1 Then Samuel took a little vial of oil, and poured it on his head. And he kissed him, and said: “Behold, the Lord has anointed you as first ruler over his inheritance. And you shall free his people from the hands of their enemies, who are all around them. And this shall be a sign for you that God has anointed you as ruler:
2 When you will have departed from me this day, you will find two men beside the sepulcher of Rachel, in the parts of Benjamin to the south. And they will say to you: ‘The donkeys have been found, which you had been seeking as you traveled. And your father, forgetting about the donkeys, has been anxious for you, and he says, “What shall I do about my son?” ‘
3 And when you will have departed from there, and will have traveled farther, and will have arrived at the oak of Tabor, in that place three men, who are going up to God at Bethel, will find you. One will be bringing three young goats, and another three loaves of bread, and another will be carrying a bottle of wine.
4 And when they will have greeted you, they will give you two loaves. And you shall accept these from their hand.
5 After these things, you shall arrive at the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. And when you will have entered the city there, you will meet a company of prophets, descending from the high place, with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they will be prophesying.
6 And the Spirit of the Lord will spring up within you. And you shall prophesy with them, and you shall be changed into another man.
7 Therefore, when these signs will have happened to you, do whatever your hand will find, for the Lord is with you.
8 And you shall descend before me into Gilgal, (for I will descend to you), so that you may offer an oblation, and may immolate victims of peace. For seven days, you shall wait, until I come to you, and reveal to you what you should do.”
9 And so, when he had turned his shoulder, so that he might go away from Samuel, God changed him to another heart. And all these signs occurred on that day.
10 And they arrived at the above-stated hill, and behold, a group of prophets met him. And the Spirit of the Lord leapt up within him, and he prophesied in their midst.
11 Then all those who had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was with the prophets, and that he was prophesying, said to one other: “What is this thing that has happened to the son of Kish? Could Saul also be among the prophets?”
12 And one would respond to the other, saying, “And who is their father?” Because of this, it turned into a proverb, “Could Saul also be among the prophets?”
13 Then he ceased to prophesy, and he went to the high place.
14 And the uncle of Saul said to him, and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And they responded: “To seek the donkeys. But when we did not find them, we went to Samuel.”
15 And his uncle said to him, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us that the donkeys would be found.” But the word about the kingdom, which Samuel had spoken to him, he did not reveal to him.
17 And Samuel called the people together, to the Lord at Mizpah.
18 And he said to the sons of Israel: “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I led Israel away from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who were afflicting you.
19 But today you have rejected your God, who alone saved you from all your evils and tribulations. And you have said: ‘By no means! Instead, appoint a king over us.’ Now therefore, stand in the sight of the Lord, by your tribes and by your families.”
20 And Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell upon the tribe of Benjamin.
21 And he brought near the tribe of Benjamin, with its families, and the lot fell upon the family of Matri. And then it went to Saul, the son of Kish. Therefore, they sought him, but he was not found.
22 And after these things, they consulted the Lord as to whether he would soon arrive there. And the Lord responded, “Behold, he is hidden at home.”
23 And so they ran and brought him there. And he stood in the midst of the people, and he was taller than the entire people, from the shoulders upward.
24 And Samuel said to all the people: “Certainly, you see the one whom the Lord has chosen, that there is not anyone like him among all the people.” And all the people cried out and said, “Long live the king!”
25 Then Samuel spoke to the people the law of the kingdom, and he wrote it in a book, and he stored it in the sight of the Lord. And Samuel dismissed all the people, each one to his own house.
26 And then Saul went away to his own house at Gibeah. And a portion of the army, whose hearts had been touched by God, went away with him.
27 Yet the sons of Belial said, “How could this one be able to save us?” And they despised him, and they brought him no presents. But he pretended not to hear them.
1 And, about a month afterward, it happened that Nahash the Ammonite ascended and began to fight against Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Consider a pact with us, and we will serve you.”
2 And Nahash the Ammonite responded to them, “With this will I strike a pact with you: if I may pluck out all your right eyes, and set you as a disgrace against all of Israel.”
3 And the elders of Jabesh said to him: “Grant to us seven days, so that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel. And if there is no one who may defend us, we will go out to you.”
4 Therefore, the messengers arrived at Gibeah of Saul. And they spoke these words in the hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voice and wept.
5 And behold, Saul arrived, following oxen from the field. And he said, “What has happened to the people that they would weep?” And they explained to him the words of the men from Jabesh.
6 And the Spirit of the Lord rose up within Saul when he had heard these words, and his fury was enraged exceedingly.
7 And taking both the oxen, he cut them into pieces, and he sent them into all the borders of Israel, by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever will not go out and follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” Therefore, the fear of the Lord entered into the people, and they went out like one man.
8 And he took a census of them at Bezek. And there were three hundred thousand of the sons of Israel. And there were thirty thousand of the men of Judah.
9 And they said to the messengers who had arrived: “So shall you say to the men who are of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow, when the sun will be hot, you shall have salvation.’ ” Therefore, the messengers went and announced it to the men of Jabesh, who became joyful.
10 And they said, “In the morning, we will go out to you. And you may do whatever you please with us.”
11 And it happened that, when the next day had arrived, Saul arranged the people into three parts. And he entered into the middle of the camp at the early morning watch, and he struck down the Ammonites until the day grew hot. Then the remainder were dispersed, so much so that not even two of them were left together.
12 And the people said to Samuel: “Who is the one who said, ‘Should Saul reign over us?’ Present the men, and we will put them to death.”
13 And Saul said: “No one shall be killed on this day. For today the Lord has accomplished salvation in Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and let us renew the kingdom there.”
15 And all the people traveled to Gilgal. And there they made Saul king, in the sight of the Lord at Gilgal. And there they immolated victims of peace, before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.
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1 And as for you, son of man, take up for yourself a tablet, and you shall set it before you. And you shall draw upon it the city of Jerusalem.
2 And you shall set up a blockade against it, and you shall build fortifications, and you shall put together a rampart, and you shall encamp opposite it, and you shall place battering rams around it.
3 And you shall take up for yourself an iron frying pan, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city. And harden your face against it, and it shall be under a siege, and you shall surround it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.
4 And you shall sleep on your left side. And you shall place the iniquities of the house of Israel on it by the number of days that you will sleep on it. And you shall take upon yourself their iniquity.
5 For I have given to you the years of their iniquity, by the number of the days: three hundred and ninety days. And you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And when you will have completed this, you shall sleep a second time, on your right side, and you shall assume the iniquity of the house of Judah for forty days: one day for each year; one day, I say, for each year, have I given to you.
7 And you shall turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be extended. And you shall prophesy against it.
8 Behold, I have surrounded you with chains. And you shall not turn yourself from one side to the other side, until you have completed the days of your siege.
9 And you shall take for yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and vetch. And you shall set them in one vessel, and you shall make for yourself bread by the number of days that you will sleep upon your side: three hundred and ninety days shall you shall eat from it.
10 But your food, which you will eat, shall be in weight twenty staters a day. You shall eat it from time to time.
11 And you shall drink water by measure, one sixth part of a hin. You shall drink it from time to time.
12 And you shall eat it like barley bread baked under ashes. And you shall cover it, in their sight, with the dung that goes out of a man.”
13 And the Lord said: “So shall the sons of Israel eat their bread, polluted among the Gentiles, to whom I will cast them out.”
14 And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Behold, my soul has not been polluted, and from my infancy even until now, I have not eaten anything that has died of itself, nor that which has been torn up by beasts, and no unclean flesh at all has entered into my mouth.”
15 And he said to me: “Behold, I have given to you cow manure in place of human dung, and you shall make your bread with it.”
16 And he said to me: “Son of man, behold: I will crush the staff of bread in Jerusalem. And they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety. And they will drink water by measure and with anguish.
17 So then, when bread and water fail, each one may fall against his brother. And they shall waste away in their iniquities.”
21 In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none.
22 And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
23 Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumblingblock.
24 Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always.
25 Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
26 Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles.
27 Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.
1 Amen, amen, I say to you, he who does not enter through the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up by another way, he is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.
4 And when he has sent out his sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.
5 But they do not follow a stranger; instead they flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
6 Jesus spoke this proverb to them. But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 Therefore, Jesus spoke to them again: “Amen, amen, I say to you, that I am the door of the sheep.
8 All others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone has entered through me, he will be saved. And he shall go in and go out, and he shall find pastures.
10 The thief does not come, except so that he may steal and slaughter and destroy. I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep.
12 But the hired hand, and whoever is not a shepherd, to whom the sheep do not belong, he sees the wolf approaching, and he departs from the sheep and flees. And the wolf ravages and scatters the sheep.
13 And the hired hand flees, because he is a hired hand and there is no concern for the sheep within him.
14 I am the good Shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for my sheep.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold, and I must lead them. They shall hear my voice, and there shall be one sheepfold and one shepherd.
17 For this reason, the Father loves me: because I lay down my life, so that I may take it up again.
18 No one takes it away from me. Instead, I lay it down of my own accord. And I have the power to lay it down. And I have the power to take it up again. This is the commandment that I have received from my Father.”
19 A dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words.
20 Then many of them were saying: “He has a demon or he is insane. Why do you listen him?”
