1 SAMUEL 12:1-13:23
JOHN 7:1-30
PSALM 108:1-13
PROVERBS 15:4
1 SAMUEL 12:1-13:23
Then Samuel addressed the people again: " I have done as you asked and given you a king. 2 I have selected him ahead of my own sons, and I stand here, an old, gray-haired man. I have served as your leader since I was a boy. 3 Now tell me as I stand before the LORD and before his anointed one--whose ox or donkey have I stolen? Have I ever cheated any of you? Have I ever oppressed you? Have I ever taken a bribe? Tell me and I will make right whatever I have done wrong." 4 " No," they replied, " you have never cheated or oppressed us in any way, and you have never taken even a single bribe." 5 " The LORD and his anointed one are my witnesses," Samuel declared, " that you can never accuse me of robbing you." " Yes, it is true," they replied. 6 " It was the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron," Samuel continued. " He brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now stand here quietly before the LORD as I remind you of all the great things the LORD has done for you and your ancestors. 8 " When the Israelites were in Egypt and cried out to the LORD, he sent Moses and Aaron to rescue them from Egypt and to bring them into this land. 9 But the people soon forgot about the LORD their God, so he let them be conquered by Sisera, the general of Hazor's army, and by the Philistines and the king of Moab. 10 " Then they cried to the LORD again and confessed, ` We have sinned by turning away from the LORD and worshiping the images of Baal and Ashtoreth. But we will worship you and you alone if you will rescue us from our enemies.' 11 Then the LORD sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel to save you, and you lived in safety. 12 " But when you were afraid of Nahash, the king of Ammon, you came to me and said that you wanted a king to reign over you, even though the LORD your God was already your king. 13 All right, here is the king you have chosen. Look him over. You asked for him, and the LORD has granted your request. 14 " Now if you will fear and worship the LORD and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the LORD's commands, and if you and your king follow the LORD your God, then all will be well. 15 But if you rebel against the LORD's commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors. 16 " Now stand here and see the great thing the LORD is about to do. 17 You know that it does not rain at this time of the year during the wheat harvest. I will ask the LORD to send thunder and rain today. Then you will realize how wicked you have been in asking the LORD for a king!" 18 So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain. And all the people were terrified of the LORD and of Samuel. 19 " Pray to the LORD your God for us, or we will die!" they cried out to Samuel. " For now we have added to our sins by asking for a king." 20 " Don't be afraid," Samuel reassured them. " You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the LORD with all your heart and that you don't turn your back on him in any way. 21 Don't go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you--they really are useless! 22 The LORD will not abandon his chosen people, for that would dishonor his great name. He made you a special nation for himself. 23 " As for me, I will certainly not sin against the LORD by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and sincerely worship him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. 25 But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be destroyed."13:1 SAUL was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years. 2 Saul selected three thousand special troops from the army of Israel and sent the rest of the men home. He took two thousand of the chosen men with him to Micmash and the hill country of Bethel. The other thousand went with Saul's son Jonathan to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. 3 Soon after this, Jonathan attacked and defeated the garrison of Philistines at Geba. The news spread quickly among the Philistines that Israel was in revolt, so Saul sounded the call to arms throughout Israel. 4 He announced that the Philistine garrison at Geba had been destroyed, and he warned the people that the Philistines now hated the Israelites more than ever. So the entire Israelite army mobilized again and met Saul at Gilgal. 5 The Philistines mustered a mighty army of three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and as many warriors as the grains of sand along the seashore! They camped at Micmash east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw the vast number of enemy troops, they lost their nerve entirely and tried to hide in caves, holes, rocks, tombs, and cisterns. 7 Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead. Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. 8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn't come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9 So he demanded, " Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!" And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. 10 Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, 11 but Samuel said, " What is this you have done?" Saul replied, " I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn't arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, ` The Philistines are ready to march against us, and I haven't even asked for the LORD's help!' So I felt obliged to offer the burnt offering myself before you came." 13 " How foolish!" Samuel exclaimed. " You have disobeyed the command of the LORD your God. Had you obeyed, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your dynasty must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. The LORD has already chosen him to be king over his people, for you have not obeyed the LORD's command." 15 Samuel then left Gilgal and went on his way, but the rest of the troops went with Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. When Saul counted the men who were still with him, he found only six hundred left! 16 Saul and Jonathan and the troops with them were staying at Geba, near Gibeah, in the land of Benjamin. The Philistines set up their camp at Micmash. 17 Three raiding parties soon left the camp of the Philistines. One went north toward Ophrah in the land of Shual, 18 another went west to Beth-horon, and the third moved toward the border above the valley of Zeboim near the wilderness. 19 There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn't allow them for fear they would make swords and spears for the Hebrews. 20 So whenever the Israelites needed to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, or sickles, they had to take them to a Philistine blacksmith. 21 (The schedule of charges was as follows: a quarter of an ounce of silver for sharpening a plowshare or a pick, and an eighth of an ounce for sharpening an ax, a sickle, or an ox goad.) 22 So none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan. 23 The pass at Micmash had meanwhile been secured by a contingent of the Philistine army.
JOHN 7:1-30
After this, Jesus stayed in Galilee, going from village to village. He wanted to stay out of Judea where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. 2 But soon it was time for the Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus' brothers urged him to go to Judea for the celebration. " Go where your followers can see your miracles!" they scoffed. 4 " You can't become a public figure if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, prove it to the world!" 5 For even his brothers didn't believe in him. 6 Jesus replied, " Now is not the right time for me to go. But you can go anytime, and it will make no difference. 7 The world can't hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of sin and evil. 8 You go on. I am not yet ready to go to this festival, because my time has not yet come." 9 So Jesus remained in Galilee. 10 But after his brothers had left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. 11 The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. 12 There was a lot of discussion about him among the crowds. Some said, " He's a wonderful man," while others said, " He's nothing but a fraud, deceiving the people." 13 But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders. 14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The Jewish leaders were surprised when they heard him. " How does he know so much when he hasn't studied everything we've studied?" they asked. 16 So Jesus told them, " I'm not teaching my own ideas, but those of God who sent me. 17 Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. 18 Those who present their own ideas are looking for praise for themselves, but those who seek to honor the one who sent them are good and genuine. 19 None of you obeys the law of Moses! In fact, you are trying to kill me." 20 The crowd replied, " You're demon possessed! Who's trying to kill you?" 21 Jesus replied, " I worked on the Sabbath by healing a man, and you were offended. 22 But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses' law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision is older than the law of Moses; it goes back to Abraham.) 23 For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it, so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should I be condemned for making a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 Think this through and you will see that I am right." 25 Some of the people who lived there in Jerusalem said among themselves, " Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? 26 But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that our leaders know that he really is the Messiah? 27 But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from." 28 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, " Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I represent one you don't know, and he is true. 29 I know him because I have come from him, and he sent me to you." 30 Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
PSALM 108:1-13
A psalm of David. A song.
1 My heart is confident in you, O God;
no wonder I can sing your praises!
Wake up, my soul!
2 Wake up, O harp and lyre!
I will waken the dawn with my song.
3 I will thank you, LORD, in front of all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
4 For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
May your glory shine over all the earth.
6 Use your strong right arm to save me,
and rescue your beloved people.
7 God has promised this by his holiness:
" I will divide up Shechem with joy.
I will measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine,
and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim will produce my warriors,
and Judah will produce my kings.
9 Moab will become my lowly servant,
and Edom will be my slave.
I will shout in triumph over the Philistines."
10 But who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me victory over Edom?
11 Have you rejected us, O God?
Will you no longer march with our armies?
12 Oh, please help us against our enemies,
for all human help is useless.
13 With God's help we will do mighty things,
for he will trample down our foes.
PROVERBS 15:4
Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
