. That’s the one who will rule^[b] my people.”

¹⁸ Saul approached Samuel in the city gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

¹⁹ “I’m the seer,” Samuel told Saul. “Go on ahead of me to the shrine. You can eat with me today. In the morning I’ll send you on your way, and I will tell you everything you want to know. ²⁰ As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, don’t be worried about them because they’ve been found. Who owns all of Israel’s treasures, anyway? Isn’t it you and your whole family?”^[c]

²¹ “I’m a Benjaminite,” Saul responded, “from the smallest Israelite tribe, and my family is the littlest of the families in the tribe of Benjamin. Why would you say something like that to me?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his young servant and brought them to the banquet room. He gave them an honored place among the invited guests. There were about thirty total. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, “Serve the portion I gave you—the one I told you to set aside.” ²⁴ So the cook took the thigh and what was on it,^[d] and put it in front of Saul. Samuel said, “Look, what had been reserved is now in front of you. Eat up, because it was set apart for you for this specific occasion, ever since I invited the guests.”^[e] So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵ When they came back from the shrine to the town, a bed was made for Saul on the roof, and he slept.^[f]

²⁶ Near dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Wake up! I will send you on your way.” So Saul got up, and the two of them, he and Samuel, went outside. ²⁷ As they were nearing the edge of town Samuel said, “Tell the boy to go on ahead of us” (the servant did so) “but you stop for a bit so I can tell you God’s word.”

Samuel anoints Saul as king

10 Samuel took a small jar of oil and poured it over Saul’s head and kissed him. “The Lord hereby anoints you leader of his people Israel,” Samuel said. “You will rule the Lord’s people and save them from the power of the enemies who surround them. And this will be the sign for you that the Lord has anointed you as leader of his very own possession:^[g]

Supervisors in God’s household

3 This saying is reliable: if anyone has a goal to be a supervisor^[a] in the church, they want a good thing. ² So the church’s supervisor must be without fault. They should be faithful to their spouse, sober, modest, and honest. They should show hospitality and be skilled at teaching. ³ They shouldn’t be addicted to alcohol or be a bully. Instead, they should be gentle, peaceable, and not greedy. ⁴ They should manage their own household well—they should see that their children are obedient with complete respect, ⁵ because if they don’t know how to manage their own household, how can they take care of God’s church? ⁶ They shouldn’t be new believers so that they won’t become proud and fall under the devil’s spell. ⁷ They should also have a good reputation with those outside the church so that they won’t be embarrassed and fall into the devil’s trap.

Servants in God’s household

⁸ In the same way, servants^[b] in the church should be dignified, not two-faced, heavy drinkers, or greedy for money. ⁹ They should hold on to the faith that has been revealed with a clear conscience.