Mark 14:32–42; Galatians 1; Psalm 110:2; 1 Samuel 8–10

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Mark 14:32–42

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

32 sAnd they went kto a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray. 33 And he took with him tPeter and James and John, and began uto be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, vMy soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and wwatch.1 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground xand prayed that, if it were possible, ythe hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, zAbba, Father, aall things are possible for you. Remove bthis cup from me. cYet not what I will, but what you will. 37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 wWatch and dpray that you may not eenter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 39 And again he went away and prayed, fsaying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for gtheir eyes were very heavy, and hthey did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? iIt is enough; jthe hour has come. kThe Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.


Galatians 1

Greeting

Paul, an aapostlebnot from men nor through man, but cthrough Jesus Christ and God the Father, dwho raised him from the dead and all ethe brothers1 who are with me,

To fthe churches of Galatia:

gGrace to you and peace hfrom God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, iwho gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present jevil age, according to the will of kour God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

I am astonished that you are lso quickly deserting mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to na different gospel onot that there is another one, but pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, rlet him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, rlet him be accursed.

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying sto please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a tservant2 of Christ.

Paul Called by God

11 For uI would have you know, brothers, that vthe gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.3 12 wFor I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it xthrough a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of ymy former life in Judaism, how zI persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely azealous was I for bthe traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he cwho had set me apart dbefore I was born,4 and who ecalled me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to5 me, in order fthat I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;6 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

18 Then gafter three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James hthe Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, ibefore God, I do not lie!) 21 jThen I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to kthe churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. 24 And they glorified God because of me.


Psalm 110:2

The Lord sends forth ufrom Zion

vyour mighty scepter.

wRule in the midst of your enemies!


1 Samuel 8–10

Israel Demands a King

When Samuel became old, rhe made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways sbut turned aside after gain. tThey took bribes and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at pRamah and said to him, Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. uNow appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, vfor they have not rejected you, wbut they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them xand show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, yThese will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: zhe will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ato plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 bHe will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men1 and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, cbut the Lord will not answer you in that day.

The Lord Grants Israel’s Request

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 dthat we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, eObey their voice and make them a king. Samuel then said to the men of Israel, Go every man to his city.

Saul Chosen to Be King

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was fKish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. And he had a son whose name was Saul, ga handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. hFrom his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys. And he passed through ithe hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of jShalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.

When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant2 who was with him, Come, let us go back, klest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us. But he said to him, Behold, there is la man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; mall that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go. Then Saul said to his servant, But if we go, nwhat can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have? The servant answered Saul again, Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel3 of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way. (Formerly in Israel, when a man owent to inquire of God, he said, Come, let us go to the seer, for today’s prophet was formerly called a seer.) 10 And Saul said to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was.

11 As they went up the hill to the city, pthey met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, Is the seer here? 12 They answered, He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people qhave a sacrifice today on rthe high place. 13 As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately. 14 So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

15 Now the day before Saul came, sthe Lord had trevealed to Samuel: 16 Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, uand you shall anoint him to be prince4 over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. vFor I have seen5 my people, because their cry has come to me. 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, wHere is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people. 18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, Tell me where is the house of the seer? 19 Samuel answered Saul, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20 xAs for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house? 21 Saul answered, Am I not a Benjaminite, yfrom the least of the tribes of Israel? zAnd is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?

22 Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, Put it aside. 24 So the cook took up athe leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.6

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 25 And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul bon the roof, and he lay down to sleep.7 26 Then at the break of dawn8 Samuel called to Saul on the roof, Up, that I may send you on your way. So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

27 As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.

Saul Anointed King

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 prince9 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 prince10 over his heritage. 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, gThe 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? 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. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. After that you shall come to lGibeath-elohim,11 mwhere 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. oThen the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, pand you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when qthese signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, rfor God is with you. 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.

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,12 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, xAnd who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, wIs 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, zTo 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, aHe 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, dThus 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;13 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, kLong 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.