Day 18 of 90

¹The child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

²It happened at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see),

³and the lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had lain down in the Lord's temple, where the ark of God was;

⁴that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, "Here I am."

⁵He ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He said, "I did not call; lie down again." He went and lay down.

⁶The Lord called yet again, "Samuel!" Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He answered, "I did not call, my son; lie down again."

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.

⁸The Lord called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.

⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, Lord; for your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak; for your servant hears."

¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.

¹²In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end.

¹³For I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he did not restrain them.

¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be removed with sacrifice nor offering forever."

¹⁵Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.

¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel, and said, "Samuel, my son!" He said, "Here I am."

¹⁷He said, "What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you."

¹⁸Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, "It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him."

¹⁹Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.

²⁰All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

²¹The Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

¹The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

²The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was struck before the Philistines; and they killed of the army in the field about four thousand men.

³When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? Let us get the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh to us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies."

⁴So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who sits above the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

⁶When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, "What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" They understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.

⁷The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp." They said, "Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before.

⁸Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

⁹Be strong, and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!"

¹⁰The Philistines fought, and Israel was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

¹¹The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹²There ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with earth on his head.

¹³When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

¹⁴When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, "What does the noise of this tumult mean?" The man hurried, and came and told Eli.

¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.

¹⁶The man said to Eli, "I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army." He said, "How did the matter go, my son?"

¹⁷He who brought the news answered, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."

¹⁸It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered. When she heard the news that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth; for her pains came on her.

²⁰About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not be afraid; for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer, neither did she regard it.

²¹She named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

²²She said, "The glory has departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken."

¹Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

²The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

³When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

⁴When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon's torso was intact.

⁵Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.

⁶But the hand of the Lord was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.

⁷When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us; for his hand is severe on us, and on Dagon our god."

⁸They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" They answered, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried over to Gath." They carried the ark of the God of Israel there.

⁹It was so, that after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great confusion: and he struck the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. It happened, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people."

¹¹They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly confusion throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

¹²The men who did not die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

¹The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

²The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Show us with which we shall send it to its place."

³They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return him a trespass offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you."

⁴Then they said, "What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him?" They said, "Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

⁵Therefore you shall make images of your tumors, and images of your mice that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

⁶Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

⁷"Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart, and two milk cows, on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;

⁸and take the ark of the Lord, and lay it on the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by its side; and send it away, that it may go.

⁹And watch; if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it was a chance that happened to us."

¹⁰The men did so, and took two milk cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home;

¹¹and they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors.

¹²The cows took the straight way by the way to Beth Shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the territory of Beth Shemesh.

¹³They of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

¹⁴The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they split the wood of the cart, and offered up the cows for a burnt offering to the Lord.

¹⁵The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to the Lord.

¹⁶When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

¹⁷These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering to the Lord: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;

¹⁸and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone, whereon they set down the ark of the Lord. That stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

¹⁹He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

²⁰The men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?"

²¹They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down, and bring it up to yourselves."

¹The men of Kiriath Jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.

²It happened, from the day that the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

³Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you do return to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to the Lord, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."

⁴Then the children of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.

⁵Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you to the Lord."

⁶They gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, "We have sinned against the Lord." Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.

⁷When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

⁸The children of Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines."

⁹Samuel took a suckling lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel; and the Lord answered him.

¹⁰As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel; but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day on the Philistines, and confused them; and they were struck down before Israel.

¹¹The men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and struck them, until they came under Beth Kar.

¹²Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "The Lord helped us until now."

¹³So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the territory of Israel. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

¹⁴The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory out of the hand of the Philistines. There was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

¹⁶He went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.

¹⁷His return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

¹It happened, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beersheba.

³His sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah;

⁵and they said to him, "Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations."

⁶But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." Samuel prayed to the Lord.

⁷The Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.

⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to you.

⁹Now therefore listen to their voice: however you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the way of the king who shall reign over them."

¹⁰Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked of him a king.

¹¹He said, "This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots;

¹²and he will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.

¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

¹⁴He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive groves, even their best, and give them to his servants.

¹⁵He will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

¹⁶He will take your male servants, and your female servants, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

¹⁷He will take the tenth of your flocks: and you shall be his servants.

¹⁸You shall cry out in that day because of your king whom you shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not answer you in that day."

¹⁹But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No; but we will have a king over us,

²⁰that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles."

²¹Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.

²²The Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to their voice, and make them a king." Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go to his city."

¹Now 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 Benjamite, a mighty man of valor.

²He had a son, whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a better person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

³The donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, "Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go seek the donkeys."

⁴He passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they weren't there: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, "Come, and let us return, lest my father stop caring about the donkeys, and be anxious for us."

⁶He said to him, "See now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man who is held in honor. All that he says surely comes to pass. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us concerning our journey on which we have set out."

⁷Then Saul said to his servant, "But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone in our vessels, and there is no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have?"

⁸The servant answered Saul again, and said, "Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way."

⁹(In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say, "Come, and let us go to the seer"; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.)

¹⁰Then Saul said to his servant, "Well said. Come, let us go." So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, "Is the seer here?"

¹²They answered them, and said, "He is. Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place.

¹³As soon as you have come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited eat. Now therefore go up; for at this time you shall find him."

¹⁴They went up to the city. As they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them, to go up to the high place.

¹⁵Now the Lord had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying,

¹⁶"Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked on my people, because their cry has come to me."

¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, "Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall have authority over my people."

¹⁸Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, "Please tell me where the seer's house is."

¹⁹Samuel answered Saul, and said, "I am he. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. In the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is in your heart.

²⁰As for your donkeys who were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them; for they have been found. And for whom does all Israel desire? Is it not for you, and for all your father's house?"

²¹Saul answered, "Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me like this?"

²²Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the guest room, and made them sit in the best place among those who were invited, who were about thirty persons.

²³And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I told you to set aside."

²⁴The cook took up the thigh, and that which was on it, and set it before Saul. And he said, "Behold, that which has been reserved! Set it before yourself and eat; because for the appointed time has it been kept for you, for I said, 'I have invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵When they had come down from the high place into the city, he talked with Saul on the housetop.

²⁶They arose early: and it happened about daybreak, that Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, "Get up, that I may send you away." Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, went outside.

²⁷As they were going down at the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead," (and he passed on), "but remain here awhile, that I may make known to you the word of God."

¹Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, "Isn't it that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?

²When you have departed from me today, then you shall find two men by Rachel's tomb, in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will tell you, 'The donkeys which you went to seek have been found; and behold, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, "What shall I do for my son?"'

³"Then you shall go on forward from there, and you shall come to the oak of Tabor; and three men shall meet you there going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three young goats, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

⁴and they will greet you, and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive of their hand.

⁵"After that you shall come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall happen, when you have come there to the city, that you shall meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tambourine, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying:

⁶and the Spirit of the Lord will come mightily on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.

⁷Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do as occasion shall serve you; for God is with you.

⁸"You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: you shall wait seven days, until I come to you, and show you what you shall do."

⁹It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs happened that day.

¹⁰When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among them.

¹¹It happened, when all who knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, "What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"

¹²One of the same place answered, "Who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

¹³When he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, "Where did you go?" He said, "To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel."

¹⁵Saul's uncle said, "Please tell me what Samuel said to you."

¹⁶Saul said to his uncle, "He told us plainly that the donkeys were found." But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he did not tell him.

¹⁷Samuel called the people together to the Lord to Mizpah;

¹⁸and he said to the children of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you:'

¹⁹but you have this day rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, 'No! Set a king over us.' Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands."

²⁰So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

²¹He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families; and the family of the Matrites was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken: but when they sought him, he could not be found.

²²Therefore they asked of the Lord further, "Is there yet a man to come here?" The Lord answered, "Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage."

²³They ran and fetched him there; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

²⁴Samuel said to all the people, "You see him whom the Lord has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?" All the people shouted, and said, "Let the king live!"

²⁵Then Samuel told the people the regulations of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

²⁶Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the army, whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷But certain worthless fellows said, "How shall this man save us?" They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace. [Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He put out the right eye of all of them, bringing on Israel fear and trembling. Not one was left of the Israelites beyond the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, did not put out, except for seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and went to Jabesh Gilead.]

¹After about a month, 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."

²Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach on all Israel."

³The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven day, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you."

⁴Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

⁵Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, "What ails the people that they weep?" They told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

⁶The Spirit of God came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly.

⁷He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, "Whoever doesn't come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen." The dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out as one man.

⁸He numbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

⁹They said to the messengers who came, "Thus you shall tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance.'" The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

¹⁰Therefore the men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you."

¹¹It was so 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 struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it happened, that those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹²The people said to Samuel, "Who is he who said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring those men, that we may put them to death!"

¹³Saul said, "There shall not a man be put to death this day; for today the Lord has worked deliverance in Israel."

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there."

¹⁵All the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal; and there they offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

¹Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.

²Now, behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and gray-headed; and behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth to this day.

³Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind my eyes therewith? I will restore it to you."

⁴They said, "You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man's hand."

⁵He said to them, "The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." They said, "He is witness."

⁶Samuel said to the people, "It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

⁷Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.

⁸"When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

⁹"But they forgot the Lord their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.

¹⁰They cried to the Lord, and said, 'We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.'

¹¹The Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.

¹²"When you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us;' when the Lord your God was your king.

¹³Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for: and behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

¹⁴If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you are followers of the Lord your God.

¹⁵But if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then will the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶"Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.

¹⁷Isn't it wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for a king."

¹⁸So Samuel called to the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹All the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask us a king."

²⁰Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

²¹Do not turn aside to go after vain things which can't profit nor deliver, for they are vain.

²²For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people to himself.

²³Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

²⁴Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he has done for you.

²⁵But if you shall still do wickedly, you shall be consumed, both you and your king."

¹Saul reigned a year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,

²Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.

³Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: and the Philistines heard of it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!"

⁴All Israel heard that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines. The people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven.

⁶When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits.

⁷Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸He stayed seven days, according to the time set by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

⁹Saul said, "Bring here the burnt offering to me, and the peace offerings." He offered the burnt offering.

¹⁰It came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.

¹¹Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash;

¹²therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven't entreated the favor of the Lord.' I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering."

¹³Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you; for now the Lord would have established your kingdom on Israel forever.

¹⁴But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which the Lord commanded you."

¹⁵Samuel arose, and went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

¹⁶Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were present with them, stayed in Geba of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

¹⁷The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual;

¹⁸and another company turned the way to Beth Horon; and another company turned the way of the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears";

²⁰but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his plowshare, mattock, axe, and sickle;

²¹yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the plowshares, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads.

²²So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.

²³The garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

¹Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side." But he did not tell his father.

²Saul stayed in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men;

³and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people did not know that Jonathan was gone.

⁴Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

⁵The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

⁶Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us; for there is no restraint on the Lord to save by many or by few."

⁷His armor bearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart. Turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart."

⁸Then Jonathan said, "Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them.

⁹If they say thus to us, 'Wait until we come to you!' then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them.

¹⁰But if they say this, 'Come up to us!' then we will go up; for the Lord has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us."

¹¹Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, "Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!"

¹²The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, "Come up to us, and we will show you something!" Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come up after me; for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel."

¹³Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him.

¹⁴That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.

¹⁵There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling.

¹⁶The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away, and scattered.

¹⁷Then Saul said to the people who were with him, "Count now, and see who is missing from us." When they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

¹⁸Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God here." For the ark of God was with the children of Israel at that time.

¹⁹It happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand!"

²⁰Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow: a very great confusion.

²¹Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines as before, and who went up with them into the camp, from all around, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²²Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed closely after them in the battle.

²³So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth Aven.

²⁴The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, "Cursed is the man who eats any food until it is evening, and I am avenged of my enemies." So none of the people tasted food.

²⁵All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground.

²⁶When the people had come to the forest, behold, the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath.

²⁷But Jonathan did not hear when his father commanded the people with the oath: therefore he put forth the end of the rod who was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.

²⁸Then one of the people answered, and said, "Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, 'Cursed is the man who eats food this day.'" The people were faint.

²⁹Then Jonathan said, "My father has troubled the land. Please look how my eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰How much more, if perhaps the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found? For now has there been no great slaughter among the Philistines."

³¹They struck of the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint;

³²and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and cattle, and calves, and killed them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.

³³Then they told Saul, saying, "Behold, the people are sinning against the Lord, in that they eat meat with the blood." He said, "You have dealt treacherously. Roll a large stone to me this day!"

³⁴Saul said, "Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them, 'Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and kill them here, and eat; and do not sin against the Lord in eating meat with the blood.'" All the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and killed them there.

³⁵Saul built an altar to the Lord. This was the first altar that he built to the Lord.

³⁶Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them." They said, "Do whatever seems good to you." Then the priest said, "Let us draw near here to God."

³⁷Saul asked counsel of God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?" But he did not answer him that day.

³⁸Saul said, "Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been this day.

³⁹For, as the Lord lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die." But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.

⁴⁰Then he said to all Israel, "You be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side." The people said to Saul, "Do what seems good to you."

⁴¹Therefore Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, "Show the right." Jonathan and Saul were chosen; but the people escaped.

⁴²Saul said, "Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son." Jonathan was selected.

⁴³Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done!" Jonathan told him, and said, "I certainly did taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and behold, I must die."

⁴⁴Saul said, "God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan."

⁴⁵The people said to Saul, "Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day!" So the people rescued Jonathan, that he did not die.

⁴⁶Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.

⁴⁷Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he defeated them.

⁴⁸He did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who despoiled them.

⁴⁹Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:

⁵⁰and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

⁵¹Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵²There was severe war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him to him.

¹Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the words of the Lord.

²Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.

³Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"

⁴Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

⁵Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.

⁶Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go 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.

⁷Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.

⁸He took Agag the 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, and of the cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

¹⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,

¹¹"It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments." Samuel was angry; and he cried to the Lord all night.

¹²Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal."

¹³Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, "You are blessed by the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord."

¹⁴Samuel said, "Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?"

¹⁵Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to the Lord your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest."

¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stay, and I will tell you what the Lord has said to me last night." He said to him, "Say on."

¹⁷Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel;

¹⁸and the Lord sent you on a journey, 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 Lord, but took the spoils, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?"

²⁰Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

²¹But the people took of the spoil, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal."

²²Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king."

²⁴Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

²⁵Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord."

²⁶Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel."

²⁷As Samuel turned about to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.

²⁸Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

²⁹Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent."

³⁰Then he said, "I have sinned: yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God."

³¹So Samuel went back with Saul; and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³²Then Samuel said, "Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites!" Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."

³³Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!" Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

³⁵Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

¹The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his sons."

²Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." The Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.

³Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint to me him whom I name to you."

⁴Samuel did that which the Lord spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?"

⁵He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

⁶It happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him."

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for I see not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one."

⁹Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one."

¹⁰Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these."

¹¹Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your children here?" He said, "There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is keeping the sheep." Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and get him; for we will not sit down until he comes here."

¹²He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. The Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he."

¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

¹⁴Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

¹⁵Saul's servants said to him, "See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you.

¹⁶Let our lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. It shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well."

¹⁷Saul said to his servants, "Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me."

¹⁸Then one of the young men answered, and said, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a comely person; and the Lord is with him."

¹⁹Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, "Send me David your son, who is with the sheep."

²⁰Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by David his son to Saul.

²¹David came to Saul, and stood before him. He loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer.

²²Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Please let David stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight."

²³It happened, when the spirit from God was on Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.