1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over His inheritance? 2When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

3 Then you will go on from there until you 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. 4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands.

5 After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

7 When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you. 8And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”

9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day. 10When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them.

11 When all those who had formerly known Saul saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

12 Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

13 And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.

14 Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?”

“To look for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

15“Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?”

16 And Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

17 After this, Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah 18and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

20 Thus Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. 21Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him. 22So again they inquired of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”

And the Lord replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

23 So they ran and brought Saul, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others. 24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”

And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

25 Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.

26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.

27 But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.

1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition, that I may put out everyone’s right eye and bring reproach upon all Israel.”

3“Hold off for seven days,” replied the elders of Jabesh, “and let us send messengers throughout Israel. If there is no one to save us, we will surrender to you.”

4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.

5 Just then Saul was returning from the field, behind his oxen. “What troubles the people?” asked Saul. “Why are they weeping?” And they relayed to him the words of the men from Jabesh.

6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he burned with great anger. 7He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent them by messengers throughout the land of Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not march behind Saul and Samuel.”

Then the terror of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out together as one man. 8And when Saul numbered them at Bezek, there were 300,000 Israelites and 30,000 men of Judah. 9So they said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’”

And when the messengers relayed this to the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced.

10 Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do with us whatever seems good to you.”

11 The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Bring those men here so we can kill them!”

13 But Saul ordered, “No one shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.”

14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”

15 So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. 44“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me — 46not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.

47 Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.

56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

59 Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching , Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?

63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64However, there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.)

65 Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.”

66 From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

70 Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.