1 Samuel 7–9

7So the people of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill.^j They consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

VICTORY AT MIZPAH

²Time went by until twenty years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel longed for the Lord. ³Samuel told them, “If you^k are returning to the Lord^l with all your heart,^m get rid of the foreign godsⁿ and the Ashtoreths that are among you, set your hearts on the Lord, and worship only him.^o Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” ⁴So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths^p and only worshiped the Lord.

⁵Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah,^q and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.”^{r 6}When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence.^s They fasted that day,^t and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.”^u And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

⁷When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, so that he will save us from the Philistines.”

⁹Then Samuel took a young lamb^v and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on behalf of Israel, and the Lord answered him.^{w 10}Samuel was offering the burnt offering as the Philistines approached to fight against Israel. The Lord thundered loudly^x against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel.^{y 11}Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines striking them down all the way to a place below Beth-car.

¹²Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright^z between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,^B explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” ¹³So the Philistines were subdued^aa and^C did not invade Israel’s territory again.^ab The Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life. ¹⁴The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵Samuel judged Israel throughout his life.^{ac 16}Every year he would go on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and would judge Israel at all these locations. ¹⁷Then he would return to Ramah^ad because his home was there, he judged Israel there, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

ISRAEL’S DEMAND FOR A KING

8When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.^{ae 2}His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba.^{af 3}However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice.^a

⁴So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah.^{b 5}They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”^c

⁶When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king.^{d 8}They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me,^A since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. ⁹Listen to them, but solemnly warn them^e and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰Samuel told all the Lord’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹He said, “These are the rights of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. ¹²He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties,^f to plow his ground and reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. ¹³He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants.^{g 15}He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. ¹⁶He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best cattle,^B and your donkeys and use them for his work. ¹⁷He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves,^h but the Lord won’t answer you on that day.”ⁱ

¹⁹The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. ²⁰Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us,^j and fight our battles.”

²¹Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the Lord. ²²“Listen to them,” the Lord told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.”^k

Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”

SAUL ANOINTED KING

9There was a prominent man of Benjamin named Kish^l son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite. ²He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man.^m There was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else.^Cn

³One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴Saul and his servant went through the hill country of Ephraim^o and then through the region of Shalishah,^p but they didn’t find them. They went through the region of Shaalim^q—nothing. Then they went through the Benjaminite region but still didn’t find them.

⁵When they came to the land of Zuph,^r Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come on, let’s go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”^s

⁶“Look,” the servant said, “there’s a man of God^t in this city who is highly respected; everything he says is sure to come true.^u Let’s go there now. Maybe he’ll tell us which way we should go.”^v

⁷“Suppose we do go,” Saul said to his servant, “what do we take the man? The food from our packs is gone, and there’s no gift to take to the man of God.^w What do we have?”

⁸The servant answered Saul, “Here, I have a little^A silver. I’ll give it to the man of God, and he will tell us which way we should go.”

⁹Formerly in Israel, a man who was going to inquire of God would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer,” for the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.^x

¹⁰“Good,” Saul replied to his servant. “Come on, let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. ¹¹As they were climbing the hill to the city, they found some young women coming out to draw water^y and asked, “Is the seer here?”

¹²The women answered, “Yes, he is ahead of you. Hurry, he just now entered the city, because there’s a sacrifice^z for the people at the high place^a today. ¹³As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes to the high place to eat. The people won’t eat until he comes because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests can eat. Go up immediately—you can find him now.” ¹⁴So they went up toward the city.

Saul and his servant were entering the city when they saw Samuel coming toward them on his way to the high place. ¹⁵Now the day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had informed Samuel,^{b 16}“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel.^c He will save them from the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of my people,^d for their cry has come to me.” ¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about;^e he will govern my people.”

¹⁸Saul approached Samuel in the city gate and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

¹⁹“I am the seer,” Samuel answered.^B “Go up ahead of me to the high place and eat with me today. When I send you off in the morning, I’ll tell you everything that’s in your heart. ²⁰As for the donkeys that wandered away from you three days ago,^f don’t worry about them because they’ve been found. And who does all Israel desire^g but you and all your father’s family?”

²¹Saul responded, “Am I not a Benjaminite^h from the smallest of Israel’s tribes and isn’t my clan the least important of all the clans of the Benjaminite tribe?ⁱ So why have you said something like this to me?”

²²Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them to the banquet hall, and gave them a place at the head of the thirty^A or so men who had been invited. ²³Then Samuel said to the cook, “Get the portion of meat that I gave you and told you to set aside.”

²⁴The cook picked up the thigh^j and what was attached to it and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said, “Notice that the reserved piece is set before you. Eat it because it was saved for you for this solemn event at the time I said, ‘I’ve invited the people.’ ” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵Afterward, they went down from the high place to the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof.^Bk

²⁶They got up early, and just before dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up, and I’ll send you on your way!” Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went outside. ²⁷As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I’ll reveal the word of God to you.” So the servant went on.