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David Learns of Saul's Death

1 After Saul's death David came back from his victory over the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag for two days. ² The next day a young man arrived from Saul's camp. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. He went to David and bowed to the ground in respect. ³ David asked him, “Where have you come from?”

“I have escaped from the Israelite camp,” he answered.

⁴ “Tell me what happened,” David said.

“Our army ran away from the battle,” he replied, “and many of our men were killed. Saul and his son Jonathan were also killed.”

⁵ “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan are dead?” David asked him.

^6 (A)He answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and I saw that Saul was leaning on his spear and that the chariots and cavalry of the enemy were closing in on him. ⁷ Then he turned around, saw me, and called to me. I answered, ‘Yes, sir!’ ⁸ He asked who I was, and I told him that I was an Amalekite. ⁹ Then he said, ‘Come here and kill me! I have been badly wounded, and I'm about to die.’ ¹⁰ So I went up to him and killed him, because I knew that he would die anyway as soon as he fell. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them to you, sir.”

¹¹ David tore his clothes in sorrow, and all his men did the same. ¹² They grieved and mourned and fasted until evening for Saul and Jonathan and for Israel, the people of the Lord, because so many had been killed in battle.

¹³ David asked the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?”

He answered, “I'm an Amalekite, but I live in your country.”

¹⁴ David asked him, “How is it that you dared kill the Lord's chosen king?” ¹⁵ Then David called one of his men and said, “Kill him!” The man struck the Amalekite and mortally wounded him, ¹⁶ and David said to the Amalekite, “You brought this on yourself. You condemned yourself when you confessed that you killed the one whom the Lord chose to be king.”

David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ David sang this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, ^18 (B)and ordered it^[a] to be taught to the people of Judah. (It is recorded in The book of Jashar.)

David Is Made King of Judah

2 After this, David asked the Lord, “Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?”

“Yes,” the Lord answered.

“Which one?” David asked.

“Hebron,” the Lord said. ^2 (C)So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel. ³ He also took his men and their families, and they settled in the towns around Hebron. ^4 (D)Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David as king of Judah.

When David heard that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had buried Saul, ⁵ he sent some men there with the message: “May the Lord bless you for showing your loyalty to your king by burying him. ⁶ And now may the Lord be kind and faithful to you. I too will treat you well because of what you have done. ⁷ Be strong and brave! Saul your king is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me as their king.”

Ishbosheth Is Made King of Israel

⁸ The commander of Saul's army, Abner son of Ner, had fled with Saul's son Ishbosheth across the Jordan to Mahanaim. ⁹ There Abner made Ishbosheth king of the territories of Gilead, Asher,^[b] Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin, and indeed over all Israel. ¹⁰ He was forty years old when he was made king of Israel, and he ruled for two years.

But the tribe of Judah was loyal to David, ¹¹ and he ruled in Hebron over Judah for seven and a half years.

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰ Some Greeks were among those who had gone to Jerusalem to worship during the festival. ²¹ They went to Philip (he was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and said, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”

²² Philip went and told Andrew, and the two of them went and told Jesus. ²³ Jesus answered them, “The hour has now come for the Son of Man to receive great glory. ²⁴ I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. ^25 (A)Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. ²⁶ Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honor anyone who serves me.

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ “Now my heart is troubled—and what shall I say? Shall I say, ‘Father, do not let this hour come upon me’? But that is why I came—so that I might go through this hour of suffering. ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice spoke from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do so again.”

²⁹ The crowd standing there heard the voice, and some of them said it was thunder, while others said, “An angel spoke to him!”

³⁰ But Jesus said to them, “It was not for my sake that this voice spoke, but for yours. ³¹ Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown. ³² When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.” (³³ In saying this he indicated the kind of death he was going to suffer.)

^34 (B)The crowd answered, “Our Law tells us that the Messiah will live forever. How, then, can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵ Jesus answered, “The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness will not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. ³⁶ Believe in the light, then, while you have it, so that you will be the people of the light.”

The Unbelief of the People

After Jesus said this, he went off and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Even though he had performed all these miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him, ^38 (C)so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true:

³⁹ And so they were not able to believe, because Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

⁴² Even then, many Jewish authorities believed in Jesus; but because of the Pharisees they did not talk about it openly, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved human approval rather than the approval of God.

Judgment by Jesus' Words

⁴⁴ Jesus said in a loud voice, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ Whoever sees me sees also him who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. ⁴⁷ If people hear my message and do not obey it, I will not judge them. I came, not to judge the world, but to save it. ⁴⁸ Those who reject me and do not accept my message have one who will judge them. The words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day! ⁴⁹ This is true, because I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has commanded me what I must say and speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his command brings eternal life. What I say, then, is what the Father has told me to say.”

²⁷ Try to make a profit dishonestly, and you get your family in trouble. Don't take bribes and you will live longer.

²⁸ Good people think before they answer. Evil people have a quick reply, but it causes trouble.

David Is Rejected by the Philistines

29 The Philistines brought all their troops together at Aphek, while the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel Valley. ² The five Philistine kings marched out with their units of a hundred and of a thousand men; David and his men marched in the rear with King Achish. ³ The Philistine commanders saw them and asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish answered, “This is David, an official of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me for quite some time now. He has done nothing I can find fault with since the day he came over to me.”

⁴ But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said to him, “Send that fellow back to the town you gave him. Don't let him go into battle with us; he might turn against us during the fighting. What better way is there for him to win back his master's favor than by the death of our men? ^5 (A)After all, this is David, the one about whom the women sang, as they danced, ‘Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.’”

⁶ Achish called David and said to him, “I swear by the living God of Israel that you have been loyal to me; and I would be pleased to have you go with me and fight in this battle. I have not found any fault in you from the day you came over to me. But the other kings don't approve of you. ⁷ So go back home in peace, and don't do anything that would displease them.”

⁸ David answered, “What have I done wrong, sir? If, as you say, you haven't found any fault in me since the day I started serving you, why shouldn't I go with you, my master and king, and fight your enemies?”

⁹ “I agree,” Achish replied. “I consider you as loyal as an angel of God. But the other kings have said that you can't go with us into battle. ¹⁰ So then, David, tomorrow morning all of you who left Saul and came over to me will have to get up early and leave as soon as it's light.”

¹¹ So David and his men started out early the following morning to go back to Philistia, and the Philistines went on to Jezreel.

The War against the Amalekites

30 Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town ² and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left. ³ When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away. ⁴ David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted. ^5 (B)Even David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away.

⁶ David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage. ^7 (C)David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod,” and Abiathar brought it to him. ⁸ David asked the Lord, “Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?”

He answered, “Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives.”

⁹ So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there. ¹⁰ David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind. ¹¹ The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water, ¹² some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days. ¹³ David asked him, “Who is your master, and where are you from?”

“I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” he answered. “My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick. ¹⁴ We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

¹⁵ “Will you lead me to those raiders?” David asked him.

He answered, “I will if you promise me in God's name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master.” ¹⁶ And he led David to them.

The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah. ¹⁷ At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped. ¹⁸ David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives; ¹⁹ nothing at all was missing. David got back all his men's sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken. ²⁰ He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of them^[a] and said, “This belongs to David!”

²¹ Then David went back to the two hundred men who had been too weak to go with him and had stayed behind at Besor Brook. They came forward to meet David and his men, and David went up to them and greeted them warmly. ²² But some mean and worthless men who had gone with David said, “They didn't go with us, and so we won't give them any of the loot. They can take their wives and children and go away.”

²³ But David answered, “My brothers, you can't do this with what the Lord has given us! He kept us safe and gave us victory over the raiders. ²⁴ No one can agree with what you say! All must share alike: whoever stays behind with the supplies gets the same share as the one who goes into battle.” ²⁵ David made this a rule, and it has been followed in Israel ever since.

²⁶ When David returned to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah, with the message, “Here is a present for you from the loot we took from the Lord's enemies.” ²⁷ He sent it to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir, ²⁸ Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, ²⁹ and Racal; to the clan of Jerahmeel, to the Kenites, ³⁰ and to the people in the towns of Hormah, Borashan, Athach, ³¹ and Hebron. He sent it to all the places where he and his men had roamed.

The Death of Saul and His Sons^(D)

31 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. ² But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. ⁴ He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. ⁵ The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul. ⁶ And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day. ⁷ When the Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns.

⁸ The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people. ¹⁰ Then they put his weapons in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the wall of the city of Beth Shan.

¹¹ When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² the bravest men started out and marched all night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them back to Jabesh, and burned them there. ¹³ Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in town, and fasted for seven days.

⁵⁵ The time for the Passover Festival was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to perform the ritual of purification before the festival. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus, and as they gathered in the Temple, they asked one another, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷ The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must report it, so that they could arrest him.

Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany^(A)

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, the man he had raised from death. ² They prepared a dinner for him there, which Martha helped serve; Lazarus was one of those who were sitting at the table with Jesus. ^3 (B)Then Mary took a whole pint of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard, poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The sweet smell of the perfume filled the whole house. ⁴ One of Jesus' disciples, Judas Iscariot—the one who was going to betray him—said, ⁵ “Why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins^[a] and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would help himself from it.

⁷ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Let her keep what she has for the day of my burial. ^8 (C)You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me.”

The Plot against Lazarus

⁹ A large number of people heard that Jesus was in Bethany, so they went there, not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from death. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too, ¹¹ because on his account many Jews were rejecting them and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem^(D)

¹² The next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover Festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ^13 (E)So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the scripture says,

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand this at the time; but when Jesus had been raised to glory, they remembered that the scripture said this about him and that they had done this for him.

¹⁷ The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from death had reported what had happened. ¹⁸ That was why the crowd met him—because they heard that he had performed this miracle. ¹⁹ The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, we are not succeeding at all! Look, the whole world is following him!”

A Prayer of Thanks for Victory

²⁴ Wise people walk the road that leads upward to life, not the road that leads downward to death.

²⁵ The Lord will destroy the homes of arrogant men, but he will protect a widow's property.

²⁶ The Lord hates evil thoughts, but he is pleased with friendly words.

Saul’s Final Pursuit of David

26 The people of Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah. “David is hiding at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon,” they said.

² Saul went to the desert of Ziph, taking with him 3,000 of Israel’s best-trained men to search for David. ³ Saul camped by the road at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he realized Saul had come to the desert for him, ⁴ David sent spies to confirm that Saul had arrived.

⁵ Then David went to the place where Saul had camped. David saw the place where Saul and Ner’s son Abner, the commander of the army, were lying. Saul was lying in the camp, and the troops were camped around him.

⁶ David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai, who was Zeruiah’s son and Joab’s brother, “Who will go with me to Saul in the camp?”

Abishai answered, “I’ll go with you.”

⁷ So David and Abishai went among Saul’s troops that night. Saul was lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him. ⁸ Abishai said to David, “Today Elohim has turned your enemy over to you. Please let me nail him to the ground with one stab of the spear. I won’t have to do it twice!”

⁹ “Don’t kill him!” David told Abishai. “No one has ever attacked Yahweh’s anointed king and remained free of guilt. ¹⁰ I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives,” David added, “Yahweh will strike him. Either his time will come when he’ll die naturally, or he’ll go into battle and be swept away. ¹¹ It would be unthinkable for me to attack Yahweh’s anointed king. But please take that spear near his head and that jar of water, and let’s go.”

¹² David took the spear and the jar of water near Saul’s head, and they left. All of them were asleep. No one saw them, knew about it, or woke up. Yahweh had made them fall into a deep sleep.

¹³ David went over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away. (There was a wide space between them.) ¹⁴ Then David called to the troops and to Ner’s son Abner. “Won’t you answer, Abner?” he asked.

“Who is calling the king?” Abner asked.

¹⁵ David asked Abner, “Aren’t you a man? Is there anyone like you in Israel? Then why didn’t you guard your master, the king? Someone came to kill His Royal Majesty. ¹⁶ What you’ve done isn’t good. I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives, you are dead men. You didn’t guard your master, Yahweh’s anointed king. Look at the king’s spear and the jar of water that were near his head.”

¹⁷ Saul recognized David’s voice. “Is that your voice, my servant David?” he asked.

“It is my voice, Your Royal Majesty,” David answered. ¹⁸ “Why are you pursuing me?” he added. “What have I done? What crime have I committed? ¹⁹ Your Majesty, please listen to my words. If Yahweh has turned you against me, let him be satisfied with an offering. But if mere mortals have turned you against me, let them be cursed by Yahweh. They have prevented me from having a share of Yahweh’s inheritance. ‘Go and serve other gods,’ they tell me. ²⁰ Don’t let my blood fall to the ground, away from Yahweh’s presence. The king of Israel has come to search for one flea like someone hunting a partridge in the hills.”

²¹ “My servant David,” Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back. I will not harm you again, because you valued my life today. I’ve acted like a fool and made a terrible mistake.”

²² David responded, “Here’s the king’s spear. One of the young men should come over and get it. ²³ Yahweh will reward any person who is righteous and faithful. Yahweh handed you over to me today, but I refused to attack Yahweh’s anointed king. ²⁴ As I placed great value on your life today, may Yahweh place great value on my life and rescue me from all trouble.”

²⁵ Then Saul said, “Blessed are you, my servant David. You will accomplish many things and certainly will succeed.”

So David went his way, while Saul returned home.

David at Ziklag

27 David said to himself, “One of these days Saul will sweep me away. The best thing for me to do is to make sure that I escape to Philistine territory. Then Saul will give up looking all over Israel for me, and I’ll escape from him.” ² So David went with his 600 men to King Achish of Gath, Moach’s son. ³ David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each one had his family, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail (who had been Nabal’s wife) from Carmel. ⁴ When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he didn’t search for him anymore.

⁵ David said to Achish, “If you will permit me, let me have a place in one of the outlying towns so that I can live there. Why should I live in the royal city with you?” ⁶ So Achish immediately gave him Ziklag. (This is why Ziklag still belongs to the kings of Judah today.)

⁷ David stayed in Philistine territory for one year and four months. ⁸ Then David and his men went to raid the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They lived in the territory which extends from Telaim^[a] to Shur and Egypt.) ⁹ Whenever David attacked the territory, he left no man or woman alive. He also took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and returned to Achish.

¹⁰ Achish would ask, “Whom did you raid today?”^[b]

And David would answer, “the Negev in Judah,” or “the portion of the Negev where the descendants of Jerahmeel live,” or “the portion of the Negev where the Kenites live.” ¹¹ He did not bring a single man or woman back to Gath alive. He thought, “They could tell Achish what I really did.” This was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. ¹² And Achish believed David. Achish thought, “He has definitely made his own people in Israel despise him. He’ll be my servant from now on.”

28 At that time the Philistines had gathered their army to fight against Israel. Then Achish said to David, “You need to know that you and your men will be going with me into battle.”

² “Very well,” David responded to Achish, “you will then know what I can do.”

“Very well,” Achish told David, “I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

Saul’s Sin—The Occult

³ Meanwhile, Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his hometown Ramah. (Saul had rid the land of mediums and psychics.)

⁴ The Philistines assembled and camped in Shunem. Saul also assembled the whole Israelite army, and they camped at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul looked at the Philistine army, he was very afraid—terrified. ⁶ He prayed to Yahweh, but Yahweh didn’t answer him through dreams, the Urim,^[c] or prophets. ⁷ Saul told his officers, “Find me a woman who conjures up the dead. Then I’ll go to her and ask for her services.”

His officers told him, “There is a woman at Endor who conjures up the dead.”

⁸ After disguising himself by putting on other clothes, Saul left with two men and came to the woman that night. He said to her, “Please consult with a dead person for me. Conjure up the person I request.”

⁹ The woman told him, “You know that Saul rid the land of mediums and psychics. Why are you trying to trap me and have me killed?”

¹⁰ But Saul took an oath in Yahweh’s name, “I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives, you will not be harmed if you do this.”

¹¹ “Whom should I conjure up for you?” the woman asked.

“Conjure up Samuel for me,” he answered.

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly and asked, “Why did you deceive me? You’re Saul!”

¹³ “Don’t be afraid,” the king said to her. “What do you see?”

“I see a god rising from the ground,” the woman answered.

¹⁴ “In what form?” he asked her.

She answered, “An old man is coming up, and he’s wearing a robe.” Then Saul knew it was Samuel. Saul knelt down with his face touching the ground.

¹⁵ Samuel asked Saul, “Why did you disturb me by conjuring me up?”

Saul answered, “I’m in serious trouble. The Philistines are at war with me, and Elohim has turned against me and doesn’t answer me anymore—either by the prophets or in dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what to do.”

¹⁶ Samuel said, “Why are you asking me when Yahweh has turned against you and become your enemy? ¹⁷ Yahweh has done to you exactly what he spoke through me: Yahweh has torn the kingship out of your hands and given it to your fellow Israelite David. ¹⁸ Yahweh is doing this to you today because you didn’t listen to him or unleash his burning anger on Amalek. ¹⁹ For the same reasons Yahweh will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And then Yahweh will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”

²⁰ Immediately, Saul fell flat on the ground. He was frightened by Samuel’s words. He also had no strength left, because he hadn’t eaten anything all day or all night. ²¹ The woman came over to Saul and saw that he was terrified. “I listened to you,” she told him, “and I took my life in my hands when I did what you told me to do. ²² Now please listen to me. I will serve you something to eat. Eat it so that you will have strength when you leave.”

²³ But he refused. “I don’t want to eat,” he said. Nevertheless, his officers and the woman kept urging^[d] him until he listened to them. So he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

²⁴ The woman immediately butchered a fattened calf that she owned. She took flour, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread. ²⁵ Then she served it to Saul and his officers. They ate and left that same night.

Jesus Brings Lazarus Back to Life

11 Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived, was sick. ² (Mary was the woman who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was sick.)

³ So the sisters sent a messenger to tell Yeshua, “Lord, your close friend is sick.”

⁴ When Yeshua heard the message, he said, “His sickness won’t result in death. Instead, this sickness will bring glory to God so that the Son of God will receive glory through it.”

⁵ Yeshua loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ Yet, when Yeshua heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.

⁷ Then, after the two days, Yeshua said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, not long ago the Jews wanted to stone you to death. Do you really want to go back there?”

⁹ Yeshua answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day don’t stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰ However, those who walk at night stumble because they have no light in themselves.”

¹¹ After Yeshua said this, he told his disciples, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, and I’m going to Bethany to wake him.”

¹² His disciples said to him, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he’ll get well.”

¹³ Yeshua meant that Lazarus was dead, but the disciples thought Yeshua meant that Lazarus was only sleeping. ¹⁴ Then Yeshua told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ but I’m glad that I wasn’t there so that you can grow in faith. Let’s go to Lazarus.”

¹⁶ Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, “Let’s go so that we, too, can die with Yeshua.”

¹⁷ When Yeshua arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ (Bethany was near Jerusalem, not quite two miles away.) ¹⁹ Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

²⁰ When Martha heard that Yeshua was coming, she went to meet him. Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha told Yeshua, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask him.”

²³ Yeshua told Martha, “Your brother will come back to life.”

²⁴ Martha answered Yeshua, “I know that he’ll come back to life on the last day, when everyone will come back to life.”

²⁵ Yeshua said to her, “I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who believe in me will live even if they die. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

²⁷ Martha said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was expected to come into the world.”

²⁸ After Martha had said this, she went back home and whispered to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here, and he is calling for you.”

²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Yeshua. ³⁰ (Yeshua had not yet come into the village but was still where Martha had met him.) ³¹ The Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave. So they followed her. They thought that she was going to the tomb to cry. ³² When Mary arrived where Yeshua was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Yeshua saw her crying, and the Jews who were crying with her, he was deeply moved and troubled.

³⁴ So Yeshua asked, “Where did you put Lazarus?”

They answered him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵ Yeshua cried. ³⁶ The Jews said, “See how much Yeshua loved him.” ³⁷ But some of the Jews asked, “Couldn’t this man who gave a blind man sight keep Lazarus from dying?”

³⁸ Deeply moved again, Yeshua went to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone covering the entrance. ³⁹ Yeshua said, “Take the stone away.”

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Yeshua, “Lord, there must already be a stench. He’s been dead for four days.”

⁴⁰ Yeshua said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see God’s glory?” ⁴¹ So the stone was moved away from the entrance of the tomb.

Yeshua looked up and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I’ve known that you always hear me. However, I’ve said this so that the crowd standing around me will believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ After Yeshua had said this, he shouted as loudly as he could, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴ The dead man came out. Strips of cloth were wound around his feet and hands, and his face was wrapped with a handkerchief. Yeshua told them, “Free Lazarus, and let him go.”

The Jewish Council Plans to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Many Jews who had visited Mary and had seen what Yeshua had done believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Yeshua had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council. They asked, “What are we doing? This man is performing a lot of miracles. ⁴⁸ If we let him continue what he’s doing, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will take away our position and our nation.”

⁴⁹ One of them, Caiaphas, who was chief priest that year, told them, “You people don’t know anything. ⁵⁰ You haven’t even considered this: It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

⁵¹ Caiaphas didn’t say this on his own. As chief priest that year, he prophesied that Yeshua would die for the Jewish nation. ⁵² He prophesied that Yeshua wouldn’t die merely for this nation, but that Yeshua would die to bring God’s scattered children together and make them one.

⁵³ From that day on, the Jewish council planned to kill Yeshua. ⁵⁴ So Yeshua no longer walked openly among the Jews. Instead, he left Bethany and went to the countryside near the desert, to a city called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

Psalm 117

David Spares Saul’s Life

24 ^[a]When Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, he was told “Now David is in the desert near En Gedi.” ² Then Saul took 3,000 of the best-trained men from all Israel and went to search for David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³ He came to some sheep pens along the road where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself while David and his men were sitting further back in the cave.

⁴ David’s men told him, “Today is the day Yahweh referred to when he said, ‘I’m going to hand your enemy over to you. You will do to him whatever you think is right.’”

David quietly got up and cut off the border of Saul’s robe. ⁵ But afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the border of Saul’s robe. ⁶ He said to his men, “It would be unthinkable for me to raise my hand against His Majesty, Yahweh’s anointed king, since he is Yahweh’s anointed.” ⁷ So David stopped^[b] his men by saying this to them and didn’t let them attack Saul.

Saul left the cave and went out onto the road. ⁸ Later, David got up, left the cave, and called to Saul, “Your Majesty!” When Saul looked back, David knelt down with his face touching the ground. ⁹ David asked Saul, “Why do you listen to rumors that I am trying to harm you? ¹⁰ Today you saw how Yahweh handed you over to me in the cave. Although I was told to kill you, I spared you, saying, ‘I will not raise my hand against Your Majesty because you are Yahweh’s anointed.’ ¹¹ My master, look at this! The border of your robe is in my hand! Since I cut off the border of your robe and didn’t kill you, you should know and be able to see I mean no harm or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you, but you are trying to ambush me in order to take my life. ¹² May Yahweh decide between you and me. May Yahweh take revenge on you for what you did to me. However, I will not lay a hand on you. ¹³ It’s like people used to say long ago, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ But I will not lay a hand on you. ¹⁴ Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? One flea? ¹⁵ So Yahweh must be the judge. He will decide between you and me. He will watch and take my side in this matter and set me free from you.”

¹⁶ When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that you speaking, my servant David?” and Saul cried loudly. ¹⁷ He told David, “You are more righteous than I. You treated me well while I treated you badly. ¹⁸ Today you have proved how good you’ve been to me. When Yahweh handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. ¹⁹ When a person finds an enemy, does he send him away unharmed? Yahweh will repay you completely for what you did for me today. ²⁰ Now I know that you certainly will rule as king, and under your guidance the kingdom of Israel will prosper. ²¹ Swear an oath to Yahweh for me that you will not wipe out my descendants or destroy my name in my father’s family.”

²² So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went home, and David and his men went to their fortified camp.

Samuel Dies

25 Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David went to the desert of Paran.

David, Nabal, and Abigail

² Now, there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very rich man. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ This man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was sensible and beautiful, but he was harsh and mean. He was a descendant of Caleb.

⁴ While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men and told them, “Go to Carmel, visit Nabal, and greet him for me. ⁶ Say to him, ‘May you live long! May you, your home, and all you have prosper! ⁷ I hear that your sheepshearers are with you. Your shepherds have been with us, and we have not mistreated them. Nothing of theirs has been missing as long as they’ve been in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men, and let them tell you. Be kind to my young men, since we have come on a special occasion. Please give us and your son David anything you can spare.’”

⁹ When David’s young men came to Nabal, they repeated all of this to him for David, and then they waited.

¹⁰ “Who is David?” Nabal answered David’s servants. “Who is Jesse’s son? So many servants nowadays are leaving their masters. ¹¹ Should I take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to men coming from who knows where?”

¹² David’s young men returned and told him all this.

¹³ “Each of you put on your swords!” David told his men. And everyone, including David, put on his sword. About four hundred men went with David, while two hundred men stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴ One of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, who yelled at them. ¹⁵ Those men were very good to us. They didn’t mistreat us, and we found that nothing was missing wherever we went with them when we were in the fields. ¹⁶ They were a wall protecting us day and night as long as we were watching the sheep near them. ¹⁷ Now, consider what you should do because our master and his whole household are doomed. And he’s such a worthless man that it’s useless to talk to him.”

¹⁸ So Abigail quickly took 200 loaves of bread, 2 full wineskins, 5 butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ “Go on ahead,” she told her young men, “and I’ll follow you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal about it.

²⁰ She was riding on her donkey down a hidden mountain path when she met David and his men coming toward her. ²¹ David had thought, “I guarded this man’s stuff in the desert for nothing! Not one of his possessions was missing. Yet, he has paid me back with evil when I was good to him. ²² May Elohim punish me^[c] if I leave even one of his men^[d] alive in the morning.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey. She immediately bowed down in front of David with her face touching the ground. ²⁴ After she bowed at his feet, she said, “Sir, let me be held responsible for this wrong. Please let me speak with you. Please listen to my words. ²⁵ You shouldn’t take this worthless person Nabal seriously. He is like his name. His name is Nabal [Godless Fool], and he’s foolish. But I didn’t see the young men you sent.

²⁶ “Yahweh has kept you from spilling innocent blood and from getting a victory by your own efforts. Now, sir, I solemnly swear, as Yahweh and you live, may your enemies and those who are trying to harm you end up like Nabal. ²⁷ Here is a gift I am bringing to you. May it be given to the young men who are in your service. ²⁸ Please forgive my offense. Yahweh will certainly give you, sir, a lasting dynasty, because you are fighting Yahweh’s battles. May evil never be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹ Even though someone pursued you and sought your life, your life is wrapped in the bundle of life which comes from Yahweh your Elohim. But he will dispose of the lives of your enemies like stones thrown from a sling. ³⁰ When Yahweh does all the good he promised and makes you ruler of Israel, ³¹ you shouldn’t have a troubled conscience because you spilled blood for no good reason and claimed your own victory. When Yahweh has given you success, remember me.”

³² David said to Abigail, “Blessed be Yahweh Elohim of Israel, who sent you today to meet me. ³³ May your good judgment be blessed. Also, may you be blessed for keeping me from slaughtering people today and from getting a victory by my own efforts. ³⁴ But I solemnly swear—as Yahweh Elohim of Israel, who has kept me from harming you, lives—if you hadn’t come to meet me quickly, Nabal certainly wouldn’t have had one of his men left at dawn.”

³⁵ Then David accepted what she brought him and told her, “Go home in peace. I’ve listened to what you’ve said and granted your request.”

³⁶ When Abigail came to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his home. It was like a king’s banquet. He was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything until dawn. ³⁷ But in the morning, when the effects of the wine had worn off, his wife told him what had happened. Nabal’s heart failed, and he could not move.^{[e] 38} About ten days later Yahweh made him even more sick, and Nabal died.

³⁹ When David heard Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who defended me against the insults of Nabal and kept me from doing wrong. Yahweh has turned Nabal’s own wickedness back on him.”

Then David sent men on his behalf to propose marriage to Abigail. ⁴⁰ When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they told her, “David has sent us to you so that we can take you to him to be his wife.”

⁴¹ She bowed down with her face touching the ground. “I am ready to serve,” she said. “I am ready to wash the feet of my master’s servants.” ⁴² Then Abigail quickly got up and rode on a donkey with five of her female servants following her. So she went with David’s messengers and became his wife.

⁴³ David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. Both she and Abigail were his wives. ⁴⁴ Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti, Laish’s son, who was from Gallim.

The Jews Reject Jesus

²² The Festival of the Dedication of the Temple took place in Jerusalem during the winter. ²³ Yeshua was walking on Solomon’s porch in the temple courtyard.

²⁴ The Jews surrounded him. They asked him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Yeshua answered them, “I’ve told you, but you don’t believe me. The things that I do in my Father’s name testify on my behalf. ²⁶ However, you don’t believe because you’re not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me, ²⁸ and I give them eternal life. They will never be lost, and no one will tear them away from me. ²⁹ My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than everyone else, and no one can tear them away from my Father. ³⁰ The Father and I are one.”

³¹ The Jews had again brought some rocks to stone Yeshua to death. ³² Yeshua replied to them, “I’ve shown you many good things that come from the Father. For which of these good things do you want to stone me to death?”

³³ The Jews answered Yeshua, “We’re going to stone you to death, not for any good things you’ve done, but for dishonoring God. You claim to be God, although you’re only a man.”

³⁴ Yeshua said to them, “Don’t your Scriptures say, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? ³⁵ The Scriptures cannot be discredited. So if God calls people gods (and they are the people to whom he gave the Scriptures), ³⁶ why do you say that I’m dishonoring God because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’? God set me apart for this holy purpose and has sent me into the world. ³⁷ If I’m not doing the things my Father does, don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I’m doing those things and you refuse to believe me, then at least believe the things that I’m doing. Then you will know and recognize that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father.”

³⁹ The Jews tried to arrest Yeshua again, but he got away from them. ⁴⁰ He went back across the Jordan River and stayed in the place where John first baptized people.

⁴¹ Many people went to Yeshua. They said, “John didn’t perform any miracles, but everything John said about this man is true.” ⁴² Many people there believed in Yeshua.

Psalm 116

A Wise Son Brings Blessings to Others

David in Judah and Moab

22 So David escaped from that place and fled to the cave at Adullam. When his brothers and all the rest of his family heard about it, they went to him. ² Then everyone who was in trouble, in debt, or bitter about life joined him, and he became their commander. There were about four hundred men with him.

³ From there David went to Mizpah in Moab. He asked the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what Elohim is going to do for me.” ⁴ He brought them to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was living in his fortified camp.

⁵ “Don’t live in your fortified camp,” the prophet Gad told David. “Go to the land of Judah.” So David went to the forest of Hereth.

Saul Massacres the Priests at Nob

⁶ Saul heard that David and his men had been found. Saul was staying in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at the worship site^[a] with his spear in his hand and all his officials standing around him. ⁷ He said to his officials, “Listen here, men of Benjamin! Will Jesse’s son give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all officers over a regiment or a battalion of soldiers? ⁸ All of you are plotting against me, and no one informed me when my son entered into a loyalty pledge with Jesse’s son. No one felt sorry for me and informed me that my son has encouraged my servant David to ambush me, as he’s doing now.”

⁹ Then Doeg from Edom, standing with Saul’s officials, answered him, “I saw Jesse’s son when he came to Ahimelech, Ahitub’s son, in Nob. ¹⁰ Ahimelech prayed to Yahweh for David and gave him food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech, who was Ahitub’s son, and his entire family who were the priests in Nob. All of them came to the king. ¹² Saul said, “Listen here, son of Ahitub!”

“Yes, sir?” he responded.

¹³ Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse’s son plot against me? You gave him bread and a sword and prayed to Elohim for him so that he can rise up against me and ambush me, as he’s doing now.”

¹⁴ Ahimelech asked the king, “But whom among all your officials can you trust like David? Your Majesty, he’s your son-in-law, the commander of your bodyguard. He’s honored in your own household. ¹⁵ Is this the first time I have prayed to Elohim for him? Not at all! You shouldn’t blame me or anyone in my family for this. I knew nothing at all about this.”

¹⁶ Saul said, “Ahimelech, you and your entire family are going to die.”

¹⁷ “Turn and kill Yahweh’s priests because they support David,” the king said to the runners standing around him. “When they knew David was fleeing, they didn’t inform me.” But the king’s men refused to attack Yahweh’s priests.

¹⁸ So the king said to Doeg, “You turn and attack the priests.” Doeg from Edom turned and attacked the priests, and that day he killed 85 men wearing the linen priestly ephod.^{[b] 19} He also killed the people of Nob, the city of the priests. Using his sword, he killed men and women, children and infants, cows, donkeys, and sheep.

²⁰ But Ahimelech, Ahitub’s son, had one son who escaped. His name was Abiathar. He fled to David. ²¹ Abiathar told David that Saul had killed Yahweh’s priests.

²² David told Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg from Edom was there that he would be certain to tell Saul. I am the one responsible^[c] for all the lives of your family. ²³ Stay with me. Don’t be afraid. The one who is seeking my life is also seeking your life. However, you will be under my protection.”

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 David was asked, “Did you know that the Philistines are fighting against Keilah? They are robbing the threshing floors.”^[d]

² David asked Yahweh, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?”

“Go,” Yahweh told David, “attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

³ David’s men told him, “We’re afraid of staying here in Judah. How much more afraid do you think we’ll be if we go to Keilah against the Philistine army?”

⁴ David asked Yahweh again, and Yahweh answered him. He said, “Go to Keilah. I’m giving you the power to defeat the Philistines.”

⁵ David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines, drove off their livestock, and decisively defeated them. So David rescued the people who lived in Keilah.

⁶ When Ahimelech’s son Abiathar fled to David at Keilah, Abiathar brought a priestly ephod^[e] with him.

⁷ When Saul was told that David went to Keilah, Saul said, “Elohim has delivered him into my hands. He has trapped himself by going into a city which has a gate with a double door held shut by a bar.” ⁸ So Saul called together all the troops to go to war and blockade Keilah, where David and his men were.

⁹ When David learned that Saul was planning to harm him, he told the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “Yahweh Elohim of Israel, I have actually heard that Saul is going to come to Keilah and destroy the city on account of me. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come here as I have heard? Yahweh Elohim of Israel, please tell me.”

“He will come,” Yahweh answered.

¹² “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” David asked.

“They will hand you over,” Yahweh answered.

¹³ So David and his men, about six hundred^[f] in all, left Keilah. They went wherever they could go. Then Saul was told, “David has escaped from Keilah!” So he gave up the campaign. ¹⁴ David lived in fortified camps in the desert, and he lived in fortified camps in the mountains of the desert of Ziph. Saul was always searching for him, but Elohim didn’t let him capture David.

David in the Desert of Ziph

¹⁵ David was afraid because^[g] Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. ¹⁶ Saul’s son Jonathan came to David at Horesh. He strengthened David’s faith in Yahweh.^{[h] 17} “Don’t be afraid,” he told David, “my father Saul won’t find you. You will rule Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this.” ¹⁸ Both of them made a pledge in Yahweh’s presence. David stayed in Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

¹⁹ Then the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah. They said, “David is hiding with us in fortified camps at Horesh on the hills of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon. ²⁰ Come, Your Majesty, whenever you want. We will hand him over to you.”

²¹ Saul responded, “Yahweh bless you for feeling sorry for me! ²² Please make more plans, and watch where he goes. Who has seen him there? I’m told he’s very clever. ²³ Watch and learn about all the hiding places where he may be hiding, and come back to me with the facts. Then I’ll go with you, and if he’s in the country, I’ll search for him among all the families of Judah.” ²⁴ They left for Ziph ahead of Saul.

David in the Desert of Maon

David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plains south of Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men came to look for him, David was told the news. So he went to his mountain stronghold in the desert of Maon. Saul heard about it and pursued David into the desert of Maon. ²⁶ Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, and Saul and his men were going around the mountain toward David and his men, trying to capture them. ²⁷ Then a messenger came to Saul and said, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the country.”

²⁸ Saul gave up pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. So that place was called Slippery Rock.^{[i] 29} From there David went to stay in the fortified camps of En Gedi.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

10 “I can guarantee this truth: The person who doesn’t enter the sheep pen through the gate but climbs in somewhere else is a thief or a robber. ² But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out of the pen. ⁴ After he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. ⁵ They won’t follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize his voice.” ⁶ Yeshua used this illustration as he talked to the people, but they didn’t understand what he meant.

⁷ Yeshua emphasized, “I can guarantee this truth: I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before I did were thieves or robbers. However, the sheep didn’t respond to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Those who enter the sheep pen through me will be saved. They will go in and out of the sheep pen and find food. ¹⁰ A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired hand isn’t a shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep. When he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and quickly runs away. So the wolf drags the sheep away and scatters the flock. ¹³ The hired hand is concerned about what he’s going to get paid and not about the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep as the Father knows me.^[a] My sheep know me as I know the Father. ¹⁵ So I give my life for my sheep. ¹⁶ I also have other sheep that are not from this pen. I must lead them. They, too, will respond to my voice. So they will be one flock with one shepherd. ¹⁷ The Father loves me because I give my life in order to take it back again. ¹⁸ No one takes my life from me. I give my life of my own free will. I have the authority to give my life, and I have the authority to take my life back again. This is what my Father ordered me to do.”

¹⁹ The Jews were divided because of what Yeshua said. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He’s possessed by a demon! He’s crazy! Why do you listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “No one talks like this if he’s possessed by a demon. Can a demon give sight to the blind?”

Psalm 115

David Makes a Promise to Jonathan

20 David fled from the pastures at Ramah, came to Jonathan, and asked, “What have I done? What crime am I guilty of? What sin have I committed against your father that he’s trying to kill me?”

² Jonathan answered, “That’s unthinkable! You’re not going to die! My father does nothing without telling me, whether it’s important or not. Why should my father hide this from me? It’s just not that way.”

³ But David took an oath, saying, “Your father certainly knows that you support me, so he said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know about this. It will bring him distress.’ But I solemnly swear, as Yahweh and you live, I’m only one step away from death.”

⁴ Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do whatever you say.”

⁵ David replied, “Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, when I should sit and eat at the king’s table. But let me go and hide in the countryside for two more nights. ⁶ If your father really misses me, tell him, ‘David repeatedly begged me to let him run to Bethlehem, his hometown, because his relatives are offering the annual sacrifice there.’ ⁷ If he says, ‘Good!’ then I will be safe. But if he gets really angry, then you’ll know for sure that he has decided to harm me. ⁸ Now, be kind to me. After all, you forced me into an agreement with Yahweh. If I have committed any crime, kill me yourself. Why bother taking me to your father?”

⁹ Jonathan answered, “That’s unthinkable! If I knew for sure that my father had decided to harm you, I would have told you about it.”

¹⁰ Then David asked, “Who will tell me whether or not your father gives you a harsh answer?”

¹¹ Jonathan said, “Let’s go out into the country.” So they went out into the country.

¹² “As Yahweh Elohim of Israel is my witness,” Jonathan continued, “I’ll find out in the next two or three days how my father feels about you. If he does feel kindly toward you, then I will send someone to tell you. ¹³ If my father plans to harm you and I fail to tell you and send you away safely, may Yahweh harm me even more. May Yahweh be with you as he used to be with my father. ¹⁴ But as long as I live, promise me that you will show me kindness because of Yahweh. And even when I die, ¹⁵ never stop being kind to my family. Yahweh will wipe each of David’s enemies off the face of the earth. ¹⁶ At that time, if Jonathan’s name^[a] is cut off from David’s family, then may Yahweh punish David’s house.”^[b]

¹⁷ Once again Jonathan swore an oath to David because of his love for David. He loved David as much as he loved himself. ¹⁸ “Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,” Jonathan told him, “and you will be missed when your seat is empty. ¹⁹ The day after tomorrow you will be missed even more.^[c] So go to the place where you hid on that other occasion, and stay by the rock. ²⁰ I will shoot three arrows from beside it toward a target. ²¹ Then I will send out a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ Now, if I tell the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are next to you; get them,’ then come back with me. You will be safe, and there will be no trouble. I swear it, as Yahweh lives. ²² But if I tell the boy, ‘The arrows are next to you,’ then go, because Yahweh has sent you away. ²³ We have made a promise to each other, and Yahweh is a witness between you and me forever.”

²⁴ So David hid in the countryside. When the New Moon Festival came, King Saul sat down to eat the festival meal. ²⁵ He sat in his usual seat by the wall, while Jonathan stood. Abner sat beside Saul, but David’s place was empty. ²⁶ Saul didn’t say anything that day, thinking, “Something has happened to him so that he’s unclean.^[d] He must be unclean.” ²⁷ But on the second day of the month, David’s place was still empty.

Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

²⁸ Jonathan answered Saul, “David repeatedly begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ David said to me ‘Please let me go. Our relatives will offer a sacrifice in the city, and my brother ordered me to be there. If you will permit it, please let me go to see my brothers.’ This is why he hasn’t come to your banquet.”

³⁰ Then Saul got angry with Jonathan. “Son of a crooked and rebellious woman!” he called Jonathan. “I know you’ve sided with Jesse’s son. You have no shame. You act as if you are your mother’s son but not mine.^{[e] 31} As long as Jesse’s son lives on earth, neither you nor your right to be king is secure. Now, send some men to bring him to me. He’s a dead man!”

³² Jonathan asked his father, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?”

³³ Saul raised his spear to strike him. Then Jonathan knew his father was determined to kill David. ³⁴ Jonathan got up from the table very angry and ate nothing that second day of the month. He was worried sick about David because Jonathan had been humiliated by his own father.

³⁵ In the morning Jonathan went out to the country to the place he and David had agreed on. Jonathan had a young boy with him. ³⁶ “Run,” he told the boy, “please find the arrows I shoot.”

The boy ran, and Jonathan shot the arrow over him. ³⁷ When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had landed, Jonathan called after him, “The arrows are next to you!” ³⁸ Jonathan added, “Quick! Hurry up! Don’t stand there!” Jonathan’s young servant gathered the arrows and came to his master. ³⁹ The boy had no idea what was going on, but Jonathan and David understood. ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told the boy, “Take them back into town.”

⁴¹ When the boy had left, David came out from the south side of the rock and quickly bowed down three times with his face touching the ground. Then they kissed each other and cried together, but David cried the loudest.^[f]

⁴² “Go in peace!” Jonathan told David. “We have both taken an oath in Yahweh’s name, saying, ‘Yahweh will be a witness between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”^[g]

So David left, and Jonathan went into the city.

David at Nob

21 ^[h]David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was trembling as he went to meet David. “Why are you alone?” he asked David. “Why is no one with you?”

² “The king ordered me to do something,” David answered the priest Ahimelech, “and he told me, ‘No one must know anything about this mission I’m sending you on and about the orders I’ve given you. I’ve stationed^[i] my young men at a certain place.’” ³ David added, “Now, what do you have to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find.”

⁴ “I don’t have any ordinary bread,” the chief priest answered David. “But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven’t had sexual intercourse today.”

⁵ David answered the priest, “Of course women have been kept away from us as usual when we go on a mission. The young men’s bodies are kept holy even on ordinary campaigns. How much more then will their bodies be holy today?”

⁶ So the priest gave him holy bread because he only had the bread of the presence which had been taken from Yahweh’s presence and replaced with warm bread that day.

⁷ That same day one of Saul’s servants who was obligated to stay in Yahweh’s presence was there. His name was Doeg. A foreman for Saul’s shepherds, he was from Edom.

⁸ David asked Ahimelech, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I didn’t take either my spear or any other weapon because the king’s business was urgent.”

⁹ The chief priest answered, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Elah Valley, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the priestly ephod.^[j] If you want to take it, take it. There’s no other weapon here.”

David said, “There’s none like it. Let me have the sword.”

David at Gath

¹⁰ That day David left. He was still fleeing from Saul when he came to King Achish of Gath. ¹¹ Achish’s officers asked, “Isn’t this David, the king of his country? He’s the one they used to sing about in the dances:

¹² When David realized what they had said, he was terrified of King Achish of Gath. ¹³ So he changed his behavior when he was in their presence and acted insane as long as he was under their authority. He scribbled on the doors of the city gate and let his spit run down his beard.

¹⁴ Achish said to his officers, “Look at him! Don’t you see that he’s insane? Why bring him to me? ¹⁵ Do I have such a shortage of lunatics that you bring this man so that he can show me he is insane? Does this man have to come into my house?”

Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man

9 As Yeshua walked along, he saw a man who had been born blind. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Did he or his parents sin?”

³ Yeshua answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Instead, he was born blind so that God could show what he can do for him. ⁴ We must do what the one who sent me wants us to do while it is day. The night when no one can do anything is coming. ⁵ As long as I’m in the world, I’m light for the world.”

⁶ After Yeshua said this, he spit on the ground and mixed the spit with dirt. Then he smeared it on the man’s eyes ⁷ and told him, “Wash it off in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means “sent.”) The blind man washed it off and returned. He was able to see.

⁸ His neighbors and those who had previously seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

⁹ Some of them said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, he isn’t, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am the one.”

¹⁰ So they asked him, “How did you receive your sight?”

¹¹ He replied, “The man people call Yeshua mixed some spit with dirt, smeared it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam, and wash it off.’ So I went there, washed it off, and received my sight.”

¹² They asked him, “Where is that man?”

The man answered, “I don’t know.”

¹³ Some people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ The day when Yeshua mixed the spit and dirt and gave the man sight was a day of worship. ¹⁵ So the Pharisees asked the man again how he received his sight.

The man told the Pharisees, “He put a mixture of spit and dirt on my eyes. I washed it off, and now I can see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this is not from God because he doesn’t follow the traditions for the day of worship.” Other Pharisees asked, “How can a man who is a sinner perform miracles like these?” So the Pharisees were divided in their opinions.

¹⁷ They asked the man who had been born blind another question: “What do you say about the man who gave you sight?”

The man answered, “He’s a prophet.”

¹⁸ Until they talked to the man’s parents, the Jews didn’t believe that the man had been blind and had been given sight. ¹⁹ They asked his parents, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? Why can he see now?”

²⁰ His parents replied, “We know that he’s our son and that he was born blind. ²¹ But we don’t know how he got his sight or who gave it to him. You’ll have to ask him. He’s old enough to answer for himself.” ²² (His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. The Jews had already agreed to put anyone who acknowledged that Yeshua was the Christ out of the synagogue. ²³ That’s why his parents said, “You’ll have to ask him. He’s old enough.”)

²⁴ So once again the Jews called the man who had been blind. They told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man who gave you sight is a sinner.”

²⁵ The man responded, “I don’t know if he’s a sinner or not. But I do know one thing. I used to be blind, but now I can see.”

²⁶ The Jews asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he give you sight?”

²⁷ The man replied, “I’ve already told you, but you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear the story again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸ The Jews yelled at him, “You’re his disciple, but we’re Moses’ disciples. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t know where this man came from.”

³⁰ The man replied to them, “That’s amazing! You don’t know where he’s from. Yet, he gave me sight. ³¹ We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners. Instead, he listens to people who are devout and who do what he wants. ³² Since the beginning of time, no one has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do anything like that.”

³⁴ The Jews answered him, “You were born full of sin. Do you think you can teach us?” Then they threw him out of the synagogue.

³⁵ Yeshua heard that the Jews had thrown the man out of the synagogue. So when Yeshua found the man, he asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ The man replied, “Sir, tell me who he is so that I can believe in him.”

³⁷ Yeshua told him, “You’ve seen him. He is the person who is now talking with you.”

³⁸ The man bowed in front of Yeshua and said, “I believe, Lord.”

³⁹ Then Yeshua said, “I have come into this world to judge: Blind people will be given sight, and those who can see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with Yeshua heard this. So they asked him, “Do you think we’re blind?”

⁴¹ Yeshua told them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be sinners. But now you say, ‘We see,’ so you continue to be sinners.

Psalm 113

Psalm 114

David and Goliath

17 The Philistines assembled their armies for war. They assembled at Socoh, which is in Judah, and camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. ² So Saul and the army of Israel assembled and camped in the Elah Valley. They formed a battle line to fight the Philistines. ³ The Philistines were stationed on a hill on one side, and the Israelites were stationed on a hill on the other side. There was a ravine between the two of them.

⁴ The Philistine army’s champion came out of their camp. His name was Goliath from Gath. He was ten feet tall.^{[a] 5} He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze coat of armor scales weighing 125 pounds. ⁶ On his legs he had bronze shin guards and on his back a bronze javelin. ⁷ The shaft of his spear was like the beam used by weavers. The head of his spear was made of 15 pounds of iron. The man who carried his shield walked ahead of him.

⁸ Goliath stood and called to the Israelites, “Why do you form a battle line? Am I not a Philistine, and aren’t you Saul’s servants? Choose a man, and let him come down to fight me. ⁹ If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I overpower him and kill him, then you will be our slaves and serve us.” ¹⁰ The Philistine added, “I challenge the Israelite battle line today. Send out a man so that we can fight each other.” ¹¹ When Saul and all the Israelites heard what this Philistine said, they were gripped with fear.

¹² David was a son of a man named Jesse from the region of Ephrath and the city of Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s day he was an old man.^{[b] 13} Jesse’s three oldest sons joined Saul’s army for the battle. The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, the third was Shammah, ¹⁴ and David was the youngest. The three oldest joined Saul’s army. ¹⁵ David went back and forth from Saul’s camp to Bethlehem, where he tended his father’s flock.

¹⁶ Each morning and evening for 40 days, the Philistine came forward and made his challenge.

¹⁷ Jesse told his son David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Take them to your brothers in the camp right away. ¹⁸ And take these ten cheeses to the captain of the regiment. See how your brothers are doing, and bring back some news about them. ¹⁹ They, along with Saul and all the soldiers of Israel, are in the Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.”

²⁰ David got up early in the morning and had someone else watch the sheep. He took the food and went, as Jesse ordered him. He went to the camp as the army was going out to the battle line shouting their war cry. ²¹ Israel and the Philistines formed their battle lines facing each other. ²² David left the supplies behind in the hands of the quartermaster, ran to the battle line, and greeted his brothers. ²³ While he was talking to them, the Philistine champion, Goliath from Gath, came from the battle lines of the Philistines. He repeated his words, and David heard them. ²⁴ When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him because they were terrified. ²⁵ The men of Israel said, “Did you see that man coming from the Philistine lines? He keeps coming to challenge Israel. The king will make the man who kills this Philistine very rich. He will give his daughter to that man to marry and elevate the social status of his family.”^[c]

²⁶ David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and gets rid of Israel’s disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should challenge the army of Elohim Chay?”

²⁷ The soldiers repeated to David how the man who kills Goliath would be treated.

²⁸ Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. “Why did you come here,” he asked him, “and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle.”

²⁹ “What have I done now?” David snapped at him. “Didn’t I merely ask a question?” ³⁰ He turned to face another man and asked the same question, and the other soldiers gave him the same answer.

³¹ What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, who then sent for him. ³² David told Saul, “No one should be discouraged because of this. I will go and fight this Philistine.”

³³ Saul responded to David, “You can’t fight this Philistine. You’re just a boy, but he’s been a warrior since he was your age.”

³⁴ David replied to Saul, “I am a shepherd for my father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. If it attacked me, I took hold of its mane, struck it, and killed it. ³⁶ I have killed lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has challenged the army of Elohim Chay.” ³⁷ David added, “Yahweh, who saved me from the lion and the bear, will save me from this Philistine.”

“Go,” Saul told David, “and may Yahweh be with you.”

³⁸ Saul put his battle tunic on David; he put a bronze helmet on David’s head and dressed him in armor. ³⁹ David fastened Saul’s sword over his clothes and tried to walk, but he had never practiced doing this. “I can’t walk in these things,” David told Saul. “I’ve never had any practice doing this.” So David took all those things off.

⁴⁰ He took his stick with him, picked out five smooth stones from the riverbed, and put them in his shepherd’s bag. With a sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine. ⁴¹ The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David. ⁴² When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.

⁴³ The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come to attack me with sticks?” So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David. ⁴⁴ “Come on,” the Philistine told David, “and I’ll give your body to the birds.”

⁴⁵ David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. ⁴⁶ Today Yahweh will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has an Elohim. ⁴⁷ Then everyone gathered here will know that Yahweh can save without sword or spear, because Yahweh determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine moved closer in order to attack, David quickly ran toward the opposing battle line to attack the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, hurled it from his sling, and struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into Goliath’s forehead, and he fell to the ground on his face. ⁵⁰ So using only a sling and a stone, David proved to be stronger than the Philistine. David struck down and killed the Philistine, even though David didn’t have a sword in his hand. ⁵¹ David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took Goliath’s sword, pulled it out of its sheath, and made certain the Philistine was dead by cutting off his head.

When the Philistines saw their hero had been killed, they fled. ⁵² Then the soldiers of Israel and Judah rose up, shouted a battle cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Wounded Philistines lay on the road to Shaaraim and all the way to Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ When the Israelites came back from their pursuit of the Philistines, they looted all the goods in the Philistine camp. ⁵⁴ David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath’s armor in his tent.

⁵⁵ As Saul watched David going out against the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?”

Abner answered, “I solemnly swear, as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”

⁵⁶ The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”

⁵⁷ When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner brought him to Saul. David had the Philistine’s head in his hand.

⁵⁸ Saul asked him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.

David’s Love for Jonathan

18 David finished talking to Saul. After that, Jonathan became David’s closest friend. He loved David as much as he loved himself. ² (From that day on Saul kept David as his servant and didn’t let him go back to his family.) ³ So Jonathan made a pledge of mutual loyalty with David because he loved him as much as he loved himself. ⁴ Jonathan took off the coat he had on and gave it to David along with his battle tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

²¹ Yeshua spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I’m going away, and you’ll look for me. But you will die because of your sin. You can’t go where I’m going.”

²² Then the Jews asked, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says, ‘You can’t go where I’m going’?”

²³ Yeshua said to them, “You’re from below. I’m from above. You’re from this world. I’m not from this world. ²⁴ For this reason I told you that you’ll die because of your sins. If you don’t believe that I am the one, you’ll die because of your sins.”

²⁵ The Jews asked him, “Who did you say you are?”

Yeshua told them, “I am who I said I was from the beginning. ²⁶ I have a lot I could say about you and a lot I could condemn you for. But the one who sent me is true. So I tell the world exactly what he has told me.” ²⁷ (The Jews didn’t know that he was talking to them about the Father.)

²⁸ So Yeshua told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you’ll know that I am the one and that I can’t do anything on my own. Instead, I speak as the Father taught me. ²⁹ Besides, the one who sent me is with me. He hasn’t left me by myself. I always do what pleases him.”

³⁰ As Yeshua was saying this, many people believed in him.

Psalm 111^[a]

Saul Disobeys the Lord

15 Samuel told Saul, “Yahweh sent me to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to Yahweh’s words. ² This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth says: I will punish Amalek for what they did to Israel. They blocked Israel’s way after the Israelites came from Egypt. ³ Now go and attack Amalek. Claim everything they have for God by destroying it. Don’t spare them, but kill men and women, infants and children, cows and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

⁴ Saul organized the troops, and he counted them at Telaim: 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah. ⁵ Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. ⁶ Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Get away from the Amalekites so that I won’t destroy you with them. You were kind to all the Israelites when they came from Egypt.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites.

⁷ Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt. ⁸ He captured King Agag of Amalek alive. But he claimed all the people for God by destroying them. ⁹ Saul and the army spared Agag and the best sheep and cows, the fattened animals, the lambs, and all the best property. The army refused to claim them for God by destroying them. But everything that was worthless and weak the army did claim for God and destroy.

The Lord Rejects Saul

¹⁰ Then Yahweh spoke to Samuel: ¹¹ “I regret that I made Saul king. He turned away from me and did not carry out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he prayed to Yahweh all night. ¹² Early in the morning he got up to meet Saul. Samuel was told, “Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument in his honor. Then he left there and went to Gilgal.”

¹³ Samuel came to Saul, who said, “Yahweh bless you. I carried out Yahweh’s instructions.”

¹⁴ However, Samuel asked,

¹⁵ Saul answered, “The army brought them from the Amalekites. They spared the best sheep and cows to sacrifice to Yahweh your Elohim. But the rest they claimed for God and destroyed.”

¹⁶ “Be quiet,” Samuel told Saul, “and let me tell you what Yahweh told me last night.”

“Speak,” Saul replied.

¹⁷ Samuel said, “Even though you don’t consider yourself great, you were the head of Israel’s tribes. Yahweh anointed you king of Israel. ¹⁸ And Yahweh sent you on a mission. He said, ‘Claim those sinners, the Amalekites, for me by destroying them. Wage war against them until they’re wiped out.’ ¹⁹ Why didn’t you obey Yahweh? Why have you taken their belongings and done what Yahweh considers evil?”

²⁰ “But I did obey Yahweh,” Saul told Samuel. “I went where Yahweh sent me, brought back King Agag of Amalek, and claimed the Amalekites for God. ²¹ The army took some of their belongings—the best sheep and cows were claimed for God—in order to sacrifice to Yahweh your Elohim in Gilgal.”

²² Then Samuel said,

²⁴ Then Saul told Samuel, “I have sinned by not following Yahweh’s command or your instructions. I was afraid of the people and listened to them. ²⁵ Now please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship Yahweh.”

²⁶ Samuel told Saul, “I will not go back with you because you rejected what Yahweh told you. So Yahweh rejects you as king of Israel.” ²⁷ When Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ Samuel told him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. ²⁹ In addition, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind, because he is not a mortal who changes his mind.”

³⁰ Saul replied, “I have sinned! Now please honor me in front of the leaders of my people and in front of Israel. Come back with me, and let me worship Yahweh your Elohim.” ³¹ Then Samuel turned and followed Saul, and Saul worshiped Yahweh.

³² “Bring me King Agag of Amalek,” Samuel said.

Agag came to him trembling.^[a] “Surely, the bitterness of death is past,”^[b] Agag said.

³³ But Samuel said, “As your sword made women childless, so your mother will be made childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag in pieces in the presence of Yahweh at Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went to his home at Gibeah. ³⁵ Samuel didn’t see Saul again before he died, though Samuel mourned over Saul. And Yahweh regretted that he had made Saul king of Israel.

David Chosen to Be King

16 Yahweh asked Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul now that I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill a flask with olive oil and go. I’m sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem because I’ve selected one of his sons to be king.”

² “How can I go?” Samuel asked. “When Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me.”

Yahweh said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I’ve come to sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice. I will reveal to you what you should do, and you will anoint for me the one I point out to you.”

⁴ Samuel did what Yahweh told him. When he came to Bethlehem, the leaders of the city, trembling with fear, greeted him and said, “May peace be with you.”

⁵ “Greetings,” he replied, “I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He performed the ceremonies for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶ When they came, he saw Eliab and thought, “Certainly, here in Yahweh’s presence is his anointed king.”

⁷ But Yahweh told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. Elohim does not see as humans see.^[c] Humans look at outward appearances, but Yahweh looks into the heart.”

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and brought him to Samuel. But Samuel said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one either.”

⁹ Then Jesse had Shammah come to Samuel. “Yahweh has not chosen this one either,” Samuel said. ¹⁰ So Jesse brought seven more of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen any of these. ¹¹ Are these all the sons you have?”

“There’s still the youngest one,” Jesse answered. “He’s tending the sheep.”

Samuel told Jesse, “Send someone to get him. We won’t continue until he gets here.”

¹² So Jesse sent for him. He had a healthy complexion, attractive eyes, and a handsome appearance. Yahweh said, “Go ahead, anoint him. He is the one.” ¹³ Samuel took the flask of olive oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers. The Ruach Yahweh came over David and stayed with him from that day on. Then Samuel left for Ramah.

David Plays the Lyre for Saul

¹⁴ Now, the Ruach Yahweh had left Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh tormented him. ¹⁵ Saul’s officials told him, “An evil spirit from Elohim is tormenting you. ¹⁶ Your Majesty, why don’t you command us to look for a man who can play the lyre well? When the evil spirit from Elohim comes to you, he’ll strum a tune, and you’ll feel better.”

¹⁷ Saul told his officials, “Please find me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸ One of the officials said, “I know one of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem who can play well. He’s a courageous man and a warrior. He has a way with words, he is handsome, and Yahweh is with him.”

¹⁹ Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”

²⁰ Jesse took six bushels of bread, a full wineskin, and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. ²¹ David came to Saul and served him. Saul loved him very much and made David his armorbearer. ²² Saul sent this message to Jesse, “Please let David stay with me because I have grown fond of him.”

²³ Whenever Elohim’s spirit came to Saul, David took the lyre and strummed a tune. Saul got relief from his terror and felt better, and the evil spirit left him.

A Woman Caught in Adultery

8 Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early the next morning he returned to the temple courtyard. All the people went to him, so he sat down and began to teach them.

³ The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone ⁴ and asked Yeshua, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the act of adultery. ⁵ In his teachings, Moses ordered us to stone women like this to death. What do you say?” ⁶ They asked this to test him. They wanted to find a reason to bring charges against him.

Yeshua bent down and used his finger to write on the ground. ⁷ When they persisted in asking him questions, he straightened up and said, “The person who is sinless should be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground.

⁹ One by one, beginning with the older men, the experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees left. Yeshua was left alone with the woman. ¹⁰ Then Yeshua straightened up and asked her, “Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?”

¹¹ The woman answered, “No one, sir.”

Yeshua said, “I don’t condemn you either. Go! From now on don’t sin.”

Jesus Speaks with the Pharisees about His Father

¹² Yeshua spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark.”

¹³ The Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony isn’t true.”

¹⁴ Yeshua replied to them, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I’m going. However, you don’t know where I came from or where I’m going. ¹⁵ You judge the way humans do. I don’t judge anyone. ¹⁶ Even if I do judge, my judgment is valid because I don’t make it on my own. I make my judgment with the Father who sent me. ¹⁷ Your own teachings say that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸ I testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.”

¹⁹ The Pharisees asked him, “Where is your father?”

Yeshua replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”

²⁰ Yeshua spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury area of the temple courtyard. No one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.

Psalm 110

A psalm by David.

Jonathan Defeats the Philistines

14 One day Saul’s son Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Let’s go to the Philistine military post on the other side.” But Jonathan didn’t tell his father he was going.

² Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree at Migron. He had with him about 600 men ³ in addition to Ahijah, the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub, who was the son of Phinehas and the grandson of Eli, the Lord’s priest at Shiloh. Ahijah was wearing the priestly ephod.^[a]

The troops didn’t know Jonathan had left. ⁴ There was a cliff on each side of the mountain pass where Jonathan searched for a way to cross over to attack the Philistine military post. The name of one cliff was Bozez, and the name of the other was Seneh. ⁵ One cliff stood like a pillar on the north facing Michmash, the other stood south facing Geba.

⁶ Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Let’s go to the military post of these uncircumcised people. Maybe the Lord will act on our behalf. The Lord can win a victory with a few men as well as with many.”

⁷ His armorbearer answered him, “Do whatever you have in mind. Go ahead! I agree with you.”

⁸ Jonathan continued, “Listen, we’ll cross over to the Philistines and show ourselves to them. ⁹ If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are until we come to you,’ then we’ll stay where we are and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say to us, ‘Come up here,’ then we’ll go up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has handed them over to us.”

¹¹ So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine troops. The Philistines said, “Look, some Hebrews are coming out of the holes they were hiding in.”

¹² “Come up here,” the men of the military post said to Jonathan and his armorbearer. “We have something to show you.”

Jonathan told his armorbearer, “Follow me up to the military post because the Lord has handed the troops over to Israel.”

¹³ Jonathan climbed up the cliff, and his armorbearer followed him. Jonathan struck down the Philistines. His armorbearer, who was behind him, finished killing them. ¹⁴ In their first slaughter Jonathan and his armorbearer killed about twenty men within about a hundred yards. ¹⁵ There was panic among the army in the field and all the troops in the military post. The raiding party also trembled in fear. The earth shook, and there was a panic sent from God.

¹⁶ Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin could see the crowd in the Philistine camp dispersing in all directions.

¹⁷ “Look around,” Saul told the troops who were with him, “and see who has left our camp.” They looked and found that Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there.

¹⁸ Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the priestly ephod,” because Ahijah carried the ephod in front of Israel that day. ^{[b] 19} While Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp grew worse and worse. Then Saul said to the priest, “Remove your hand from the ephod.” ^{[c] 20} Saul and all the troops with him assembled and went into battle. They found Philistine soldiers killing their fellow soldiers in wild confusion. ²¹ The Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before this and had been stationed in the camp now joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² When all the men of Israel who had been hiding in the mountains of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also pursued the Philistines in battle. ²³ So the Lord saved Israel that day.

Saul’s Curse

Now, the battle moved beyond Beth Aven. ²⁴ Israel’s soldiers were driven hard that day. Saul made the troops swear, “Cursed is anyone who eats food before the evening comes and before I’ve gotten revenge on my enemies.” So none of his troops tasted any food. ²⁵ The entire land had honeycombs,^[d] and there was honey on the ground. ²⁶ When the troops entered the woods, the honey was flowing. But no one put his hand to his mouth, because the troops were afraid of violating their oath.

²⁷ Jonathan hadn’t heard that his father forced the troops to take an oath. So he stretched out the tip of the staff he had in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. When he put it to his mouth, his eyes lit up. ²⁸ Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father forced the troops to take a solemn oath: ‘Cursed is anyone who eats food today.’”

Now, the army was exhausted. ²⁹ Jonathan answered, “My father has brought trouble to the country. See how my eyes lit up when I tasted a little of this honey? ³⁰ If only the troops had eaten some of the enemies’ food, which they found today. We would have killed more Philistines.”

³¹ That day they struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, but the troops were thoroughly exhausted. ³² So the troops seized the Philistines’ belongings. They took sheep, cows, and calves, and butchered them on the ground. The troops ate the meat with blood still in it. ³³ Some soldiers told Saul, “The troops are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with blood in it.”

Saul replied, “You have been unfaithful. Roll a large rock over to me now.” ³⁴ Then Saul said, “Spread out through the troops, and tell them, ‘Each of you, bring me your ox or your sheep, and butcher it here, and eat. But don’t sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood in it.’”

So each of the soldiers brought his ox with him that night and butchered it there.

³⁵ Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had built an altar to the Lord.

³⁶ Saul said to his men, “Let’s attack the Philistines tonight and take their possessions until the light of dawn. And let’s not leave any of them alive.”

“Do whatever you think is best,” they responded.

But the priest said, “Let’s consult God first.”

³⁷ Then Saul asked God, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to Israel?” But he received no answer that day.

³⁸ So Saul ordered all the leaders of the troops, “Come here! Find out what sin was committed today. ³⁹ I solemnly swear, as the Lord and Savior of Israel lives, even if it is my son Jonathan who did it, he must die.” But not one of the soldiers replied.

⁴⁰ Saul told all Israel, “You stand on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will stand on the other side.”

“Do whatever you think is best,” the troops responded to Saul.

⁴¹ Then Saul said to the Lord, “O God of Israel, why didn’t you answer me today? If this sin is mine or my son Jonathan’s, Lord God of Israel, let the priest draw Urim. But if it is in your people Israel,^[e] let him draw Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were chosen, and the people were freed from guilt.

⁴² “Choose between me and my son Jonathan,” Saul said. Then Jonathan was chosen.

⁴³ “Tell me,” Saul asked Jonathan. “What did you do?”

So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey on the tip of the staff I had in my hand. And for that I am to die?”

⁴⁴ Saul said, “May God do worse things to me than are in this curse if you do not die, Jonathan!”

⁴⁵ The troops asked Saul, “Should Jonathan die after he has won this great victory in Israel? That would be unthinkable! We solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, not a single hair of his head will fall to the ground, because he has done this with God’s help today.” So the troops rescued Jonathan from death. ⁴⁶ Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines. So the Philistines returned to their own land.

Summary of Saul’s Reign

⁴⁷ When Saul had taken over the kingdom of Israel, he fought against his enemies on every side—against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he was victorious. ⁴⁸ He acted forcefully and defeated Amalek. He rescued Israel from the enemies who looted their possessions.

⁴⁹ Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. The names of his two daughters were Merab (the firstborn daughter) and Michal (the younger daughter). ⁵⁰ The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Saul’s uncle Ner. ⁵¹ Kish (Saul’s father) and Ner (Abner’s father) were the sons of Abiel.

⁵² There was intense warfare with the Philistines as long as Saul lived. Whenever any warrior or any skilled fighting man came to Saul’s attention, Saul would enlist him in the army.

³¹ However, many people in the crowd believed in him. They asked, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more miracles than this man has?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd saying things like this about him. So the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Jesus.

³³ Jesus said, “I will still be with you for a little while. Then I’ll go to the one who sent me. ³⁴ You will look for me, but you won’t find me. You can’t go where I’m going.”

³⁵ The Jews said among themselves, “Where does this man intend to go so that we won’t find him? Does he mean that he’ll live with the Jews who are scattered among the Greeks and that he’ll teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean when he says, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me,’ and ‘You can’t go where I’m going’?”

³⁷ On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus was standing in the temple courtyard. He said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty must come to me to drink. ³⁸ As Scripture says, ‘Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.’” ³⁹ Jesus said this about the Spirit, whom his believers would receive. The Spirit was not yet evident, as it would be after Jesus had been glorified.

⁴⁰ After some of the crowd heard Jesus say these words, they said, “This man is certainly the prophet.” ⁴¹ Other people said, “This man is the Messiah.” Still other people asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴² Doesn’t Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the descendants of David and from the village of Bethlehem, where David lived?” ⁴³ So the people were divided because of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but they couldn’t.

⁴⁵ When the temple guards returned, the chief priests and Pharisees asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”

⁴⁶ The temple guards answered, “No human has ever spoken like this man.”

⁴⁷ The Pharisees asked the temple guards, “Have you been deceived too? ⁴⁸ Has any ruler or any Pharisee believed in him? ⁴⁹ This crowd is cursed because it doesn’t know Moses’ Teachings.”

⁵⁰ One of those Pharisees was Nicodemus, who had previously visited Jesus. Nicodemus asked them, ⁵¹ “Do Moses’ Teachings enable us to judge a person without first hearing that person’s side of the story? We can’t judge a person without finding out what that person has done.”

⁵² They asked Nicodemus, “Are you saying this because you’re from Galilee? Study the Scriptures, and you’ll see that no prophet comes from Galilee.”^[a]

⁵³ Then each of them went home.

Psalm 109

For the choir director; a psalm by David.

Psalm 110

A psalm by David.

Samuel’s Spotless Leadership

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you have said to me and appointed a king over you. ² And now, here is the king who will lead you. I am old and gray, but my sons are with you. I have led you from my youth until this day. ³ Here I am. Testify against me in front of the Lord and in front of his anointed king. Did I take anyone’s ox? Did I take anyone’s donkey? Did I cheat or oppress anyone? Did I take a bribe from anyone to look the other way? If so, I will give it all back.”

⁴ They answered, “You didn’t cheat us, oppress us, or take anything from anyone.”

⁵ Samuel told them, “The Lord is a witness to what you’ve said, and his anointed king is a witness today that you’ve found nothing in my hands.”

“He is a witness,” they answered.

⁶ Samuel told the people, “The Lord appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. ⁷ Now, stand up while I put you on trial in front of the Lord and cite all the righteous things the Lord did for you and your ancestors. ⁸ When your ancestors went with Jacob to Egypt and were oppressed, they cried out to the Lord, who sent Moses and Aaron to bring them out of Egypt. The Lord settled them in this place. ⁹ But they forgot the Lord their God. So he handed them over to Sisera, who was the commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. All of them fought against your ancestors. ¹⁰ Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned. We have abandoned the Lord and served other gods and goddesses—the Baals and the Astartes. But rescue us from our enemies now, and we will serve you.’

¹¹ “Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel and rescued you from your enemies on every side so that you could live securely. ¹² But when you saw King Nahash of Ammon coming to attack you, you told me, ‘No, a king should rule over us,’ though the Lord your God was your king.

The New Kingship

¹³ “Now, here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for. See, the Lord has put a king over you. ¹⁴ If you fear the Lord, serve him, obey him, and don’t rebel against what he says, then you and your king will follow the Lord your God. ¹⁵ But if you don’t obey the Lord, if you rebel against what he says, then the Lord will be against you as he was against your ancestors. ¹⁶ Now then, stand still and watch this great thing the Lord is going to do right before your eyes. ¹⁷ Isn’t the wheat being harvested today? I will call on the Lord, and he’ll send thunder and rain. Then you will realize what a wicked thing you did in the Lord’s presence when you asked for a king.”

¹⁸ Then Samuel called on the Lord. That day the Lord sent thunder and rain so that all the people feared the Lord and Samuel very much.

¹⁹ All the people pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us so that we will not die. We have added another evil thing to all our other sins by asking for a king.”

²⁰ “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel told the people. “You did do all these evil things. But don’t turn away from the Lord. Instead, serve the Lord wholeheartedly. ²¹ Don’t turn away to follow other gods. They can’t help or rescue you, because they don’t exist. ²² For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not abandon his people, because the Lord wants to make you his people. ²³ It would be unthinkable for me to sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. I will go on teaching you the way that is good and right. ²⁴ Fear the Lord, and serve him sincerely. Consider the great things he did for you. ²⁵ But if you go on doing what is evil, you and your king will be wiped out.”

The Lord Rejects Saul as King

13 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king of Israel forty-two years.^[a]

² Saul chose 3,000 men from Israel; 2,000 of them were stationed with Saul at Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and 1,000 were stationed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. But the rest of the people he sent home.

³ Jonathan defeated the Philistine troops at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. With the sounding of the ram’s horn throughout the land, Saul announced, “Listen, Hebrews!” ⁴ (So all Israel listened.) “I, Saul, have defeated the Philistine troops, and now Israel has become offensive to the Philistines!” All the troops rallied behind Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines assembled to fight against Israel. They had 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and as many soldiers as the sand on the seashore. They camped at Michmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶ When the Israelites saw they were in trouble because the army was hard-pressed, they hid in caves, in thorny thickets, among rocks, in pits, and in cisterns. ⁷ Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan River into the territory of Gad and Gilead. But Saul remained in Gilgal, and all the people who followed him trembled in fear.

⁸ He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel. But Samuel had not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to scatter. ⁹ Then Saul said, “Bring me the animals for the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” So he sacrificed the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As he finished sacrificing the burnt offering, Samuel came, and Saul went to greet him.

¹¹ Samuel asked, “What have you done?”

Saul replied, “I saw the troops were scattering. You didn’t come when you said you would, and the Philistines were assembling at Michmash. ¹² So I thought, ‘Now, the Philistines will come against me at Gilgal, but I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor.’ I felt pressured into sacrificing the burnt offering.”

¹³ “You did a foolish thing,” Samuel told Saul. “You didn’t follow the command of the Lord your God. If you had, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel permanently. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not last. The Lord has searched for a man after his own heart. The Lord has appointed him as ruler of his people, because you didn’t follow the command of the Lord.”

¹⁵ Samuel left Gilgal. The rest of the people followed Saul to meet the soldiers. They went from Gilgal^[b] to Gibeah in Benjamin, where Saul counted the troops who were still with him—about 600 men. ¹⁶ Saul, his son Jonathan, and the troops who were with them stayed at Geba in Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash.

¹⁷ Raiding parties left the Philistine camp in three columns. One column turned onto the road to Ophrah to the region of Shual. ¹⁸ Another column turned onto the road to Beth Horon. And one turned onto the road toward the region that overlooks the valley of Zeboim and the desert.

¹⁹ No blacksmith could be found in the entire land of Israel. In this way the Philistines kept the Hebrews from making swords and spears. ²⁰ Everyone in Israel had to go to the Philistines to sharpen the blade of his plow, his mattock, ax, or sickle. ²¹ The price was a pim^[c] for plow blades and mattocks, and one-tenth of an ounce of silver to sharpen a mattock^[d] or set a metal point on a cattle-prod. ²² So on the day of battle, not one sword or spear could be found among all the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan. But Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

²³ Now, Philistine troops had gone out to the pass at Michmash.

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Booths

7 Jesus later traveled throughout Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea because Jews there wanted to kill him.

² The time for the Jewish Festival of Booths was near. ³ So Jesus’ brothers told him, “Leave this place, and go to Judea so that your disciples can see the things that you’re doing. ⁴ No one does things secretly when he wants to be known publicly. If you do these things, you should let the world see you.” ⁵ Even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

⁶ Jesus told them, “Now is not the right time for me to go. Any time is right for you. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I say that what everyone does is evil. ⁸ Go to the festival. I’m not going to this festival right now. Now is not the right time for me to go.”

⁹ After saying this, Jesus stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone to the festival, Jesus went. He didn’t go publicly but secretly.

¹¹ The Jews were looking for Jesus in the crowd at the festival. They kept asking, “Where is that man?” ¹² The crowds argued about Jesus. Some people said, “He’s a good man,” while others said, “No he isn’t. He deceives the people.” ¹³ Yet, no one would talk openly about him because they were afraid of the Jews.

¹⁴ When the festival was half over, Jesus went to the temple courtyard and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews were surprised and asked, “How can this man be so educated when he hasn’t gone to school?”

¹⁶ Jesus responded to them, “What I teach doesn’t come from me but from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Those who want to follow the will of God will know if what I teach is from God or if I teach my own thoughts. ¹⁸ Those who speak their own thoughts are looking for their own glory. But the man who wants to bring glory to the one who sent him is a true teacher and doesn’t have dishonest motives. ¹⁹ Didn’t Moses give you his teachings? Yet, none of you does what Moses taught you. So why do you want to kill me?”

²⁰ The crowd answered, “You’re possessed by a demon! Who wants to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus answered them, “I performed one miracle, and all of you are surprised by it. ²² Moses gave you the teaching about circumcision (although it didn’t come from Moses but from our ancestors). So you circumcise a male on a day of rest—a holy day. ²³ If you circumcise a male on the day of rest—a holy day, to follow Moses’ Teachings, why are you angry with me because I made a man entirely well on the day of rest—a holy day? ²⁴ Stop judging by outward appearance! Instead, judge correctly.”

²⁵ Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? ²⁶ But look at this! He’s speaking in public, and no one is saying anything to him! Can it be that the rulers really know that this man is the Messiah? ²⁷ However, we know where this man comes from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then, while Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard, he said loudly, “You know me, and you know where I come from. I didn’t decide to come on my own. The one who sent me is true. He’s the one you don’t know. ²⁹ I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰ The Jews tried to arrest him but couldn’t because his time had not yet come.