1 Samuel 28:7–20

⁷Then Saul ordered his officials, “Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her.”

“There is one in Endor,” they answered.

⁸So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. “Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen,” he said to her. “Call up the spirit of the man I name.”

⁹The woman answered, “Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortune tellers and mediums to leave Israel.^v Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?”

¹⁰Then Saul made a sacred vow. “By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this,” he told her.

¹¹“Whom shall I call up for you?” the woman asked.

“Samuel,” he answered.

¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, “Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!”

¹³“Don’t be afraid!” the king said to her. “What do you see?”

“I see a spirit coming up from the earth,” she answered.

¹⁴“What does it look like?” he asked.

“It’s an old man coming up,” she answered. “He is wearing a cloak.”

Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect.

¹⁵Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?”

Saul answered, “I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn’t answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do.”

¹⁶Samuel said, “Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy? ^17*The Lord has done to you what he told you through me: he has taken the kingdom away from you and given it to David instead. ^18*You disobeyed the Lord’s command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites and all they had. That is why the Lord is doing this to you now. ¹⁹He will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the Lord will also hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines.”

²⁰At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on the ground, terrified by what Samuel had said. He was weak, because he had not eaten anything all day and all night.