1 Samuel 9-10, Acts 8 - NASB Bible Online

1 Samuel 9-10

Saul’s Search

Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^aKish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of ¹valor. 2 He had a son whose name was Saul, a ^achoice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; ^bfrom his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.
3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take now with you one of the servants, and arise, go search for the donkeys.” 4 He passed through ^athe hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^bShalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^cShaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.
5 When they came to the land of ^aZuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let us return, ^bor else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us.” 6 He said to him, “Behold now, there is ^aa man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^ball that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, ^cperhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out.” 7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack and there is ^ano present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 8 The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will ^atell us our way.” 9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called ^aa seer.) 10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.
11 As they went up the slope to the city, ^athey found young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 12 They answered them and said, “He is; ¹see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for ^athe people have a sacrifice on ^bthe high place today. 13 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 until he comes, because ^ahe must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up for you will find him at once.” 14 So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

God’s Choice for King

15 Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^athe Lord had ¹revealed this to Samuel saying, 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and ^ayou shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ^bI have regarded My people, because their cry has come to Me.” 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord ¹said to him, “^aBehold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall rule over My people.” 18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” 19 Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20 ^aAs for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And ^bfor whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?” 21 Saul replied, “^aAm I not a Benjamite, of ^bthe smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the ¹tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?”
22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men. 23 Samuel said to the cook, “¹Bring the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said to you, ‘Set it ²aside.’” 24 Then the cook ^atook up the leg with what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been reserved! Set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, ¹since I said I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25 When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul ^aon the ¹roof. 26 And they arose early; and at daybreak Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, that I may send you away.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. 27 As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Say to the servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on, but you remain standing now, that I may proclaim the word of God to you.”

Saul among Prophets

Then ^aSamuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, ^bkissed him and said, “Has not ^cthe Lord anointed you a ruler over ^dHis inheritance? 2 When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to ^aRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘^bThe donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has ¹ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3 Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the ¹^aoak of Tabor, and there three men going up ^bto God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine; 4 and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. 5 Afterward you will come to ¹^athe hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet ^ba group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and ^cthey will be prophesying. 6 Then ^athe Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and ^byou shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. 7 It shall be when these signs come to you, ^ado for yourself what ¹the occasion requires, for ^bGod is with you. 8 And ^ayou shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^bsacrifice peace offerings. ^cYou shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.”
9 Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God ^achanged ¹his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10 ^aWhen they came to ¹the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. 11 It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? ^aIs Saul also among the prophets?” 12 A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “^aIs Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
14 Now ^aSaul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^bTo look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 So Saul said to his uncle, “^aHe told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

Saul Publicly Chosen King

17 Thereafter Samuel called the ^apeople together to the Lord at Mizpah; 18 and he said to the sons of Israel, “^aThus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the ¹power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But you ^ahave today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have ¹said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ Now therefore, ^bpresent yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”
20 Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore ^athey inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” So the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.” 23 So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, ^ahe was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^awhom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “¹^bLong live the king!”
25 Then Samuel told the people ^athe ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and ^bplaced it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. 26 Saul also went ^ato his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But certain ¹^aworthless men said, “How can this one deliver us?” And they despised him and ^bdid not bring him any present. But he kept silent.

Acts 8

Saul Persecutes the Church

^aSaul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution ¹began against ^bthe church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^cscattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^dSamaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But ^aSaul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and ^bdragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

4 Therefore, those ^awho had been scattered went about ¹^bpreaching the word. 5 ^aPhilip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming ¹Christ to them. 6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ¹signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had ^aunclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^bparalyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was ^amuch rejoicing in that city.
9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing ^amagic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^bclaiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “^aThis man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his ^amagic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip ^apreaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being ^bbaptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^asigns and ^bgreat miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
14 Now when ^athe apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^bPeter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them ^athat they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had ^anot yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^bbaptized ¹in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they ^abegan laying their hands on them, and they were ^breceiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could ^aobtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have ^ano part or portion in this ¹matter, for your heart is not ^bright before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, ^aif possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in ^athe ¹bondage of iniquity.” 24 But Simon answered and said, “^aPray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

25 So, when they had solemnly ^atestified and spoken ^bthe word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^cpreaching the gospel to many villages of the ^dSamaritans.
26 But ^aan angel of the Lord spoke to ^bPhilip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^cGaza.” (¹This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and ^athere was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^bhad come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his ¹chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then ^athe Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ¹chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“^aHe was led as a sheep to slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He does not open His mouth.

“^aIn humiliation His judgment was taken away;

Who will ¹relate His ²generation?

For His life is removed from the earth.”

34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip ^aopened his mouth, and ^bbeginning from this Scripture he ^cpreached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^aWhat prevents me from being baptized?” 37 [¹And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he ordered the ¹chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, ^athe Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ¹but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip ¹found himself at ²^aAzotus, and as he passed through he ^bkept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to ^cCaesarea.

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