1 Samuel 7–9

Chapter 7

¹And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of Jehovah, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and hallowed Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Jehovah. ²And it came to pass, from the day that the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after Jehovah.

³And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If ye return to Jehovah with all your heart, put away the strange gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and apply your hearts unto Jehovah, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. ⁴And the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths and served Jehovah only. ⁵And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray Jehovah for you. ⁶And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Jehovah, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against Jehovah. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.

⁷And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together at Mizpah; and the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel; and the children of Israel heard it, and were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry to Jehovah our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. ⁹And Samuel took a sucking-lamb, and offered it as a whole burnt-offering to Jehovah; and Samuel cried to Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answered him. ¹⁰And as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines advanced to battle against Israel. And Jehovah thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were routed before Israel. ¹¹And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, as far as below Beth-car. ¹²And Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, and said, Hitherto Jehovah has helped us.

¹³And the Philistines were subdued, and came no more into the borders of Israel; and the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴And the cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and their territory did Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorite. ¹⁵And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. ¹⁷And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house, and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar to Jehovah.

Chapter 8

¹And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. ²And the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah; they judged in Beer-sheba. ³And his sons walked not 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 said to him, Behold, thou art become old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now appoint us a king to judge us, like all the nations. ⁶And the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Jehovah. ⁷And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸According to all the deeds that they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. ⁹And now hearken unto their voice; only, testify solemnly unto them, and declare unto them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. ¹⁰And Samuel spoke all the words of Jehovah to the people that asked of him a king. ¹¹And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, on his chariot and among his horsemen, and they shall run before his chariots; ¹²and he will take them that he may appoint for himself captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and that they may plough his ground, and reap his harvest, and make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots. ¹³And he will take your daughters for perfumers, and cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴And your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, the best, will he take and give to his servants. ¹⁵And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his chamberlains and to his servants. ¹⁶And he will take your bondmen, and your bondwomen, and your comeliest young men, and your asses, and use them for his work. ¹⁷He will take the tenth of your sheep. And ye shall be his servants. ¹⁸And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye have chosen; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day. ¹⁹And the people refused to hearken to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us, ²⁰that we also may be like all the nations; and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and conduct our wars. ²¹And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the ears of Jehovah. ²²And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go ye every man to his city.

Chapter 9

¹And there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjaminite, a mighty man of wealth. ²And he had a son whose name was Saul, choice and comely; and there was not among the children of Israel a comelier person than he; from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

³And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost; and Kish said to Saul his son, Take, I pray, one of the young men with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. ⁴And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found them not; and they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there; and they passed through the land of Benjamin, and they found them not. ⁵They had come to the land of Zuph when Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come and let us return; lest my father give up the asses, and be anxious about us. ⁶And he said to him, Behold now, a man of God is in this city, and the man is held in honour; all that he says comes surely to pass. Let us now go thither: perhaps he will shew us the way that we should go. ⁷And Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and we have no present to give to the man of God: what have we? ⁸And the servant answered Saul again and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver; that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way. ⁹(In former time in Israel, when a man went to ask counsel of God, he said, Come and let us go to the seer; for he that is now called a Prophet was in former time called a Seer.) ¹⁰And 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 met maidens going forth to draw water; and they said to them, Is the seer here? ¹²And they answered them and said, He is; behold, he is before thee: make haste now, for he came to-day to the city; for the people have a sacrifice to-day in the high place. ¹³As soon as ye come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people eat not until he has come, because he blesses the sacrifice; afterwards they eat that are invited. And now go up; for this very day shall ye find him. ¹⁴And they went up into the city. As they were coming into the midst of the city, behold, Samuel was coming out towards them, to go up to the high place. ¹⁵Now Jehovah had apprised Samuel one day before Saul came, saying, ¹⁶To-morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him prince over my people Israel; and he will save my people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. ¹⁷And as Samuel saw Saul, Jehovah answered him, Behold the man of whom I spoke to thee! this man shall rule over my people.

¹⁸And Saul drew near to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is. ¹⁹And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer: go up before me to the high place, and ye shall eat with me to-day; and to-morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thy heart. ²⁰And as for the asses that thou didst lose three days ago, set not thy heart on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel set? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house? ²¹And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjaminite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? and why dost thou speak such words to me? ²²And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the chamber, and gave them a place at the head of them that were invited; and they were about thirty persons. ²³And Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion that I gave thee, of which I said to thee, Set it by thee. ²⁴And the cook took up the shoulder, and what was on it, and set it before Saul. And he said, Behold that which has been reserved! set it before thee, eat; for against the set time has it been kept for thee, since I said, I will invite the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵And they came down from the high place into the city, and he spoke with Saul upon the roof. ²⁶And they arose early; and when it was about the…