The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^p“Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says ^qthe Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 3 behold, ^rthe hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 4 ^sBut the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’” 5 And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 And the next day the Lord did this thing. ^tAll the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But ^uthe heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become ^vboils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10 So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. 11 And ^wthe magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12 ^xBut the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as ^ythe Lord had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

13 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^z“Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself,¹ and on your servants and your people, so ^athat you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 ^bBut for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so ^cthat my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 ^dYou are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Now therefore send, ^eget your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” 20 Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be ^fhail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the ^gLord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail ^hstruck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 ⁱOnly in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time ^jI have sinned; the ^kLord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 ^lPlead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, ^mI will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that ⁿthe earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, ^oI know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” 31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer² were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and ^mstretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and ^phardened his heart, ^qhe and his servants. 35 So ^rthe heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to ^xDo Not Destroy. A ^yMiktam¹ of David, ^zwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

Saul Anointed King

1 ^cThen Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head ^dand kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince¹ over ^ehis people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince² over his heritage. 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by ^fRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ^g‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now ^hyour father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the ⁱoak of Tabor. Three men ^jgoing up ^kto God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to ^lGibeath-elohim,^{3 m}where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down ⁿfrom the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 ^oThen the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, ^pand you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when ^qthese signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, ^rfor God is with you. 8 Then go down before me ^sto Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^tto sacrifice peace offerings. ^uSeven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to ^vGibeah,⁴ behold, a group of prophets met him, ^oand the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? ^wIs Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man of the place answered, ^x“And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, ^w“Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 ^ySaul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, ^z“To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, ^a“He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

Saul Proclaimed King

17 Now Samuel called the people together ^bto the Lord ^cat Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, ^d“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 ^eBut today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore ^fpresent yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”

20 Then Samuel ^gbrought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot;⁵ and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 ^hSo they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, ⁱhe was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^jwhom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, ^k“Long live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people ^lthe rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home ^mat Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some ⁿworthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

Evil and Oppression

Judgment and Redemption

21 “And as for me, ^zthis is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, ^aand my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

1 Now ^zthe tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes ^agrumbled, saying, ^b“This man receives sinners and ^ceats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 ^d“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, ^eif he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine ^fin the open country, and ^ggo after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, ^hhe lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for ⁱI have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who ^jrepents than over ninety-nine ^krighteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,¹ if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before ^lthe angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^mthe share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided ⁿhis property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in ^oreckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to² one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he ^pwas longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But ^qwhen he ^rcame to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^sI have sinned against ^theaven and before you. 19 ^uI am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ^vran and ^wembraced him and ^xkissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ^uI am no longer worthy to be called your son.’³ 22 But the father said to his servants,⁴ ‘Bring quickly ^ythe best robe, and put it on him, and put ^za ring on his hand, and ^ashoes on his feet. 23 And bring ^bthe fattened calf and kill it, and ^clet us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son ^dwas dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.