1 Samuel 11–13

CHAPTER 11

Saul Strikes Down the Ammonites

¹And ^aNahash the Ammonite came up and ¹besieged ^bJabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Cut ^ca covenant with us, and we will serve you.”

²But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will cut it with you on this condition, ^athat I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it ^ba reproach on all Israel.”

^3aThen the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”

⁴Then the messengers came ^ato Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people ^blifted up their voices and wept.

⁵Now behold, Saul was coming from the field ^abehind the oxen, and ¹he said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

⁶Then ^athe Spirit of God ¹came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and ²he burned with anger exceedingly.

⁷Then he took a pair of oxen and ^acut them in pieces and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “^bWhoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out ^cas one man.

⁸And he ¹numbered them in ^aBezek; and the ^bsons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000.

⁹And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have salvation.’” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

¹⁰Then the men of Jabesh said, “^aTomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good in your eyes.”

¹¹Then the next morning Saul put the people ^ain three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹²Then the people said to Samuel, “^aWho is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^1bBring the men, that we may put them to death.”

¹³But Saul said, “^aNot a man shall be put to death this day, for today ^bYahweh has accomplished salvation in Israel.”

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “Come and let us go to ^aGilgal and ^brenew the kingdom there.”

¹⁵So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^abefore Yahweh in Gilgal. There they also ^boffered sacrifices of peace offerings before Yahweh; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were exceedingly glad.

CHAPTER 12

Samuel Speaks to Israel

¹Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, ^aI have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and I ^bhave ¹appointed a king over you.

²“So now, ^ahere is the king walking before you, but ^bI am old and gray, and behold, ^cmy sons are with you. And ^dI have walked before you from my youth even to this day.

³“Here I am; bear witness against me before Yahweh and ^aHis anointed. ^bWhose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or ^cfrom whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you.”

⁴And they said, “You have not extorted us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”

⁵So he said to them, “Yahweh is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that ^ayou have found nothing ^bin my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “It is Yahweh who ^1aappointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.

⁷“So now, take your stand, ^athat I may judge you before Yahweh concerning all the righteous acts of Yahweh which He did for you and your fathers.

⁸“^aWhen Jacob went into Egypt and ^byour fathers cried out to Yahweh, then ^cYahweh sent Moses and Aaron ^1dwho brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹“But ^athey forgot Yahweh their God, so ^bHe sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and ^cinto the hand of the Philistines and ^dinto the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

¹⁰“^aAnd they cried out to Yahweh and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served ^bthe Baals and the Ashtaroth; but ^cnow deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’

¹¹“Then Yahweh sent ^aJerubbaal and ^1bBedan and ^cJephthah and ^dSamuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

¹²“But you saw ^athat Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, and you said to me, ‘^bNo, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^calthough Yahweh your God was your king.

¹³“So now, ^abehold, the king whom you have chosen, ^bwhom you have asked for, and behold, Yahweh has set a king over you.

¹⁴“^aIf you will fear Yahweh and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against the ¹command of Yahweh, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow Yahweh your God.

¹⁵“^aBut if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh, but rebel against the ¹command of Yahweh, then ^bthe hand of Yahweh will be against you, ^cas it was against your fathers.

¹⁶“Even now, ^atake your stand and see this great thing which Yahweh will do before your eyes.

¹⁷“^aIs it not the wheat harvest today? ^bI will call to Yahweh, that He may send ¹thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that ^cyour wickedness is great which you have done in the eyes of Yahweh by asking for yourselves a king.”

¹⁸So Samuel called to Yahweh, and Yahweh sent ¹thunder and rain that day; and ^aall the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.

¹⁹Then all the people said to Samuel, “^aPray for your servants to Yahweh your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins ^bthis evil by asking for ourselves a king.”

²⁰And Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet ^ado not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart.

²¹“And you must not turn aside, for then you would go after ^ameaningless things which cannot profit and cannot deliver, because they are meaningless.

²²“For ^aYahweh will not abandon His people ^bon account of His great name, because Yahweh ^chas been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

²³“Moreover, as for me, ^afar be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you; but ^bI will instruct you in the good and upright way.

²⁴“^aOnly ¹fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for see ^bwhat great things He has done for you.

²⁵“^aBut if you still do wickedly, ^bboth you and your king ^cwill be swept away.”

CHAPTER 13

Saul Strikes Down the Philistines

¹¹Saul was ²thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ³forty-two years over Israel.

²And Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in ^aMichmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at ^bGibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent.

³And Jonathan struck ^athe garrison of the Philistines that was in ^bGeba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul ^cblew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”

⁴Then all Israel heard ¹the news that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel ^ahad become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned ²to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and ^apeople like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of ^bBeth-aven.

⁶Now the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed). Then ^athe people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits.

⁷Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of ^aGad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul Doesn’t Keep Yahweh’s Commandment

⁸So ^ahe waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him.

⁹So Saul said, “Bring near to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And ^ahe offered the burnt offering.

¹⁰And as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and ^aSaul went out to meet him and to ¹greet him.

¹¹But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that ^athe Philistines were assembling at Michmash,

¹²therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of Yahweh.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”

¹³And Samuel said to Saul, “^aYou have acted foolishly; ^byou have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which He commanded you, for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom ¹over Israel ^cforever.

¹⁴“But ^anow your kingdom shall not endure. ^bYahweh has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as ruler over His people because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you.”

¹⁵Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to ^aGibeah of Benjamin. And Saul ¹numbered the people who were present with him, ^babout six hundred men.

¹⁶Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were present with them were staying in ^aGeba of Benjamin, and the Philistines camped at Michmash.

¹⁷And ^athe ¹raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three ²companies: one ³company turned ⁴toward ^bOphrah, to the land of Shual,

¹⁸and another ¹company turned to the way of ^aBeth-horon, and another ²company turned to the way of the border which overlooks the valley of ^bZeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹Now ^ano blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make ^1bswords or spears.”

²⁰So all Israel…