1 Samuel 8 - 9, Hebrews 5, Proverbs 13

Israel Tells Samuel to Appoint a King

8And it happened when Samuel was old that ^ahe appointed his sons judges over Israel. ²The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^aBeersheba. ³But his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after greedy gain and ^atook bribes and caused justice to turn aside.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^aRamah; ⁵and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^aappoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶But the thing was ^aevil in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And ^bSamuel prayed to Yahweh. ⁷Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for ^athey have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. ⁸“Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹“So now, listen to their voice; ^ahowever, you shall solemnly ¹testify to them and tell them of ^bthe ²custom of the king who will reign over them.”

The People Refuse Samuel’s Words

¹⁰So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to ^athe people who had asked of him a king. ¹¹And he said, “^aThis will be the ¹custom of the king who will reign over you: ^bhe will take your sons and appoint them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen, and ^cthey will run before his chariots. ¹²“^aAnd he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to ¹do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³“He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴“^aHe will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his ¹servants. ¹⁵“He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶“He will also take your male slaves and your female slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and ¹use them for his work. ¹⁷“He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸“Then ^ayou will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^bYahweh will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹Nevertheless, the people ^arefused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, ²⁰^athat we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹So Samuel heard all the words of the people, and ^ahe repeated them in the hearing of Yahweh. ²²Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “^aListen to their voice and ¹appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

Saul to Be Anointed Over Israel

9Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^aKish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of ¹valor. ²Now he had a son whose name was Saul, a ^achoice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; ^bfrom his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take now with you one of the young men, and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴Thus he passed through ^athe hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^bShalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^cShaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵They came to the land of ^aZuph. And Saul said to his young man who was with him, “Come, and let us return, ^blest my father cease to be concerned about the donkeys and become anxious for us.” ⁶But he said to him, “Behold now, there is ^aa man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^ball that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, ^cperhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have gone.” ⁷Then Saul said to his young man, “But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack, and there is ^ano present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸And the young man answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a ¹shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, and he will ^atell us our way.” ⁹(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called ^aa seer.) ¹⁰Then Saul said to his young man, “Your word is good; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹As they were going up the slope to the city, ^athey found young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” ¹²And they answered them and said, “He is! Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for ^athe people have a sacrifice on ^bthe high place today. 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 until he comes because ^ahe must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. So now, go up for you will find him at once.” ¹⁴So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out to meet them to go up to the high place.

¹⁵Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^aYahweh had revealed this in Samuel’s hearing, saying, ¹⁶“About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and ^ayou shall anoint him to be ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ¹^,^bI have regarded My people because their cry has come to Me.” ¹⁷Now Samuel saw Saul, and Yahweh answered him, “^aBehold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall restrict My people.” ¹⁸Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” ¹⁹And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your heart. ²⁰“^aAs for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your heart on them, for they have been found. And ^bfor whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?” ²¹And Saul answered and said, “^aAm I not a Benjamite, of ^bthe smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the ¹tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?”

²²Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the chamber and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men. ²³And Samuel said to the cook, “¹Bring the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said to you, ‘Set it ²aside.’” ²⁴Then the cook ^atook up the leg with what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been reserved! Set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, ¹since I said I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵Then they came down from the high place into the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul ^aon the ¹roof. ²⁶And they arose early; and at the ¹breaking of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, that I may send you away.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. ²⁷As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Say to the young man that he might pass before us and pass onwards, but you remain standing now, that I may cause you to hear the word of God.”

5For every high priest ^ataken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in ^bthings pertaining to God, in order to ^coffer both gifts and sacrifices ^dfor sins, ²^abeing able to deal gently with the ^bignorant and ^cmisguided, since he himself also is ¹^,^dbeset with weakness; ³and because of it, he is obligated, ^ajust as for the people, to also offer sacrifices ^bfor sins in the same way for himself. ⁴And ^ano one takes this honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even ^bas Aaron was.

⁵In this way also Christ ^adid not glorify Himself to become a ^bhigh priest, but He who ^csaid to Him, “^dYou are My Son,Today I have begotten You”;

⁶just as He says also in another passage, “^aYou are a priest foreverAccording to ^bthe order of Melchizedek.”

⁷He, ¹in the days of His flesh, ²^,^aoffered up both prayers and supplications with ^bloud crying and tears to the One ^cable to save Him ³from death, and He ⁴was heard because of His ^dreverence. ⁸Although He was ^aa Son, He learned ^bobedience from the things which He suffered. ⁹And having been made ^aperfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, ¹⁰being designated by God as ^aa high priest according to ^bthe order of Melchizedek.

¹¹Concerning ¹him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹²For though ¹by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you ^athe ²^,^belementary principles of the ^coracles of God, and you have come to need ^dmilk and not solid food. ¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an ^ainfant. ¹⁴But solid food is for ^athe ¹mature, who because of practice have their senses ^btrained to ^cdiscern both good and evil.

13A ^awise son accepts his father’s discipline,But a ^bscoffer does not listen to rebuke.²From the fruit of a man’s mouth he ^aeats what is good,But the soul of the treacherous desires ^bviolence.³The one who ^aguards his mouth keeps his soul;The one who ^bopens wide his lips ¹comes to ruin.⁴The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,But the soul of the diligent is enriched.⁵A righteous man ^ahates a lying word,But a wicked man ¹^,^bacts odiously and is humiliated.⁶Righteousness ^aguards the ¹one whose way is blameless,But wickedness subverts the ²sinner.⁷There is one who ^apretends to be rich, but has nothing;Another ¹pretends to be ^bpoor, but has great wealth.⁸The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,But the poor hears no rebuke.⁹The ^alight of the righteous is glad,But the ^blamp of the wicked goes out.¹⁰With arrogance ¹comes only quarreling,But with those who receive counsel is wisdom.¹¹Wealth obtained from empty effort dwindles,But the one who gathers ¹with his hand abounds.¹²¹Hope deferred makes the heart sick,But desire ²fulfilled is a tree of life.¹³The one who ^adespises the word will be ¹in debt to it,But the one who fears the commandment will be ^brewarded.¹⁴The ¹instruction of the wise is a ^afountain of life,To turn aside from the ^bsnares of death.¹⁵^aGood insight gives grace,But the way of the treacherous is ¹unrelenting.¹⁶Every ^aprudent man acts with knowledge,But a fool spreads out folly.¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into evil,But ^aa faithful envoy brings healing.¹⁸Poverty and disgrace come to him who ^aneglects ¹discipline,But he who keeps reproof will be honored.¹⁹Desire realized is pleasant to the soul,But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.²⁰^aHe who walks with the wise will be wise,But the friend of fools will suffer harm.²¹^aEvil pursues sinners,But the ^brighteous are repaid with good.²²A good man ^aleaves an inheritance to his ¹children’s children,And the ^bwealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.²³^aAbundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor,But ¹it is swept away by injustice.²⁴He who ^aholds back his ¹rod hates his son,But he who loves him ²^,^bdisciplines him diligently.²⁵The ^arighteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul,But the stomach of the ^bwicked lacks.