1 Samuel 10, Romans 8, Jeremiah 47, Psalm 23, 24

1 Samuel 10,

1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?
 
2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried 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 God at Bethel 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, which you will accept from them.
 
5 "After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.
 
6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.
 
7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
 
8 "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."
 
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.
 
10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying.
 
11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
 
12 A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
 
13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
 
14 Now Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," 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 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
 
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 you.'
 
19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans."
 
20 When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.
 
21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found.
 
22 So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?" And the LORD said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage."
 
23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.
 
24 Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
 
25 Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.
 
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.
 
27 But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
 

Romans 8,

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
 
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
 
3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
 
4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
 
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
 
6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
 
7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
 
8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
 
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
 
10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
 
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
 
12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
 
13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
 
14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
 
15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
 
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
 
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
 
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
 
19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
 
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
 
21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
 
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
 
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
 
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
 
25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
 
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
 
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
 
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
 
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
 
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
 
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
 
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
 
34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
 
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
 
36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
 
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
 
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
 
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 

Jeremiah 47,

1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:
 
2 This is what the LORD says: "See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail
 
3 at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Fathers will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp.
 
4 For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
 
5 Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves?
 
6 " 'Ah, sword of the LORD,' you cry, 'how long till you rest? Return to your scabbard; cease and be still.'
 
7 But how can it rest when the LORD has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?"
 

Psalm 23, 24

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
 
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
 
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
 
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
 
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
 
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
 

    
1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
 
2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
 
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
 
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
 
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
 
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah
 
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
 
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
 
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
 
10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-he is the King of glory. Selah