¹Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” ²And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel.” ³Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Hold off for seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” ⁴So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news in the hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵Now there was Saul, coming behind the herd from the field; and Saul said, “What troubles the people, that they weep?” And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁶Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused. ⁷So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.” And the fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. ⁸When he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. ⁹And they said to the messengers who came, “Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have help.’ ” Then the messengers came and reported it to the men of Jabesh, and they were glad. ¹⁰Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do with us whatever seems good to you.” ¹¹So it was, on the next day, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and killed Ammonites until the heat of the day. And it happened that those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. ¹²Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” ¹³But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lᴏʀᴅ has accomplished salvation in Israel.” ¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” ¹⁵So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lᴏʀᴅ in Gilgal. There they made sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lᴏʀᴅ, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

¹I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ²that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, ⁴who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; ⁵of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. ⁶But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, ⁷nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” ⁸That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. ⁹For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac ¹¹(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), ¹²it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” ¹³As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” ¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ¹⁵For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” ¹⁶So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” ¹⁸Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. ¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” ²⁰But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? ²²What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? ²⁵As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” ²⁶“And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” ²⁷Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. ²⁸For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.” ²⁹And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.” ³⁰What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; ³¹but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. ³²Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. ³³As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

¹Against Moab. Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo! For it is plundered, Kirjathaim is shamed and taken; The high stronghold is shamed and dismayed— ²No more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come, and let us cut her off as a nation.’ You also shall be cut down, O Madmen! The sword shall pursue you; ³A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim: ‘Plundering and great destruction!’ ⁴“Moab is destroyed; Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard; ⁵For in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping; For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. ⁶“Flee, save your lives! And be like the juniper in the wilderness. ⁷For because you have trusted in your works and your treasures, You also shall be taken. And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, His priests and his princes together. ⁸And the plunderer shall come against every city; No one shall escape. The valley also shall perish, And the plain shall be destroyed, As the Lᴏʀᴅ has spoken. ⁹“Give wings to Moab, That she may flee and get away; For her cities shall be desolate, Without any to dwell in them. ¹⁰Cursed is he who does the work of the Lᴏʀᴅ deceitfully, And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. ¹¹“Moab has been at ease from his youth; He has settled on his dregs, And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, And his scent has not changed. ¹²“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ, “That I shall send him wine-workers Who will tip him over And empty his vessels And break the bottles. ¹³Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. ¹⁴“How can you say, ‘We are mighty And strong men for the war’? ¹⁵Moab is plundered and gone up from her cities; Her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, Whose name is the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts. ¹⁶“The calamity of Moab is near at hand, And his affliction comes quickly. ¹⁷Bemoan him, all you who are around him; And all you who know his name, Say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, The beautiful rod!’ ¹⁸“O daughter inhabiting Dibon, Come down from your glory, And sit in thirst; For the plunderer of Moab has come against you, He has destroyed your strongholds. ¹⁹O inhabitant of Aroer, Stand by the way and watch; Ask him who flees And her who escapes; Say, ‘What has happened?’ ²⁰Moab is shamed, for he is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it in Arnon, that Moab is plundered. ²¹“And judgment has come on the plain country: On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath, ²²On Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, ²³On Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, ²⁴On Kerioth and Bozrah, On all the cities of the land of Moab, Far or near. ²⁵The horn of Moab is cut off, And his arm is broken,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ²⁶“Make him drunk, Because he exalted himself against the Lᴏʀᴅ. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, And he shall also be in derision. ²⁷For was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him, You shake your head in scorn. ²⁸You who dwell in Moab, Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, And be like the dove which makes her nest In the sides of the cave’s mouth. ²⁹“We have heard the pride of Moab (He is exceedingly proud), Of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, And of the haughtiness of his heart.” ³⁰“I know his wrath,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ, “But it is not right; His lies have made nothing right. ³¹Therefore I will wail for Moab, And I will cry out for all Moab; I will mourn for the men of Kir Heres. ³²O vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea, They reach to the sea of Jazer. The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage. ³³Joy and gladness are taken From the plentiful field And from the land of Moab; I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting— Not joyous shouting! ³⁴“From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh and to Jahaz They have uttered their voice, From Zoar to Horonaim, Like a three-year-old heifer; For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate. ³⁵“Moreover,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ, “I will cause to cease in Moab The one who offers sacrifices in the high places And burns incense to his gods. ³⁶Therefore My heart shall wail like flutes for Moab, And like flutes My heart shall wail For the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the riches they have acquired have perished. ³⁷“For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth— ³⁸A general lamentation On all the housetops of Moab, And in its streets; For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ³⁹“They shall wail: ‘How she is broken down! How Moab has turned her back with shame!’ So Moab shall be a derision And a dismay to all those about her.” ⁴⁰For thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: “Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, And spread his wings over Moab. ⁴¹Kerioth is taken, And the strongholds are surprised; The mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall be Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs. ⁴²And Moab shall be destroyed as a people, Because he exalted himself against the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁴³Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁴⁴“He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, And he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For upon Moab, upon it I will bring The year of their punishment,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁴⁵“Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon Because of exhaustion. But a fire shall come out of Heshbon, A flame from the midst of Sihon, And shall devour the brow of Moab, The crown of the head of the sons of tumult. ⁴⁶Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; For your sons have been taken captive, And your daughters captive. ⁴⁷“Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab In the latter days,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

¹A Psalm of David. To You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, I lift up my soul. ²O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. ³Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. ⁴Show me Your ways, O Lᴏʀᴅ; Teach me Your paths. ⁵Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. ⁶Remember, O Lᴏʀᴅ, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. ⁷Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁸Good and upright is the Lᴏʀᴅ; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. ⁹The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. ¹⁰All the paths of the Lᴏʀᴅ are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. ¹¹For Your name’s sake, O Lᴏʀᴅ, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. ¹²Who is the man that fears the Lᴏʀᴅ? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. ¹³He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. ¹⁴The secret of the Lᴏʀᴅ is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. ¹⁵My eyes are ever toward the Lᴏʀᴅ, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net. ¹⁶Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. ¹⁷The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! ¹⁸Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. ¹⁹Consider my enemies, for they are many; And they hate me with cruel hatred. ²⁰Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. ²¹Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. ²²Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all their troubles!