1 SAMUEL 8:1-9:27
JOHN 6:22-42
PSALM 106:32-48
PROVERBS 14:34-35
1 SAMUEL 8:1-9:27
As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. 2 Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. 3 But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 Finally, the leaders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. 5 " Look," they told him, " you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king like all the other nations have." 6 Samuel was very upset with their request and went to the LORD for advice. 7 " Do as they say," the LORD replied, " for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don't want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. 9 Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about how a king will treat them." 10 So Samuel passed on the LORD's warning to the people. 11 " This is how a king will treat you," Samuel said. " The king will draft your sons into his army and make them run before his chariots. 12 Some will be commanders of his troops, while others will be slave laborers. Some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, while others will make his weapons and chariot equipment. 13 The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. 14 He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. 16 He will want your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. 17 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but the LORD will not help you." 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel's warning. " Even so, we still want a king," they said. 20 " We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will govern us and lead us into battle." 21 So Samuel told the LORD what the people had said, 22 and the LORD replied, " Do as they say, and give them a king." Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.9:1 KISH was a rich, influential man from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, from the family of Becorath and the clan of Aphiah. 2 His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel--head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land. 3 One day Kish's donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, " Take a servant with you, and go look for them." 4 So Saul took one of his servants and traveled all through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they couldn't find the donkeys anywhere. 5 Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant, " Let's go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!" 6 But the servant said, " I've just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let's go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go." 7 " But we don't have anything to offer him," Saul replied. " Even our food is gone, and we don't have a thing to give him." 8 " Well," the servant said, " I have one small silver piece. We can at least offer it to him and see what happens!" 9 (In those days if people wanted a message from God, they would say, " Let's go and ask the seer," for prophets used to be called seers.) 10 " All right," Saul agreed, " let's try it!" So they started into the town where the man of God was. 11 As they were climbing a hill toward the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water. So Saul and his servant asked, " Is the seer here today?" 12 " Yes," they replied. " Stay right on this road. He is at the town gates. He has just arrived to take part in a public sacrifice up on the hill. 13 Hurry and catch him before he goes up the hill to eat. The guests won't start until he arrives to bless the food." 14 So they entered the town, and as they passed through the gates, Samuel was coming out toward them to climb the hill. 15 Now the LORD had told Samuel the previous day, 16 " About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry." 17 When Samuel noticed Saul, the LORD said, " That's the man I told you about! He will rule my people." 18 Just then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and asked, " Can you please tell me where the seer's house is?" 19 " I am the seer!" Samuel replied. " Go on up the hill ahead of me to the place of sacrifice, and we'll eat there together. In the morning I will tell you what you want to know and send you on your way. 20 And don't worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel's hopes." 21 Saul replied, " But I'm only from Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?" 22 Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the great hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests. 23 Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor. 24 So the cook brought it in and placed it before Saul. " Go ahead and eat it," Samuel said. " I was saving it for you even before I invited these others!" So Saul ate with Samuel. 25 After the feast, when they had returned to the town, Samuel took Saul up to the roof of the house and prepared a bed for him there. 26 At daybreak the next morning, Samuel called up to Saul, " Get up! It's time you were on your way." So Saul got ready, and he and Samuel left the house together. 27 When they reached the edge of town, Samuel told Saul to send his servant on ahead. After the servant was gone, Samuel said, " Stay here, for I have received a special message for you from God."
JOHN 6:22-42
The next morning, back across the lake, crowds began gathering on the shore, waiting to see Jesus. For they knew that he and his disciples had come over together and that the disciples had gone off in their boat, leaving him behind. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 When the crowd saw that Jesus wasn't there, nor his disciples, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 When they arrived and found him, they asked, " Teacher, how did you get here?" 26 Jesus replied, " The truth is, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you saw the miraculous sign. 27 But you shouldn't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Son of Man, can give you. For God the Father has sent me for that very purpose." 28 They replied, " What does God want us to do?" 29 Jesus told them, " This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent." 30 They replied, " You must show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What will you do for us? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! As the Scriptures say, ` Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32 Jesus said, " I assure you, Moses didn't give them bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 " Sir," they said, " give us that bread every day of our lives."35 Jesus replied, " I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst. 36 But you haven't believed in me even though you have seen me. 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do what I want. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the last day. 40 For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life--that I should raise them at the last day." 41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, " I am the bread from heaven." 42 They said, " This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and mother. How can he say, ` I came down from heaven'?"
PSALM 106:32-48
At Meribah, too, they [the Israelites] angered the LORD,
causing Moses serious trouble.
33 They made Moses angry,
and he spoke foolishly.
34 Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land,
as the LORD had told them to.
35 Instead, they mingled among the pagans
and adopted their evil customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,
and this led to their downfall.
37 They even sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters.
By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,
they polluted the land with murder.
39 They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,
and their love of idols was adultery in the LORD's sight.
40 That is why the LORD's anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his own special possession.
41 He handed them over to pagan nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies crushed them
and brought them under their cruel power.
43 Again and again he delivered them,
but they continued to rebel against him,
and they were finally destroyed by their sin.
44 Even so, he pitied them in their distress
and listened to their cries.
45 He remembered his covenant with them
and relented because of his unfailing love.
46 He even caused their captors
to treat them with kindness.
47 O LORD our God, save us!
Gather us back from among the nations,
so we can thank your holy name
and rejoice and praise you.
48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Let all the people say, " Amen!"
Praise the LORD!
PROVERBS 14:34-35
Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. A king rejoices in servants who know what they are doing; he is angry with those who cause trouble.
