The Daily Audio Bible

Samuel Addresses Israel

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, ^(A)I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I ^(B)have ^[a]appointed a king over you. ² Now, ^(C)here is the king walking before you, but ^(D)I am old and gray, and behold ^(E)my sons are with you. And ^(F)I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. ³ Here I am; bear witness against me before the Lord and ^(G)His anointed. ^(H)Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or ^(I)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 ^(J)you have found nothing ^(K)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who ^[b](L)appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ So now, take your stand, ^(M)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 (N)When Jacob went into Egypt and ^(O)your fathers cried out to the Lord, then ^(P)the Lord sent Moses and Aaron ^[c](Q)who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹ But ^(R)they forgot the Lord their God, so ^(S)He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and ^(T)into the hand of the Philistines and ^(U)into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. ^10 (V)They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served ^(W)the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but ^(X)now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ ¹¹ Then the Lord sent ^(Y)Jerubbaal and ^[d](Z)Bedan and ^(AA)Jephthah and ^(AB)Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

The King Confirmed

¹² When you saw ^(AC)that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘^(AD)No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^(AE)although the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ Now therefore, ^(AF)here is the king whom you have chosen, ^(AG)whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has set a king over you. ^14 (AH)If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the ^[e]command of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. ^15 (AI)If you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the ^[f]command of the Lord, then ^(AJ)the hand of the Lord will be against you, ^(AK)as it was against your fathers. ¹⁶ Even now, ^(AL)take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. ^17 (AM)Is it not the wheat harvest today? ^(AN)I will call to the Lord, that He may send ^[g]thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that ^(AO)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 ^[h]thunder and rain that day; and ^(AP)all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ Then all the people said to Samuel, “^(AQ)Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins ^(AR)this evil by asking for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet ^(AS)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 ^(AT)futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. ²² For ^(AU)the Lord will not abandon His people ^(AV)on account of His great name, because the Lord ^(AW)has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. ²³ Moreover, as for me, ^(AX)far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but ^(AY)I will instruct you in the good and right way. ^24 (AZ)Only ^[i]fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider ^(BA)what great things He has done for you. ^25 (BB)But if you still do wickedly, ^(BC)both you and your king ^(BD)will be swept away.”

War with the Philistines

13 Saul was ^[j]thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ^[k]forty two years over Israel.

² Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in ^(BE)Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at ^(BF)Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. ³ Jonathan smote ^(BG)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(BH)Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul ^(BI)blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴ All Israel heard ^[l]the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel ^(BJ)had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned ^[m]to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and ^(BK)people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of ^(BL)Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then ^(BM)the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. ⁷ Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of ^(BN)Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸ Now ^(BO)he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And ^(BP)he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and ^(BQ)Saul went out to meet him and to ^[n]greet him. ¹¹ But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that ^(BR)the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, ¹² therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ Samuel said to Saul, “^(BS)You have acted foolishly; ^(BT)you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom ^[o]over Israel ^(BU)forever. ¹⁴ But ^(BV)now your kingdom shall not endure. ^(BW)The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to ^(BX)Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul ^[p]numbered the people who were present with him, ^(BY)about six hundred men. ¹⁶ Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were present with them were staying in ^(BZ)Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. ¹⁷ And ^(CA)the ^[q]raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three ^[r]companies: one ^[s]company turned ^[t]toward ^(CB)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ and another ^[u]company turned ^[v]toward ^(CC)Beth-horon, and another ^[w]company turned ^[x]toward the border which overlooks the valley of ^(CD)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now ^(CE)no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make ^[y](CF)swords or spears.” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe. ²¹ The charge was ^[z]two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the hoes. ²² So it came about on the day of battle that ^(CG)neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan. ²³ And ^(CH)the garrison of the Philistines went out to ^(CI)the pass of Michmash.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

7 After these things Jesus ^(A)was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because ^(B)the Jews ^(C)were seeking to kill Him. ² Now the feast of the Jews, ^(D)the Feast of Booths, was near. ³ Therefore His ^(E)brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your ^(F)disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret ^[a]when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His ^(G)brothers were believing in Him. ⁶ So Jesus *said to them, “^(H)My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. ^7 (I)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that ^(J)its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because ^(K)My time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ But when His ^(L)brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. ^11 (M)So the Jews ^(N)were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” ¹² There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; ^(O)some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” ¹³ Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for ^(P)fear of the Jews.

¹⁴ But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to ^(Q)teach. ^15 (R)The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man ^(S)become learned, having never been educated?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, “^(T)My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ^17 (U)If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. ¹⁸ He who speaks from himself ^(V)seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹ “^(W)Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you ^(X)seek to kill Me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “^(Y)You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(Z)one ^[b]deed, and you all marvel. ²² For this reason ^(AA)Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from ^(AB)the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. ^23 (AC)If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Do not ^(AD)judge according to appearance, but ^[c]judge with righteous judgment.”

²⁵ So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? ²⁶ Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. ^(AE)The rulers do not really know that this is ^[d]the Christ, do they? ²⁷ However, ^(AF)we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” ²⁸ Then Jesus cried out in the temple, ^(AG)teaching and saying, “^(AH)You both know Me and know where I am from; and ^(AI)I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ^29 (AJ)I know Him, because ^(AK)I am from Him, and ^(AL)He sent Me.” ³⁰ So they ^(AM)were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His ^(AN)hour had not yet come.

God Praised and Supplicated to Give Victory.

A Song, a Psalm of David.