Today's Reading

¹After about a month, Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you."

²Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach on all Israel."

³The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven day, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you."

⁴Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

⁵Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, "What ails the people that they weep?" They told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

⁶The Spirit of God came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly.

⁷He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, "Whoever doesn't come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen." The dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out as one man.

⁸He numbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

⁹They said to the messengers who came, "Thus you shall tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance.'" The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

¹⁰Therefore the men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you."

¹¹It was so on the next day, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it happened, that those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹²The people said to Samuel, "Who is he who said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring those men, that we may put them to death!"

¹³Saul said, "There shall not a man be put to death this day; for today the Lord has worked deliverance in Israel."

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there."

¹⁵All the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal; and there they offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

¹Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.

²Now, behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and gray-headed; and behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth to this day.

³Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind my eyes therewith? I will restore it to you."

⁴They said, "You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man's hand."

⁵He said to them, "The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." They said, "He is witness."

⁶Samuel said to the people, "It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

⁷Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.

⁸"When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

⁹"But they forgot the Lord their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.

¹⁰They cried to the Lord, and said, 'We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.'

¹¹The Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.

¹²"When you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us;' when the Lord your God was your king.

¹³Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for: and behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

¹⁴If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you are followers of the Lord your God.

¹⁵But if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then will the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶"Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.

¹⁷Isn't it wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for a king."

¹⁸So Samuel called to the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹All the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask us a king."

²⁰Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

²¹Do not turn aside to go after vain things which can't profit nor deliver, for they are vain.

²²For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people to himself.

²³Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

²⁴Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he has done for you.

²⁵But if you shall still do wickedly, you shall be consumed, both you and your king."

¹Saul reigned a year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,

²Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.

³Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: and the Philistines heard of it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!"

⁴All Israel heard that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines. The people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven.

⁶When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits.

⁷Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸He stayed seven days, according to the time set by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

⁹Saul said, "Bring here the burnt offering to me, and the peace offerings." He offered the burnt offering.

¹⁰It came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.

¹¹Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash;

¹²therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven't entreated the favor of the Lord.' I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering."

¹³Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you; for now the Lord would have established your kingdom on Israel forever.

¹⁴But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which the Lord commanded you."

¹⁵Samuel arose, and went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

¹⁶Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were present with them, stayed in Geba of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

¹⁷The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual;

¹⁸and another company turned the way to Beth Horon; and another company turned the way of the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears";

²⁰but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his plowshare, mattock, axe, and sickle;

²¹yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the plowshares, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads.

²²So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.

²³The garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.

²Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

³You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

⁴Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

⁵I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

⁶If a man does not remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

⁷If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

⁸"In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

⁹Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.

¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and remain in his love.

¹¹I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

¹²"This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.

¹³Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

¹⁴You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.

¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.

¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

¹⁷"I command these things to you, that you may love one another.

¹⁸If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

¹⁹If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

²⁰Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his lord.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

²¹But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know him who sent me.

²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

²³He who hates me, hates my Father also.

²⁴If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.

²⁵But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.'

²⁶"When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.

²⁷You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

¹ God, do not keep silent. Do not keep silent, and do not be still, God.

²For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.

³They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.

⁴"Come," they say, "and let's destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more."

⁵For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you.

⁶The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites;

⁷Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

⁸Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah.

⁹Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;

¹⁰who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;

¹²who said, "Let us take possession of God's pasturelands."

¹³My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire,

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.

¹⁶Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, Lord.

¹⁷Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;

¹⁸that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.

¹The king's heart is in the Lord's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.

²Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.

³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

⁴A high look, and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.

⁶Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right.

⁸The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

¹¹When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom. When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.

¹⁴A gift in secret pacifies anger; and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath.

¹⁵It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

¹⁶The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷He who loves pleasure shall be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil shall not be rich.

¹⁸The wicked is a ransom for the righteous; the treacherous for the upright.

¹⁹It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.

²⁰There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.

²¹He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence.

²³Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

²⁴The proud and haughty man, "scoffer" is his name; he works in the arrogance of pride.

²⁵The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

²⁶There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and do not withhold.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination: how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!

²⁸A false witness will perish, and a man who listens speaks to eternity.

²⁹A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways.

³⁰There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.

³¹The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with the Lord.