1 And it happened that, when Samuel had become old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.
2 Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of the second was Abijah: judges at Beersheba.
3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. Instead, they turned aside, pursuing avarice. And they accepted bribes, and they perverted judgment.
4 Therefore, all those greater by birth of Israel, having gathered together, went to Samuel at Ramah.
5 And they said to him: “Behold, you are elderly, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Appoint for us a king, so that he may judge us, just as all the nations have.”
6 And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, for they had said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they are saying to you. For they have not rejected you, but me, lest I reign over them.
8 In accord with all their works, which they have done from the day when I led them away from Egypt, even to this day: just as they have forsaken me, and served foreign gods, so now they also do to you.
9 Now therefore, hear their voice. Yet truly, testify to them and foretell to them the rights of the king who will reign over them.”
10 And so, Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people, who had petitioned a king from him.
11 And he said: “This will be the right of the king who will have authority over you: He will take your sons, and place them in his chariots. And he will make them his horsemen and his runners before his four-horse chariots.
12 And he will appoint them to be his tribunes and centurions, and the plowmen of his fields, and the harvesters of the grain, and the makers of his weapons and chariots.
13 Likewise, your daughters he will take for himself as makers of ointments, and as cooks and bakers.
14 Also, he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best olive groves, and he will give them to his servants.
15 Moreover, he will take one tenth of your grain and of the results of your vineyards, so that he may give these to his eunuchs and servants.
16 Then, too, he will take your servants, and handmaids, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and he will set them to his work.
17 Also, he will take a tenth of your flocks. And you will be his servants.
18 And you will cry out, in that day, from the face of the king, whom you have chosen for yourselves. And the Lord will not heed you, in that day. For you requested a king for yourselves.”
19 But the people were not willing to listen to the voice of Samuel. Instead, they said: “By no means! For there shall be a king over us,
20 and we shall be just like all the Gentiles. And our king will judge us, and he will go out before us, and he will fight our wars for us.”
21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he spoke them to the ears of the Lord.
22 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and appoint a king over them.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Let each one go to his own city.”
1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man of Benjamin, strong and robust.
2 And he had a son called Saul, an elect and good man. And there was not a man among the sons of Israel better than he was. For he stood head and shoulders above all the people.
3 Now the donkeys of Kish, the father of Saul, had become lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, “Take with you one of the servants, and rising up, go out and seek the donkeys.” And when they had passed through mount Ephraim,
4 and through the land of Shalishah, and had not found them, they crossed also through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there, and through the land of Benjamin, and they found nothing.
5 And when they had arrived in the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, and let us return, otherwise perhaps my father may forget the donkeys, and become anxious over us.”
6 And he said to him: “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, a noble man. All that he says, happens without fail. Now therefore, let us go there. For perhaps he may tell us about our way, because of which we have arrived.”
7 And Saul said to his servant: “Behold, let us go. But what will we bring to the man of God? The bread in our sacks has run out. And we have no small gift that we might give to the man of God, nor anything at all.”
8 The servant again responded to Saul, and he said: “Behold, there is found in my hand a coin of the fourth part of a stater. Let us give it to the man of God, so that he may reveal to us our way.”
9 (In past times, in Israel, anyone going to consult God would speak in this way, “Come, and let us go to the seer.” For one who is called a prophet today, in past times was called a seer.)
10 And Saul said to his servant: “Your word is very good. Come, let us go.” And they went into the city, where the man of God was.
11 And as they were ascending the slope to the city, they found some young women going out to draw water. And they said to them, “Is the seer here?”
12 And responding, they said to them: “He is. Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry now. For he came into the city today, since there is a sacrifice for the people today, on the high place.
13 Upon entering the city, you should find him immediately, before he ascends to the high place for the meal. And the people will not eat until he has arrived. For he blesses the victim, and thereafter those who were called will eat. Now therefore, go up. For you will find him today.”
14 And they ascended into the city. And as they were walking in the midst of the city, Samuel appeared, advancing to meet them, so that he might ascend to the high place.
15 Now the Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel, one day before Saul had arrived, saying:
16 Tomorrow, at the same hour that it is now, I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. And you shall anoint him to be the leader over my people Israel. And he will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked with favor upon my people, because their outcry has reached me.
17 And when Samuel had caught sight of Saul, the Lord said to him: “Behold, the man about whom I spoke to you. This one shall rule over my people.”
18 Then Saul drew near to Samuel, at the middle of the gate, and he said, “Tell me, I beg you: where is the house of the seer?”
19 And Samuel responded to Saul, saying: “I am the seer. Ascend before me to the high place, so that you may eat with me today. And I will send you away in the morning. And I shall reveal to you everything that is in your heart.
20 And concerning the donkeys, which were lost the day before yesterday, you should not be anxious, for they have been found. And all the best things of Israel, for whom should they be? Will they not be for you and for all your father’s house?”
21 And responding, Saul said: “Am I not a son of Benjamin, the least tribe of Israel, and are not my kindred the last among all the families from the tribe of Benjamin? So then, why would you speak this word to me?”
22 And so Samuel, taking Saul and his servant, brought them into the dining room, and he gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. For there were about thirty men.
23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Present the portion that I gave to you, and which I instructed you to set apart beside you.”
24 Then the cook lifted up the shoulder, and he placed it before Saul. And Samuel said: “Behold, what remains, set it before you and eat. For it was preserved for you intentionally, when I called the people.” And Saul ate with Samuel on that day.
25 And they descended from the high place into the town, and he spoke with Saul in the upper room. And he set out a bed for Saul in the upper room, and he slept.
26 And when they had risen in the morning, and it now began to be light, Samuel called to Saul in the upper room, saying, “Rise up, so that I may send you on.” And Saul rose up. And they both departed, that is to say, he and Samuel.
27 And as they were descending to the very limit of the city, Samuel said to Saul: “Tell the servant to go ahead of us, and to continue on. But as for you, stay here a little while, so that I may reveal the word of the Lord to you.”
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1 And he said to me: “Son of man, eat whatever you will find; eat this scroll, and, going forth, speak to the sons of Israel.”
2 And I opened my mouth, and he fed me that scroll.
3 And he said to me: “Son of man, your stomach shall eat, and your interior shall be filled with this scroll, which I am giving to you.” And I ate it, and in my mouth it became as sweet as honey.
4 And he said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and you shall speak my words to them.
5 For you will be sent, not to a people of profound words or of an unknown language, but to the house of Israel,
6 and not to many peoples of profound words or of an unknown language, whose words you would not be able to understand. But if you were sent to them, they would listen to you.
7 Yet the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you. For they are not willing to listen to me. Certainly, the entire house of Israel has a brazen forehead and a hardened heart.
8 Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads.
9 I have made your face like hardened iron and like flint. You should not fear them, and you should not have dread before their face. For they are a provoking house.”
10 And he said to me: “Son of man, listen with your ears, and take into your heart, all my words, which I am speaking to you.
11 And go forth and enter to those of the transmigration, to the sons of your people. And you shall speak to them. And you shall say to them: ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Perhaps it may be that they will listen and be quieted.”
12 And the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying, “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from his place,”
13 and the voice of the wings of the living creatures striking against one another, and the voice of the wheels following the living creatures, and the voice of a great commotion.
14 Then the Spirit lifted me and took me away. And I went forth in bitterness, with the indignation of my spirit. For the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me.
15 And I went to those of the transmigration, to the stockpile of new crops, to those who were living beside the river Chebar. And I sat where they were sitting. And I remained there for seven days, while mourning in their midst.
16 Then, when seven days had passed, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. And so, you shall listen to the word from my mouth, and you shall announce it to them from me.
18 If, when I say to the impious man, ‘You shall certainly die,’ you do not announce it to him, and you do not speak so that he may turn aside from his impious way and live, then the same impious man will die in his iniquity. But I will attribute his blood to your hand.
19 But if you announce it to the impious man, and he is not converted from his impiety and from his impious way, then indeed he will die in his iniquity. But you will have delivered your own soul.
20 Moreover, if the just man turns aside from his justice and commits iniquity, I will place a stumbling block before him. He shall die, because you have not announced to him. He shall die in his sin, and his justices that he did shall not be remembered. Yet truly, I will attribute his blood to your hand.
21 But if you announce to the just man, so that the just man may not sin, and he does not sin, then he shall certainly live, because you have announced to him. And you will have delivered your own soul.”
22 And the hand of the Lord was over me. And he said to me: “Rise up, and go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.”
23 And I rose up, and I went out to the plain. And behold, the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory that I saw beside the river Chebar. And I fell upon my face.
24 And the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet. And he spoke to me, and he said to me: “Enter and enclose yourself in the midst of your house.
25 And as for you, son of man, behold: they shall put chains upon you and bind you with them. And you shall not go out from their midst.
26 And I will cause your tongue to adhere to the roof of your mouth. And you will be mute, not like a man who reproaches. For they are a provoking house.
27 But when I will speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them: ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whoever is listening, let him hear. And whoever is quieted, let him be quieted. For they are a provoking house.”
14 But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
15 Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
16 Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
17 Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
18 And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily.
19 Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies.
20 Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame.
19 And they questioned them, saying: “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? Then how is it that he now sees?”
20 His parents responded to them and said: “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
21 But how it is that he now sees, we do not know. And who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old enough. Let him speak for himself.”
22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already conspired, so that if anyone were to confess him to be the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue.
23 It was for this reason that his parents said: “He is old enough. Ask him.”
24 Therefore, they again called the man who had been blind, and they said to him: “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 And so he said to them: “If he is a sinner, I do not know it. One thing I do know, that although I was blind, now I see.”
26 Then they said to him: “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them: “I have already told you, and you heard it. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
28 Therefore, they cursed him and said: “You be his disciple. But we are disciples of Moses.
29 We know that God spoke to Moses. But this man, we do not know where he is from.”
30 The man responded and said to them: “Now in this is a wonder: that you do not know where he is from, and yet he has opened my eyes.
31 And we know that God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, then he heeds him.
32 From ancient times, it has not been heard that anyone has opened the eyes of someone born blind.
33 Unless this man were of God, he would not be able to do any such thing.”
34 They responded and said to him, “You were born entirely in sins, and you would teach us?” And they cast him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 He responded and said, “Who is he, Lord, so that I may believe in him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and he is the one who is speaking with you.”
38 And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And falling prostrate, he worshipped him.
39 And Jesus said, “I came into this world in judgment, so that those who do not see, may see; and so that those who see, may become blind.”
40 And certain Pharisees, who were with him, heard this, and they said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them: “If you were blind, you would not have sin. Yet now you say, ‘We see.’ So your sin persists.”
