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10 Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head. And he kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you over His inheritance as ruler? 2 When you have departed from me today, you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. And they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. And now, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys, and worries for you, saying, “What will I do for my son?” ’
3 “Then you will go forward from there, and you will come to the plain of Tabor. And there you will meet three men going up to God to Bethel: one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will receive from their hands.
5 “After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. And when you come there to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre before them. And they will prophesy. 6 And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them. And you will be turned into another man. 7 And it will be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires; for God is with you.
8 “Then you will go down before me to Gilgal. And listen, I will be coming down to you, in order to offer burnt offerings, and to offer sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you will wait, until I come to you. Then I will make known to you what you will do.”
9 And it happened, that when he turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart. And all those signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to the hill, a group of prophets met him. And the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 So when all who previously knew him saw that he prophesied among the prophets, the people said one to another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12 And a man from there answered and said, “But who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
14 And Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?”
And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw that they were nowhere around, we went to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16 Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys were found.” But the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not mention.
Saul Proclaimed King
17 Therefore Samuel called the people together unto the Lord at Mizpah. 18 And he said to the children of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you.’ 19 But you have today rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and your distresses. And you have said to Him, ‘No, but set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your clans.”
20 So Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 21 Then he brought near the tribe of Benjamin by its families. And the family of Matri was chosen. Then Saul the son of Kish was taken. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore they inquired again of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the Lord answered, “He has hidden himself among the equipment.”
23 So they ran and took him from there. When he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24 Then Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Truly there is none like him among all the people.”
And all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king.”
25 Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in a book, and laid them up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
26 Saul also went home to Gibeah. And there went with him a band of valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some worthless men said, “How will this man save us?” And they despised him, and did not bring him a present. But he remained silent.
Saul Rescues Jabesh Gilead
11 Then 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.”
2 Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes. So I will inflict it as a reproach upon all Israel.”
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then if there is no one to rescue us, we will come out to you.”
4 So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke the words in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices, and wept. 5 Now Saul was coming out of the field after the cattle, and Saul said, “Why are the people weeping?” And they reported to him the words of the men of Jabesh.
6 The Spirit of God came strongly upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry. 7 He took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces. And he sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so will it be done to his oxen.” And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out as one man. 8 When he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 They said to the messengers that came, “Thus will you say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have help.’ ” And the messengers came and reported it to the men of Jabesh and they were glad. 10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us all that seems good to you.”
11 On the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those surviving were scattered, so that even two of them were not left together.
Saul Confirmed as King
12 The people said to Samuel, “Who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.”
13 Saul said, “There will not be a man put to death this day. For today the Lord has worked deliverance in Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” 15 All the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. And there they made sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord. And there Saul and all Israel’s fighting men rejoiced greatly.
43 Jesus therefore answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘They shall all be taught by God.’[a] Therefore everyone who has heard and has learned of the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God. He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate manna and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 When they heard this, many of His disciples said, “This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?”
61 Knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured about it, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him. 65 Then He said, “For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it were given him by My Father.”
66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him.
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
70 Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. For it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.
BOOK FIVE
Psalms 107–150
Psalm 107
1 Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord speak out,
whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
3 and gathered them from the lands,
from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness on a deserted path;
they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them out of their distresses.
7 He led them on a level road,
that they might go to a city to live in.
8 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul
and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 Some sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
being prisoners in affliction and irons,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God
and rejected the counsel of the Most High.
12 Therefore He brought down their hearts with hard labor;
they fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them out of their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
and broke apart their bonds.
15 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
16 For He has broken the gates of bronze
and cut the bars of iron in two.
17 Some were fools because of their transgressions,
and because of their iniquities they are afflicted.
18 They loathed all manner of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and He saved them out of their distress.
20 He sent His word and healed them
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
22 And let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare His works with rejoicing.
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
to do business in the vast waters;
24 they saw the works of the Lord
and His wonders in the deep water.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
which lifts up the sea waves.
26 The sailors went up to the sky, they came down to the depths;
their strength melted because of the great danger.
27 They reeled to and fro and staggered like drunken men,
and were completely confused.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and He saved them out of their distress.
29 He made the storm calm,
and the sea waves were still.
30 They were glad because the waters were quiet,
so He brought them to their desired harbor.
31 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
32 Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
water springs into dry ground,
34 a fruitful land into salty wasteland,
because of the wickedness of those living there.
35 He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
a parched ground into springs of water.
36 There He makes the hungry dwell,
and they prepare a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards,
and yield a fruitful harvest.
38 He blesses them, so that they are greatly multiplied,
and He does not let their livestock decrease.
39 But when they are diminished and brought down
through oppression, affliction, and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt upon princes,
and causes them to wander in a wilderness with no road;
41 yet He raises up the poor from affliction
and cares for their families like flocks of sheep.
42 The righteous shall see it and rejoice,
and all evil people shall stop their mouth.
43 Whoever is wise let him observe these things;
let them consider the lovingkindness of the Lord.
15 A soft answer turns away wrath,
but grievous words stir up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright,
but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness.
3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.