1 Samuel 10–12

Then ^aSamuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, ^band kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over ^chis inheritance? ²When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by ^dRachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and ^esorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? ³Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the ^fplain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to ^gBeth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: ⁴And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. ⁵After that thou shalt come to ^hthe hill of God, where is the ⁱgarrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down ^kfrom the high place with a psaltery, and a ^ltabret, and a pipe, and a ^lharp, before them; and they shall prophesy: ⁶and ^mthe spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and ⁿthou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. ⁷And let it be, when these ^osigns are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for ^pGod is with thee. ⁸And thou shalt go down before me ^qto Gilgal; and behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: ^rseven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.

⁹And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. ¹⁰And ^swhen they came thither to the hill, behold, ^ta company of prophets met him; and ^uthe spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? ^vIs Saul also among the prophets? ¹²And one of the same place answered and said, But ^wwho is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, ^vIs Saul also among the prophets? ¹³And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. ¹⁴And ^xSaul’s uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel. ¹⁵And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. ¹⁶And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that ^ythe asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

¹⁷And Samuel called the people together ^zunto the Lord to ^aMizpeh; ¹⁸and said unto the children of Israel, ^bThus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: ^19cand ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore ^dpresent yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands. ²⁰And when Samuel had ^ecaused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. ²¹When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. ²²Therefore they ^finquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. ²³And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, ^ghe was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. ²⁴And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him ^hwhom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. ²⁵Then Samuel told the people ⁱthe manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. ²⁶And Saul also went home to ^kGibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. ^27lBut the ^mchildren of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no ⁿpresents. But he held his peace.

XI.Then Nahash the ^aAmmonite came up, and encamped against ^bJabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, ^cMake a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. ²And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make ^da covenant with you, that I may ^ethrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for ^fa reproach upon all Israel. ³And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. ⁴Then came the messengers to ^gGibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and ^hall the people lift up their voices, and wept. ⁵And behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. ⁶And ⁱthe spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. ⁷And he took a yoke of oxen, and ^jhewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, ^kWhosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. ⁸And when he numbered them in ^lBezek, ^mthe children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. ⁹And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. ¹⁰Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow ⁿwe will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. ¹¹And it was so on the morrow, that ^oSaul put the people ^pin three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in ^qthe morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

¹²And the people said unto Samuel, ^rWho is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? ^sbring the men, that we may put them to death. ¹³And Saul said, ^tThere shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day ^uthe Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel. ¹⁴Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to ^wGilgal, and renew the kingdom there. ¹⁵And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king ^xbefore the Lord in Gilgal; and ^ythere they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

XII.And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto ^ayour voice in all that ye said unto me, and ^bhave made a king over you. ²And now behold, the king ^cwalketh before you: ^dand I am old and grayheaded; and behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. ³Behold, here I am: ^ewitness against me before the Lord, and before ^fhis anointed: ^gwhose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I ^hdefrauded? whom have I ^hoppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to ⁱblind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. ⁴And they said, Thou hast not ^hdefrauded us, nor ^hoppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. ⁵And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and ^fhis anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought ^jin my hand. And they answered, He is witness. ⁶And Samuel said unto the people, ^kIt is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷Now therefore stand still, that I may ^lreason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers. ^8mWhen Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers ⁿcried unto the Lord, then the Lord ^osent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. ⁹And when they ^pforgat the Lord their God, ^qhe sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of ^rthe Philistines, and into the hand of the king ^sof Moab, and they fought against them. ¹⁰And they ^tcried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, ^uand have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now ^wdeliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. ¹¹And the Lord sent ^xJerubbaal, and ^yBedan, and ^zJephthah, and ^aSamuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. ¹²And when ye saw that ^bNahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ^cye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when ^dthe Lord your God was your king. ¹³Now therefore ^ebehold the ^fking whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired: and behold, ^gthe Lord hath set a king over you. ¹⁴If ye will ^hfear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: ¹⁵but if ye will ⁱnot obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall ^jthe hand of the Lord be against you, ^kas it was against your fathers. ¹⁶Now therefore ^lstand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷Is it not ^mwheat…