¹Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lᴏʀᴅ sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lᴏʀᴅ. ²Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. ³Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ” ⁴So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ⁷And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. ¹⁰Now the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lᴏʀᴅ all night. ¹²So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” ¹³Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lᴏʀᴅ! I have performed the commandment of the Lᴏʀᴅ.” ¹⁴But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” ¹⁵And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lᴏʀᴅ your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” ¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lᴏʀᴅ said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” ¹⁷So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lᴏʀᴅ anoint you king over Israel? ¹⁸Now the Lᴏʀᴅ sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ ¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lᴏʀᴅ?” ²⁰And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and gone on the mission on which the Lᴏʀᴅ sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lᴏʀᴅ your God in Gilgal.” ²²So Samuel said: “Has the Lᴏʀᴅ as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. ²³For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ, He also has rejected you from being king.” ²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lᴏʀᴅ and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lᴏʀᴅ.” ²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and the Lᴏʀᴅ has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ²⁷And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸So Samuel said to him, “The Lᴏʀᴅ has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. ²⁹And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.” ³⁰Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lᴏʀᴅ your God.” ³¹So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lᴏʀᴅ. ³²Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” ³³But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lᴏʀᴅ in Gilgal. ³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lᴏʀᴅ regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

¹Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. ⁴For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. ⁵Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. ⁷Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. ⁸Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ¹¹And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ²He also did evil in the sight of the Lᴏʀᴅ, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ³For because of the anger of the Lᴏʀᴅ this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ⁴Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. ⁵So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain. ⁸But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. ⁹So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him. ¹⁰Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah. ¹¹He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. ¹²Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ¹³He burned the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. ¹⁴And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. ¹⁵Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. ¹⁶But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. ¹⁷The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all their bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. ¹⁹The basins, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups, whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. ²⁰The two pillars, one Sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under it, and the carts, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ—the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. ²¹Now concerning the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, a measuring line of twelve cubits could measure its circumference, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow. ²²A capital of bronze was on it; and the height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar, with pomegranates was the same. ²³There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates, all around on the network, were one hundred. ²⁴The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁵He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. ²⁶And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land. ²⁸These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; ²⁹in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; ³⁰in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the persons were four thousand six hundred. ³¹Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. ³²And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. ³⁴And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. In You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness. ²Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me. ³For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me. ⁴Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength. ⁵Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lᴏʀᴅ God of truth. ⁶I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁷I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, ⁸And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place. ⁹Have mercy on me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body! ¹⁰For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my bones waste away. ¹¹I am a reproach among all my enemies, But especially among my neighbors, And am repulsive to my acquaintances; Those who see me outside flee from me. ¹²I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. ¹³For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life. ¹⁴But as for me, I trust in You, O Lᴏʀᴅ; I say, “You are my God.” ¹⁵My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me. ¹⁶Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies’ sake. ¹⁷Do not let me be ashamed, O Lᴏʀᴅ, for I have called upon You; Let the wicked be ashamed; Let them be silent in the grave. ¹⁸Let the lying lips be put to silence, Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. ¹⁹Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! ²⁰You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues. ²¹Blessed be the Lᴏʀᴅ, For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city! ²²For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You. ²³Oh, love the Lᴏʀᴅ, all you His saints! For the Lᴏʀᴅ preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person. ²⁴Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lᴏʀᴅ.