The Daily Audio Bible

Samuel Rebukes Israel

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all you said to me, and have set a king over you. ² Now here is the king who will go before you, while I am old and gray. Also here are my sons with you. I have gone before you from my youth to this day. ³ Here I am. Witness against me before Adonai and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken or whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded or whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to look the other way? I will restore it to you.”

⁴ They replied, “You haven’t defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “Adonai is then a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.”

“He is a witness,” they replied.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is Adonai who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ So now, stand still, so that I may plead with you before Adonai concerning all the righteous acts of Adonai, which He did for you and your fathers. ⁸ When Jacob entered Egypt and your fathers cried out to Adonai, then Adonai sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹ But they forgot Adonai their God, so He gave them over into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, who fought against them. ¹⁰ So they cried out to Adonai and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken Adonai and have worshipped the Baalim and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us from the hand of our enemies and we will worship You.’ ¹¹ Then Adonai sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies on every side, so that you might live securely. ¹² But when you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites marching against you, you said to me, ‘No! But a king must reign over us!’—even though Adonai your God is your king.

¹³ “Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have asked for, and behold, Adonai has set him as king over you. ¹⁴ If you fear Adonai and worship Him, and listen to His voice and do not rebel against the command of Adonai, then both you as well as the king who reigns over you will be following Adonai your God. ¹⁵ But if you do not listen to the voice of Adonai and rebel against the command of Adonai, then the hand of Adonai will be against you and against your fathers. ¹⁶ Now stand by and see this great thing that Adonai will do before your eyes. ¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest season today? I will call to Adonai, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of Adonai by asking for yourselves a king.”

¹⁸ So Samuel prayed to Adonai, and Adonai sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Adonai and Samuel, ¹⁹ and all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to Adonai your God, that we would not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”

²⁰ Samuel said to the people, “Fear not! Indeed you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following Adonai, but worship Adonai with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn aside to go after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are futile. ²² For Adonai will not forsake His people for His great Name’s sake,^[a] because it has pleased Adonai to make you a people to Himself. ²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Adonai by ceasing to pray for you! Yet I will keep instructing you in the good and straight way. ²⁴ Only fear Adonai and worship Him in truth with all your heart, considering how magnificently He has dealt with you. ²⁵ But if you persist in acting wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king.”

Saul’s Misguided Sacrifice

13 Saul was 30 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for 42 years over Israel. ² Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmas and in the hill country of Beth-el, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the troops he sent away, each one to his tent.

³ Now Jonathan struck down the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. So Saul blew the shofar throughout the country, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴ All Israel heard the news, “Saul had struck down the garrison of the Philistines, so Israel has become a stench to the Philistines.” Then the people were summoned to Saul at Gilgal. ⁵ Meanwhile the Philistines assembled themselves to fight with Israel: 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They marched up and camped in Michmas, east of Beth-aven.

⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble, because the people were hard-pressed, they hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, crevices and pits. ⁷ Some of the Hebrews even crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, but all the people following him were trembling.

⁸ So he waited seven days—the time set by Samuel—but Samuel had not come to Gilgal so the people began to scatter from him. ⁹ Then Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings,” so he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ But as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and greet him. ¹¹ But Samuel asked, “What have you done?”

Saul replied, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you had not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmas, ¹² I thought: ‘Now the Philistines are about to advance against me at Gilgal, but I have not yet entreated Adonai.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”

¹³ Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly by not keeping the commandment of Adonai your God which He commanded you. For now, Adonai would have established your kingship over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingship will not last. Adonai has sought for Himself a man after His own heart. So Adonai will appoint him as ruler over His people—because you have not guarded what Adonai commanded you.” ¹⁵ Samuel then departed and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.

Then Saul numbered the troops that were with him, about 600 men. ¹⁶ Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people that were present with them were staying in Gibeah of Benjamin, while the Philistines encamped in Michmas. ¹⁷ Raiders started to come out from the camp of the Philistines in three detachments: one detachment turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ another detachment turned toward Beth-horon, and the third detachment turned toward the border road overlooking the Zeboim Wadi toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now no blacksmith could be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” ²⁰ So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his sickle, his axe or his hoe. ²¹ The price of sharpening was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the sickles, the three-pronged forks or the axes, or to set the oxgoads. ²² So it came about on the day of battle, there was no sword or spear to be found in the hand of any of the troops that were with Saul and Jonathan—only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. ²³ Then the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmas.

Anticipating Hostility at Sukkot

7 After these events, Yeshua was walking about in the Galilee. He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Judean leaders wanted to kill Him. ² Now the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles^[a] was near. ³ Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so Your disciples also may see the works You are doing. ⁴ No one who wants to be well known does everything in secret. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world!” ⁵ For not even His brothers were trusting in Him.

⁶ Therefore Yeshua said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always at hand. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go on up to the Feast. I’m not going to this feast, because My time hasn’t yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying these things, He stayed in the Galilee.

¹⁰ But after His brothers went to the Feast, He also went, not openly but secretly. ¹¹ Then the Judean leaders were searching for Him at the Feast and kept asking, “Where is that fellow?” ¹² There was a lot of murmuring about Him in the crowds. Some were saying, “He is good.” But others were saying, “Not so! He leads the people astray.” ¹³ Yet no one spoke openly about Him for fear of the Judean leaders.

Teaching at the Temple

¹⁴ About halfway through the Feast, Yeshua went up to the Temple and began teaching. ¹⁵ Then the Judean leaders were amazed, saying, “How does this man know so much, having never been taught?”^[b]

¹⁶ Yeshua answered, “My teaching is not from Me, but from Him who sent Me. ¹⁷ If anyone wants to do His will, he will know whether My teaching comes from God or it is Myself speaking. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true and there is no unrighteousness in Him. ¹⁹ Hasn’t Moses given you the Torah? Yet none of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?”

²⁰ The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who’s trying to kill you?”

²¹ Yeshua answered, “I did one good work, and all of you are amazed. ²² Because Moses has given you circumcision (though it is not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a man on Shabbat. ²³ If a man receives circumcision on Shabbat so that the Torah of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry that I healed a man’s whole body on Shabbat? ²⁴ Do not judge by appearance, but judge righteously.”

²⁵ Then some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the person they’re trying to kill? ²⁶ Look, He speaks openly and they’re saying nothing to Him. Can it be that the leaders know He is the Messiah? ²⁷ But we know where this person is from. But the Messiah, whenever He may come, no one knows where He is from.”

²⁸ Then, while teaching in the Temple courts, Yeshua cried out, “You know both who I am and where I am from! I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, ²⁹ but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent Me.”

³⁰ Then they were trying to seize Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

With God We Do Valiantly

Psalm 108