A reading from 1 Samuel. There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Bacchoreth, son of Haphaya, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, Take one of the young men with you and arise. Go and look for the donkeys. And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shalom, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them. When they came to the land of Zov, Saul said to his servant who was with him, Let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us. But he said to him, Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor. All that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go. Then Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what can we bring the man for the bread in our sacks is gone and there is no present to bring to the man of God? What do we have? The servant answered Saul again, Here I have with me a quarter of a shekel of silver and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way. Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, Come, let us go to the seer for today's prophet was formerly called a seer. And Saul said to his servant, Well said, Come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, Is the seer here? They answered, He is. Behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry, he has come just now to the city because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat for the people will not eat till he comes since he must bless the sacrifice. Afterward, those who are invited will eat. Now go up for you will meet him immediately. So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place. Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel tomorrow about this time, I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be Prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen my people because their cry has come to me. When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall restrain my people. Then Saul approached Samuel and the gate and said, Tell me, where is the house of the seer? Samuel answered Saul, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place for today you shall eat with me. And in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house? Saul answered, Am I not a Benjamin knight from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way? Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about 30 persons, and Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, put it aside. So the cook took up the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests. So Saul ate with Samuel that day. And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof and he lay down to sleep. Then at the break of dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof. And he said, I am up, that I may send you on your way. So Saul arose and both he and Samuel went out into the street. As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Tell the servants to pass on before us. And when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God. Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelza. And they will say to you, the donkeys that you went to seek are found. And now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you saying, what shall I do about my son? Then you shall go on from their father and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. After that you shall come to Gibeath Elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines, and there as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and leer before them, prophesying. Then the spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do for God is with you. Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burn offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait until I come to you and show you what you shall do. When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him and the spirit of God rushed upon him and he prophesied among them. And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, what has come over the son of Kish? It saw also among the prophets and a man of the place answered. And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb. It saw also among the prophets. When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, where did you go? And he said, to seek the donkeys. And when we saw there were not to be found, we went to Samuel. And Saul's uncle said, please tell me what Samuel said to you. And Saul said to his uncle, he told us plainly that the donkeys had been found. But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything. Now, Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Misbah. And he said to the people of Israel, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. I brought up Israel out of Egypt and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses. And you have said to him, set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands. Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by Lot. He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans and the clan of the Matrites was taken by Lot and Saul, the son of Kish, was taken by Lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. So they inquired again of the Lord. Is there a man still to come? And the Lord said, behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage. Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. And Samuel said to all the people, do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people. And all the people shouted, long live the king. Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship. And he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. Saul also went to his home at Ghibia. And with him went men of Valor whose hearts God had touched. But some worthless fellows said, how can this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace. A reading from the book of Psalms. Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a soljourner on the earth. Hide not your commandments from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones who wander from your commandments. Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors. A reading from the book of 2 Corinthians. Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the Church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength, that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom, but by the grace of God and supremely so toward you. For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand, and I hope you will fully understand, just as you did partially understand us, that on the day of our Lord Jesus, you will boast of us as we will boast of you. Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, and I might have a second experience of grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say yes, yes, and no, no at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Sylvainus and Timothy and I, is not yes and no, but in him it is always yes. For all the promises of God find there yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us, and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against me. It was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth, not that we lorded over your faith, that we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you, for if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice. For I felt sure of all of you that my joy would be the joy of you all, for I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him, for this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs. When I came to Chowaz to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me and the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there, so I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere, for we are the aroma of Christ to God, among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, to the sight of God we speak in Christ.
