1 Samuel 15, Romans 13, Jeremiah 52, Psalm 31

1 Samuel 15,

1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD.
 
2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.
 
3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "
 
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim-two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah.
 
5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine
 
6 Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
 
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt.
 
8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
 
9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs-everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
 
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel:
 
11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.
 
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."
 
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
 
14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
 
15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
 
16 "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul replied.
 
17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.
 
18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.'
 
19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?"
 
20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.
 
21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
 
22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
 
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
 
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.
 
25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."
 
26 But Samuel said to him, " will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"
 
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore.
 
28 Samuel said to him, "he LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors-to one better than you.
 
29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
 
30 Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God."
 
31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
 
32 Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites." Agag came to him confidently, thinking, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
 
33 But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women." And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal.
 
34 Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
 
35 Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
 

Romans 13,

1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
 
2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
 
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
 
4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
 
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
 
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.
 
7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
 
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
 
9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
 
10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
 
11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
 
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
 
13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
 
14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
 

Jeremiah 52,

1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
 
2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.
 
3 It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
 
4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They camped outside the city and built siege works all around it.
 
5 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
 
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.
 
7 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,
 
8 but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered,
 
9 and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him.
 
10 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah.
 
11 Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.
 
12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
 
13 He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.
 
14 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.
 
15 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon.
 
16 But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
 
17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.
 
18 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
 
19 The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings-all that were made of pure gold or silver.
 
20 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the LORD, was more than could be weighed.
 
21 Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow.
 
22 The bronze capital on top of the one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar.
 
23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.
 
24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.
 
25 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of his men who were found in the city.
 
26 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
 
27 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed. So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.
 
28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
 
29 in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;
 
30 in his twenty-third year, 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard. There were 4,600 people in all.
 
31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month.
 
32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
 
33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table.
 
34 Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death.
 

Psalm 31

1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
 
2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
 
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
 
4 Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.
 
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.
 
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD.
 
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
 
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.
 
9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
 
10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.
 
11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends-those who see me on the street flee from me.
 
12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.
 
13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.
 
14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
 
15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
 
16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
 
17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave.
 
18 Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
 
19 How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.
 
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.
 
21 Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.
 
22 In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.
 
23 Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.
 
24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.