1 Samuel 10–12

Chapter 10

¹Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has anointed thee prince over his inheritance? ²When thou goest from me to-day, thou shalt meet two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to thee, The asses are found which thou wentest to seek, and behold, thy father has dismissed the matter of the asses, and is anxious about you, saying, What shall I do for my son? ³And thou shalt go on forward from thence, and shalt come to the oak of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God, to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three cakes of bread, and another carrying a flask of wine. ⁴And they will ask after thy welfare, and give thee two loaves, which thou shalt receive of their hands. ⁵After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying. ⁶And the Spirit of Jehovah will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. ⁷And it shall be, when these signs shall come to thee, thou shalt do as thy hand shall find; for God is with thee. ⁸And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to thee, to offer up burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou wait, until I come to thee and inform thee what thou shalt do.

⁹And it was so that when he turned his back to go away from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. ¹⁰And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹And it came to pass, when all that knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? ¹²And a man of that place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? ¹³And when he had ended prophesying, he came to the high place. ¹⁴And Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that they were nowhere, we went to Samuel. ¹⁵And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said to you. ¹⁶And Saul said to his uncle, He told us for certain that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he told him not.

¹⁷And Samuel called the people together to Jehovah to Mizpah. ¹⁸And he said to the children of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah, the 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 the kingdoms that oppressed you; ¹⁹but ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your troubles, and have said unto him, Nay, but a king shalt thou set over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes, and by your thousands. ²⁰And Samuel caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. ²¹And he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, and the family of Matri was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken. And they sought him, but he was not to be found. ²²Therefore they inquired of Jehovah further, Will the man yet come hither? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the baggage. ²³And they ran and fetched him thence; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. ²⁴And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Jehovah has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted and said, May the king live. ²⁵And Samuel told the people the right of the kingdom, and wrote it in the book, and laid it before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. ²⁶And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and with him went the band, whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷But the children of Belial said, How should this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no gifts. But he was as one deaf.

Chapter 11

¹And 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 thee. ²And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, On this condition will I treat with you, that I thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. ³And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Allow us seven days, and we will send messengers into all the districts of Israel; and if there be no man to deliver us, we will come out to thee. ⁴And the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told these words in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up their voice and wept.

⁵And behold, Saul came after the oxen from the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh. ⁶And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly. ⁷And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever comes not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen! And the fear of Jehovah fell on the people, and they came out as one man. ⁸And he numbered them in Bezek, and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. ⁹And they said to the messengers that had come, Thus shall ye say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: To-morrow ye shall have deliverance when the sun is hot. And the messengers came and informed the men of Jabesh-Gilead; and they were glad. ¹⁰And the men of Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out to you, and ye may do with us according to all that is good in your sight. ¹¹And it came to pass the next day that Saul set the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and smote Ammon until the heat of the day: and it came to pass that they who remained were scattered, and not two of them were left together.

¹²And the people said to Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. ¹³But Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day; for to-day Jehovah has wrought deliverance in Israel. ¹⁴And Samuel said to the people, Come and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. ¹⁵And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before Jehovah in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed peace-offerings before Jehovah. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.

Chapter 12

¹And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that ye said to me, and have made a king over you. ²And now behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and grey-headed; and behold, my sons are with you; and I have walked before you from my youth up to this day. ³Here I am: testify against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I injured? or of whose hand have I received any ransom and blinded mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it to you. ⁴And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, and thou hast not injured us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand. ⁵And he said to them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand! And the people said, He is witness!

⁶And Samuel said to the people, It is Jehovah who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷And now stand still, that I may plead with you before Jehovah of all the righteous acts of Jehovah which he did to you and to your fathers. ⁸When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to Jehovah, then Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought your fathers forth out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. ⁹And they forgot Jehovah their God, and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. ¹⁰And they cried to Jehovah and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah, and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreths; and now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. ¹¹And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies round about, so that ye dwelt in safety. ¹²But when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said to me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us; when Jehovah your God was your king. ¹³And now behold, the king whom ye have chosen, whom ye have asked for! and behold, Jehovah has set a king over you. ¹⁴If ye fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and rebel not against the commandment of Jehovah, then both ye and the king also that reigns over you shall continue following Jehovah your God. ¹⁵But if ye will not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, and if ye rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, then will the hand of Jehovah be against you, as against your fathers.

¹⁶Now therefore stand and see this great thing which Jehovah will do before your eyes. ¹⁷Is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I will call unto Jehovah, and he will send thunder and rain; and ye shall perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of Jehovah in asking for yourselves a king. ¹⁸And Samuel called to Jehovah; and…