1st Samuel 11

¹  Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us and we will serve you." ²  But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "I will make it with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it a reproach on all Israel." ³  The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you." ⁴  Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵  Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen, and he said, "What is the matter with the people that they weep?" So they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁶  Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry. ⁷  He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, " Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen." Then the dread of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out as one man. ⁸  He numbered them in Bezek; and the sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000. ⁹  They said to the messengers who had come, "Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have deliverance.'" So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. ¹⁰  Then the men of Jabesh said, " Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you." ¹¹  The next morning Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. ¹²  Then the people said to Samuel, " Who is he that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring the men, that we may put them to death." ¹³  But Saul said, " Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has accomplished deliverance in Israel." ¹⁴  Then Samuel said to the people, "Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there." ¹⁵  So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they also offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

1st Samuel 12

¹  Then Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I have appointed a king over you. ²  "Now, here is the king walking before you, but I am old and gray, and behold my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. ³  "Here I am; bear witness against me before the LORD and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you." ⁴  They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand." ⁵  He said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand." And they said, "He is witness." ⁶  Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷  "So now, take your stand, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did for you and your fathers. ⁸  " When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹  "But they forgot the LORD their God, so 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. ¹⁰  " They cried out 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 from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.' ¹¹  "Then the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security. ¹²  "When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ' No, but a king shall reign over us,' although the LORD your God was your king. ¹³  "Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you. ¹⁴  " If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. ¹⁵  " If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. ¹⁶  "Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. ¹⁷  " Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king." ¹⁸  So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. ¹⁹  Then all the people said to Samuel, " Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king." ²⁰  Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹  "You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. ²²  "For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. ²³  "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. ²⁴  " Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. ²⁵  " But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away."

Luke 9

¹  And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. ²  And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. ³  And He said to them, " Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. ⁴  "Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. ⁵  "And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." ⁶  Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. ⁷  Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, ⁸  and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. ⁹  Herod said, "I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see Him. ¹⁰  When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida. ¹¹  But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing. ¹²  Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place." ¹³  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people." ¹⁴  (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, "Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each." ¹⁵  They did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. ¹⁷  And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full. ¹⁸  And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, "Who do the people say that I am?" ¹⁹  They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again." ²⁰  And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered and said, " The Christ of God." ²¹  But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, ²²  saying, " The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day." ²³  And He was saying to them all, " If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. ²⁴  "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. ²⁵  "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶  " For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷  "But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God." ²⁸  Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹  And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. ³⁰  And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, ³¹  who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²  Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. ³³  And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, " Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah"-- not realizing what he was saying. ³⁴  While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵  Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, " This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!" ³⁶  And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen. ³⁷  On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸  And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, "Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy, ³⁹  and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. ⁴⁰  "I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not." ⁴¹  And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here." ⁴²  While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³  And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴  "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men." ⁴⁵  But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement. ⁴⁶  An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷  But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, ⁴⁸  and said to them, " Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great." ⁴⁹  John answered and said, " Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us." ⁵⁰  But Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you." ⁵¹  When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; ⁵²  and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. ⁵³  But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴  When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" ⁵⁵  But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; ⁵⁶  for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."] And they went on to another village. ⁵⁷  As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." ⁵⁸  And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." ⁵⁹  And He said to another, " Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." ⁶⁰  But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." ⁶¹  Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." ⁶²  But Jesus said to him, " No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."