The Lord Rejects Saul

1 And Samuel said to Saul, ^c“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel ^din opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and ^edevote to destruction¹ all that they have. Do not spare them, ^fbut kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to ^gthe Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. ^hFor you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 ⁱAnd Saul defeated the Amalekites from ^jHavilah as far as ^kShur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive ^land devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 ^mBut Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves² and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 ⁿ“I regret³ that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and ^ohas not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to ^pCarmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^q“Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, ^rfor the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

17 And Samuel said, ^s“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^tWhy did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, ^u“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 ^vBut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said,

24 Saul said to Samuel, ^b“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and ^creturn with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. ^dFor you have rejected the word of the Lord, ^eand the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 ^fAs Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, ^g“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel ^hwill not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ⁱhonor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, ^jand return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.⁴ Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, ^k“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^lin Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went ^mto Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ⁿGibeah of Saul. 35 ^oAnd Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^pbut Samuel grieved over Saul. ^qAnd the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

1 The Lord said to Samuel, ^r“How long will you grieve over Saul, since ^sI have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^tFill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ^ufor I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ^v‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ^wAnd you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city ^xcame to meet him trembling and said, ^y“Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^zConsecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on ^aEliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ^b“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, ^cbut the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called ^dAbinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made ^dShammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, ^e“There remains yet the youngest,⁵ but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, ^f“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^gruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^h“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took ⁱthe horn of oil ^jand anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^kAnd the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David in Saul’s Service

14 ^lNow the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, ^mand a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants ⁿwho are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will ^oplay it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, ^pa man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, ^qand the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, ^rwho is with the sheep.” 20 ^sAnd Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul ^tand entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And ^uwhenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre ^oand played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Waw

1 Since we have these promises, beloved, ^jlet us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body¹ and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Paul’s Joy

2 ^kMake room in your hearts² for us. ^lWe have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that ^myou are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am acting with ⁿgreat boldness toward you; ^oI have great pride in you; ^pI am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

5 For even ^qwhen we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—^rfighting without and fear within. 6 But ^sGod, who comforts the downcast, ^tcomforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For ^ueven if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though ^vI did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but ^wbecause you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

10 For ^xgodly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas ^yworldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, ^zwhat zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one ^awho did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore ^bwe are comforted.

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit ^chas been refreshed by you all. 14 For ^dwhatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you ^ewas true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers ^fthe obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because I have complete ^gconfidence in you.

Encouragement to Give Generously

1 We want you to know, brothers,³ about the grace of God that has been ^hgiven among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and ⁱtheir extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave ^jaccording to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly ^kfor the favor⁴ of taking part in ^lthe relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they ^mgave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, ⁿwe urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you ^othis act of grace. 7 But as ^pyou excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you⁵—^qsee that you excel in this act of grace also.

8 ^rI say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ^sthough he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter ^tI give my judgment: ^uthis benefits you, who ^va year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable ^waccording to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply ^xtheir need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, ^y“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

Commendation of Titus

16 But ^zthanks be to God, ^awho put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For ^bhe not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going⁶ to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending^{7 c}the brother who is famous among ^dall the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 And not only that, but he has been ^eappointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of ^fgrace that is being ministered by us, ^gfor the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for ^hwe aim at what is honorable ⁱnot only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is ^jmy partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers⁸ of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of ^kour boasting about you to these men.