One Year Bible.

Saul’s Disobedience

¹Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. ²This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them on their way up from Egypt. ³Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

⁴So Saul summoned the troops and numbered them at Telaim — 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. ⁵Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.”

So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

⁷Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.

⁹Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to devote them to destruction, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.

Samuel Denounces Saul

¹⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.”

And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.

¹²Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”

¹³When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”

¹⁴But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”

¹⁵Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.”

¹⁶“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

¹⁷And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel ¹⁸and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”

²⁰“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”

²²But Samuel declared:

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obedience to His voice?

Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice,

and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

He has rejected you as king.”

Saul’s Confession

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.”

²⁶“I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.”

²⁷As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. ²⁹Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”

³⁰“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”

³¹So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”

Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³But Samuel declared:

“As your sword has made women childless,

so your mother will be childless among women.”

And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Samuel Anoints David

¹Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”

²“How can I go?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear of it and kill me!”

The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ ³Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you are to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.”

⁴So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”

⁵“In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”

Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.”

⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

⁹Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

¹⁰Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel told him, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.”

¹¹And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.”

“Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

¹²So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”

¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

David Serves Saul

¹⁴Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him. ¹⁵Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.”

¹⁷And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.”

¹⁸One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.”

¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”

²⁰And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat and sent them to Saul with his son David. ²¹When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.

²²Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” ²³And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.

Paul’s First Missionary Journey Begins

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen ( who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch ), and Saul. ²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

On Cyprus

⁴So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. ⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper.

⁶They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas ¹⁰and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and for a time you will be blind and unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

¹³After setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. ¹⁴And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down. ¹⁵After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent word to them: “Brothers, if you have a word of encouragement for the people, please speak.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who fear God, listen to me! ¹⁷The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of that land. ¹⁸He endured their conduct for about forty years in the wilderness. ¹⁹And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance. ²⁰All this took about 450 years.

After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. ²²After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’

²³From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised. ²⁴Before the arrival of Jesus, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵As John was completing his course, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not that One. But there is One coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. ²⁷The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed.

²⁹When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ³⁰But God raised Him from the dead, ³¹and for many days He was seen by those who had accompanied Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to our people.

³²And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers ³³He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

‘You are My Son;

today I have become Your Father.’

³⁴In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said:

‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

³⁵So also, He says in another Psalm:

‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’

³⁶For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay. ³⁷But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰Watch out, then, that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you:

⁴¹‘Look, you scoffers,

wonder and perish!

For I am doing a work in your days

that you would never believe,

even if someone told you.’”

A Light for the Gentiles

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath. ⁴³After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. ⁴⁹And the word of the Lord spread throughout that region.

⁵⁰The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district. ⁵¹So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. ⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

¹At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. ²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

⁴The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles. ⁵But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them, ⁶they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region, ⁷where they continued to preach the gospel.

The Visit to Lystra and Derbe

⁸In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. ⁹This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed. ¹⁰In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.

¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. ¹⁶In past generations, He let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

¹⁸Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead. ²⁰But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

Strengthening the Disciples

²¹They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²²strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

²³Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

²⁴After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. ²⁵And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed. ²⁷When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they spent a long time there with the disciples.