Bible Reading Plan

¹ Then Samuel took a flask^(a) of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the Lord anointed^(b) you ruler over his inheritance?^{[a](c) 2} When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb,^(d) at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys^(e) you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried^(f) about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?"'

³ "Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel^(g) will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread,^(h) which you will accept from them.

⁵ "After that you will go to Gibeah⁽ⁱ⁾ of God, where there is a Philistine outpost.^(j) As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets^(k) coming down from the high place^(l) with lyres, timbrels,^(m) pipes⁽ⁿ⁾ and harps^(o) being played before them, and they will be prophesying.^{(p) 6} The Spirit^(q) of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed^(r) into a different person. ⁷ Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever^(s) your hand^(t) finds to do, for God is with^(u) you.

⁸ "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal.^(v) I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven^(w) days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."

Saul Made King

⁹ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed^(x) Saul's heart, and all these signs^(y) were fulfilled^(z) that day. ¹⁰ When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit^(aa) of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.^{(ab) 11} When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this^(ac) that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"^(ad)

¹² A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?"^{(ae) 13} After Saul stopped prophesying,^(af) he went to the high place.

¹⁴ Now Saul's uncle^(ag) asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?"

"Looking for the donkeys,^(ah)" he said. "But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel."

¹⁵ Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you."

¹⁶ Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys^(ai) had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

¹⁷ Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah^{(aj) 18} and said to them, "This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed^(ak) you.' ¹⁹ But you have now rejected^(al) your God, who saves^(am) you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king^(an) over us.'^(ao) So now present^(ap) yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans."

²⁰ When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was taken.^(aq) Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. ²² So they inquired^(ar) further of the Lord , "Has the man come here yet?"

And the Lord said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies."

²³ They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller^(as) than any of the others. ²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the Lord has chosen?^(at) There is no one like^(au) him among all the people."

Then the people shouted, "Long live^(av) the king!"

²⁵ Samuel explained^(aw) to the people the rights and duties^(ax) of kingship.^(ay) He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord . Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.

²⁶ Saul also went to his home in Gibeah,^(az) accompanied by valiant men^(ba) whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷ But some scoundrels^(bb) said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts.^(bc) But Saul kept silent.

Chapter 19

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

¹ Jesus entered Jericho^(a) and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig^(b) tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.^(c)

⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."^(d)

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,^(e) "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,^(f) I will pay back four times the amount."^(g)

⁹ Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.^{(h) 10} For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."⁽ⁱ⁾

The Parable of the Ten Minas^(j)

¹¹ While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God^(k) was going to appear at once.^{(l) 12} He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. ¹³ So he called ten of his servants^(m) and gave them ten minas.^[a] ‘Put this money to work,' he said, ‘until I come back.'

¹⁴ "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don't want this man to be our king.'

¹⁵ "He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

¹⁶ "The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.'

¹⁷ "‘Well done, my good servant!'⁽ⁿ⁾ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'^(o)

¹⁸ "The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.'

¹⁹ "His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.'

²⁰ "Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹ I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.'^(p)

²² "His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words,^(q) you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow?^{(r) 23} Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

²⁴ "Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'

²⁵ "‘Sir,' they said, ‘he already has ten!'

²⁶ "He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.^{(s) 27} But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"