Through the Bible – Day 96

Bible text(s)

1 Samuel 10

₁Samuel took a small jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. Then he kissed Saul and told him:

The LORD has chosen you to be the leader and ruler of his people. ₂When you leave me today, you'll meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They'll tell you, “The donkeys you've been looking for have been found. Your father has forgotten about them, and now he's worrying about you! He's wondering how he can find you.”

₃Go on from there until you reach the big oak tree at Tabor, where you'll meet three men on their way to worship God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and the last one will be carrying a clay jar of wine. ₄After they greet you, they'll give you two loaves of bread.

₅Next, go to Gibeah, where the Philistines have an army camp. As you're going into the town, you'll meet a group of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They'll be going along prophesying while others are walking in front of them, playing small harps, small drums, and flutes.

₆The Spirit of the LORD will suddenly take control of you. You'll become a different person and start prophesying along with them. ₇After these things happen, do whatever you think is right! God will help you.

₈Then you should go to Gilgal. I'll come a little later, so wait for me. It may even take a week for me to get there, but when I come, I'll offer sacrifices and offerings to the LORD. I'll also tell you what to do next.

Saul goes back home

₉As Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God made Saul feel like a different person. That same day, everything happened just as Samuel had said. ₁₀When Saul arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. The Spirit of God suddenly took control of him, and there in the middle of the group he began prophesying.

₁₁Some people who had known Saul for a long time saw that he was speaking and behaving like a prophet. They said to each other, “What's happened? How can Saul be a prophet?”

₁₂“Why not?” one of them answered. “Saul has as much right to be a prophet as anyone else!” That's why everyone started saying, “How can Saul be a prophet?”

₁₃After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the place of worship.

₁₄Later, Saul's uncle asked him, “Where have you been?”

Saul answered, “Looking for the donkeys. We couldn't find them, so we went to talk with Samuel.”

₁₅“And what did he tell you?” Saul's uncle asked.

₁₆Saul answered, “He told us the donkeys had been found.” But Saul didn't mention that Samuel had chosen him to be king.

The LORD shows Israel that Saul will be king

₁₇Samuel sent messengers to tell the Israelites to come to Mizpah and meet with the LORD. ₁₈When everyone had arrived, Samuel said:

The LORD God of Israel told me to remind you that he had rescued you from the Egyptians and from the other nations that abused you.

₁₉God has rescued you from your troubles and hard times. But you have rejected your God and have asked for a king. Now each tribe and clan must come near the place of worship so the LORD can choose a king.

₂₀Samuel brought each tribe, one after the other, to the altar, and the LORD chose the Benjamin tribe. ₂₁Next, Samuel brought each clan of Benjamin there, and the LORD chose the Matri clan. Finally, Saul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.

₂₂The people prayed, “Our LORD, is Saul here?”

“Yes,” the LORD answered, “he is hiding behind the baggage.”

₂₃The people ran and got Saul and brought him into the middle of the crowd. He was more than a head taller than anyone else. ₂₄“Look closely at the man the LORD has chosen!” Samuel told the crowd. “There is no one like him!”

The crowd shouted, “Long live the king!”

₂₅Samuel explained the rights and duties of a king and wrote them all in a book. He put the book in a temple building at one of the places where the LORD was worshipped. Then Samuel sent everyone home.

₂₆God had encouraged some young men to become followers of Saul, and when he returned to his home town of Gibeah, they went with him. ₂₇But some worthless fools said, “How can someone like Saul rescue us from our enemies?” They did not want Saul to be their king, and so they didn't bring him any gifts. But Saul kept calm.

1 Samuel 11

Saul rescues the town of Jabesh in Gilead

₁About this time, King Nahash of Ammon came with his army and surrounded the town of Jabesh in Gilead. The people who lived there told Nahash, “If you will sign a peace treaty with us, you can be our ruler, and we will pay taxes to you.”

₂Nahash answered, “Certainly, I'll sign a treaty! But not before I insult Israel by putting out the right eye of every man who lives in Jabesh.”

₃The town leaders said, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers everywhere in Israel to ask for help. If no one comes here to save us, we will surrender to you.”

₄Some of the messengers went to Gibeah, Saul's home town. They told what was happening at Jabesh, and everyone in Gibeah started crying. ₅Just then, Saul came in from the fields, walking behind his oxen.

“Why is everyone crying?” Saul asked.

They told him what the men from Jabesh had said. ₆Then the Spirit of God suddenly took control of Saul and made him furious. ₇Saul killed two of his oxen, cut them up in pieces, and gave the pieces to the messengers. He told them to show the pieces to everyone in Israel and say, “Saul and Samuel are getting an army together. Come and join them. If you don't, this is what will happen to your oxen!”

The LORD made the people of Israel terribly afraid. So all the men came together ₈at Bezek. Saul had them organized and counted. There were three hundred thousand from Israel and thirty thousand from Judah.

₉Saul and his officers sent the messengers back to Jabesh with this promise: “We will rescue you tomorrow afternoon.” The messengers went back to the people at Jabesh and told them that they were going to be rescued.

Everyone was encouraged! ₁₀So they told the Ammonites, “We will surrender to you tomorrow, and then you can do whatever you want to.”

₁₁The next day, Saul divided his army into three groups and attacked before daylight. They started killing Ammonites and kept it up until afternoon. A few Ammonites managed to escape, but they were scattered far from each other.

₁₂The Israelite soldiers went to Samuel and demanded, “Where are the men who said they didn't want Saul to be king? Bring them to us, and we will put them to death!”

₁₃“No you won't!” Saul told them. “The LORD rescued Israel today, and no one will be put to death.”

Saul is accepted as king

₁₄“Come on!” Samuel said. “Let's go to Gilgal and make an agreement that Saul will continue to be our king.”

₁₅Everyone went to the place of worship at Gilgal, where they agreed that Saul would be their king. Saul and the people sacrificed animals to ask for the LORD's blessing, and they had a big celebration.

1 Samuel 10:1-11:15CEVOpen in Bible reader

Luke 8

A story about a farmer

₄When a large crowd from several towns had gathered around Jesus, he told them this story:

₅A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was doing it, some of the seeds fell along the road and were stepped on or eaten by birds. ₆Other seeds fell on rocky ground and started growing. But the plants did not have enough water and soon dried up. ₇Some other seeds fell where thorn bushes grew up and choked the plants. ₈The rest of the seeds fell on good ground where they grew and produced a hundred times as many seeds.

When Jesus had finished speaking, he said, “If you have ears, pay attention!”

Why Jesus used stories

₉Jesus' disciples asked him what the story meant. ₁₀So he answered:

I have explained the secrets about God's kingdom to you, but for others I can only use stories. These people look, but they don't see, and they hear, but they don't understand.

Jesus explains the story about a farmer

₁₁This is what the story means: The seed is God's message, ₁₂and the seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But the devil comes and snatches the message out of their hearts, so that they will not believe and be saved. ₁₃The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it. But they don't have deep roots, and they believe only for a little while. As soon as life gets hard, they give up.

₁₄The seeds that fell among the thorn bushes are also people who hear the message. But they are so eager for riches and pleasures that they never produce anything. ₁₅Those seeds that fell on good ground are the people who listen to the message and keep it in good and honest hearts. They last and produce a harvest.

Jesus continued:

₁₆No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl or under a bed. A lamp is always put on a lampstand, so that people who come into a house will see the light. ₁₇There is nothing hidden that will not be found. There is no secret that will not be well known. ₁₈Pay attention to how you listen! Everyone who has something will be given more, but people who have nothing will lose what little they think they have.

Luke 8:4-18CEVOpen in Bible reader