1 Samuel 10–12

Chapter 10

And Samuel took a little vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said: Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance, and thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their enemies, that are round about them. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that God hath anointed thee to be prince.

²When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt find two men by the sepulchre of Rachel in the borders of Benjamin to the south, and they shall say to thee: The asses are found which thou wentest to seek: and thy father, thinking no more of the asses, is concerned for you, and saith: What shall I do for my son?

³And when thou shalt depart from thence, and go farther on, and shalt come to the oak of Thabor, there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine.

⁴And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and thou shalt take them at their hand.

⁵After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is: and when thou shalt be come there into the city, thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they shall be prophesying.

⁶And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man.

⁷When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.

⁸And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come down to thee), that thou mayst offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt thou wait, till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to do.

⁹So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto him another heart, and all these things came to pass that day.

¹⁰And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a company of prophets met him: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them.

¹¹And all that had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was with the prophets, and prophesied, said to each other: What is this that hath happened to the son of Cis? is Saul also among the prophets?

¹²And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?

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

¹⁴And Saul’s uncle said to him, and to his servant: Whither went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not finding them, we went to Samuel.

¹⁵And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.

¹⁶And Saul said to his uncle: He told us that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken to him, he told him not.

¹⁷And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:

¹⁸And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.

¹⁹But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you out of all your evils and your tribulations: and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your families.

²⁰And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.

²¹And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof, and the lot fell upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul, the son of Cis. They sought him therefore, and he was not found.

²²And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.

²³And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward.

²⁴And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king.

²⁵And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house.

²⁶Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents; but he dissembled as though he heard not.

Chapter 11

And it came to pass about a month after this, that Naas, the Ammonite, came up, and began to fight against Jabes Galaad. And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

²And Naas, the Ammonite, answered them: On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes, and make you a reproach in all Israel.

³And the ancients of Jabes said to him: Allow us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel: and if there be no one to defend us, we will come out to thee.

⁴The messengers therefore came to Gabaa of Saul: and they spoke these words in the hearing of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.

⁵And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field, and he said: What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabes.

⁶And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had heard these words, and his anger was exceedingly kindled.

⁷And taking both the oxen, he cut them in pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, by messengers, saying: Whosoever shall not come forth, and follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell upon the people, and they went out as one man.

⁸And he numbered them in Bezec: and there were of the children of Israel three hundred thousand: and of the men of Juda thirty thousand.

⁹And they said to the messengers that came: Thus shall you say to the men of Jabes Galaad: To morrow, when the sun shall be hot, you shall have relief. The messengers therefore came, and told the men of Jabes, and they were glad.

¹⁰And they said: In the morning we will come out to you: and you shall do what you please with us.

¹¹And it came to pass, when the morrow was come, that Saul put the people in three companies: and he came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and he slew the Ammonites until the day grew hot, and the rest were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

¹²And the people said to Samuel: Who is he that said: Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, and we will kill them.

¹³And Saul said: No man shall be killed this day: because the Lord this day hath wrought salvation in Israel:

¹⁴And Samuel said to the people: Come, and let us go to Galgal, and let us renew the kingdom there.

¹⁵And all the people went to Galgal, and there they made Saul king, before the Lord in Galgal, and they sacrificed there victims of peace before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.

Chapter 12

And Samuel said to all Israel: Behold I have hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.

²And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and greyheaded: and my sons are with you: having then conversed with you from my youth until this day, behold here I am.

³Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I have taken any man’s ox, or ass: if I have wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man’s hand: and I will despise it this day, and will restore it to you.

⁴And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor taken ought at any man’s hand.

⁵And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness.

⁶And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord who made Moses and Aaron, and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt.

⁷Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which he hath shewn to you, and to your fathers:

⁸How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord: and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.

⁹And they forgot the Lord their God, and he delivered them into the hands of Sisara, captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

¹⁰But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth: but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

¹¹And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you dwelt securely.

¹²But seeing that Naas, king of the children of Ammon, was come against you, you said to me: Nay, but a king shall reign over us: whereas the Lord your God was your king.

¹³Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and desired: Behold the Lord hath given you a king.

¹⁴If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord: then shall both you, and the king who reigneth over you, be followers of the Lord your God.

¹⁵But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will rebel against his words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and upon your fathers.

¹⁶Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will do in your sight.

¹⁷Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain: and you shall know, and see that you yourselves have done a great…