1 Samuel 11–13

11Then Nahash the ^aAmmonite came up, and encamped against ^bJabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, ^cMake a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. ²And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make ^da covenant with you, that I may ^ethrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for ^fa reproach upon all Israel. ³And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, ^†Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. ⁴Then came the messengers to ^gGibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and ^hall the people lifted up their voices, and wept. ⁵And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. ⁶And ⁱthe Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. ⁷And he took a yoke of oxen, and ^jhewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, ^kWhosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out ^†with one consent. ⁸And when he numbered them in ^lBezek, ^mthe children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. ⁹And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have ^||help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. ¹⁰Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow ⁿwe will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. ¹¹And it was so on the morrow, that ^oSaul put the people ^pin three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in ^qthe morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

¹²And the people said unto Samuel, ^rWho is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? ^sbring the men, that we may put them to death. ¹³And Saul said, ^tThere shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day ^uthe Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel. ¹⁴Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to ^wGilgal, and renew the kingdom there. ¹⁵And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king ^xbefore the Lord in Gilgal; and ^ythere they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

12And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto ^ayour voice in all that ye said unto me, and ^bhave made a king over you. ²And now, behold, the king ^cwalketh before you: ^dand I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. ³Behold, here I am: ^ewitness against me before the Lord, and before ^fhis anointed: ^gwhose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I ^hdefrauded? whom have I ^hoppressed? or of whose hand have I received any ^†bribe ^||to ⁱblind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. ⁴And they said, Thou hast not ^hdefrauded us, nor ^hoppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. ⁵And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and ^fhis anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought ^jin my hand. And they answered, He is witness. ⁶And Samuel said unto the people, ^kIt is the Lord that ^||advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷Now therefore stand still, that I may ^lreason with you before the Lord of all the ^†righteous acts of the Lord, which he did ^†to you and ^†to your fathers. ^8mWhen Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers ⁿcried unto the Lord, then the Lord ^osent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. ⁹And when they ^pforgat the Lord their God, ^qhe sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of ^rthe Philistines, and into the hand of the king ^sof Moab, and they fought against them. ¹⁰And they ^tcried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, ^uand have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now ^wdeliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. ¹¹And the Lord sent ^xJerubbaal, and ^yBedan, and ^zJephthah, and ^aSamuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. ¹²And when ye saw that ^bNahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ^cye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when ^dthe Lord your God was your king. ¹³Now therefore ^ebehold the ^fking whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, ^gthe Lord hath set a king over you. ¹⁴If ye will ^hfear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the ^†commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you ^†continue following the Lord your God: ¹⁵But if ye will ⁱnot obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall ^jthe hand of the Lord be against you, ^kas it was against your fathers. ¹⁶Now therefore ^lstand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷Is it not ^mwheat harvest to day? ⁿI will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that ^oyour wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.

¹⁸So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and ^pall the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. ¹⁹And all the people said unto Samuel, ^qPray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. ²⁰And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; ²¹And ^rturn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot ^sprofit nor deliver; for they are vain. ²²For ^tthe Lord will not forsake his people for ^uhis great name’s sake: because ^xit hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. ²³Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord ^†in ceasing ^yto pray for you: but ^zI will teach you the ^agood and the right way: ^24bOnly fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for ^cconsider ^||how ^dgreat things he hath done for you. ²⁵But if ye shall still do wickedly, ^dye shall be consumed, ^eboth ye and your king.

13^*Saul ^†reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ²Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in ^aMichmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in ^bGibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. ³And Jonathan smote the ^cgarrison of the Philistines that was in ^||Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul ^dblew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. ⁴And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a ^cgarrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also ^†was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people ^ewere called together after Saul to Gilgal. ⁵And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people ^fas the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from ^gBeth-aven. ⁶When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people ^hwere distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in ⁱcaves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in ^jhigh places, and in pits. ⁷And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people ^†followed him trembling.

⁸And ^khe tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. ⁹And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might ^†salute him. ¹¹And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; ¹²Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not ^†made supplication unto the Lord: I ^lforced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. ¹³And Samuel said to Saul, ^mThou hast done foolishly: ⁿthou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. ^14oBut now thy kingdom shall not continue: ^pthe Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.

¹⁵And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto ^qGibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were ^†present with him, ^rabout six hundred men. ¹⁶And Saul, and ^sJonathan his son, and the people that were ^†present with them, abode in ^†Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷And ^tthe spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to ^uOphrah, unto the land of ^vShual: ¹⁸And another company turned the way to ^wBeth-horon: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of ^xZeboim toward the wilderness. ¹⁹Now ^ythere was no smith…