He asked them how they were doing. ¹  Then he said, “Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?”

Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. ¹ 

You are my brothers – my very own flesh and blood! ¹  Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back?’

So the king returned and came to the Jordan River. ¹  Now the people of Judah ²  had come to Gilgal to meet the king and to help him ³  cross the Jordan.

For I, your servant, ¹  know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people ¹  and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies, ² 

for they had not met the Israelites with food ¹  and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into blessing.)

You prepare a feast before me ¹  in plain sight of my enemies. You refresh ²  my head with oil; my cup is completely full. ³ 

A psalm by Asaph. El, God, the Lord ²  speaks, and summons the earth to come from the east and west. ³ 

For you, O God, hear my vows; you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers. ¹ 

Be my protector and refuge, ¹  a stronghold where I can be safe! ²  For you are my high ridge ³  and my stronghold.

Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ¹  Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ² 

At that time ¹  a large ²  trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost ³  in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in ⁴  the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. ⁵ 

those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ¹  They will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, ²  happiness and joy will overwhelm ³  them; grief and suffering will disappear. ⁴ 

“Indeed, the Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, ¹  like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.

All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ¹  They will go up on my altar acceptably, ²  and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

The Lord roars from Zion; from Jerusalem ¹  his voice bellows out. ²  The heavens ³  and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens ⁴  of Israel.

And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹ 

But ¹  these are the ones sown on good soil: They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty times as much, one sixty, and one a hundred.”

I tell you the truth, ¹  whoever does not receive ²  the kingdom of God like a child ³  will never ⁴  enter it.”