⁸Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes. Then, taking two men with him, he went under the cover of night to the woman and said, “I want you to consult a ghost for me. Call up the person I name.”

⁹The woman said, “Just hold on now! You know what Saul did, how he swept the country clean of mediums. Why are you trying to trap me and get me killed?”

¹⁰Saul swore solemnly, “As God lives, you won’t get in any trouble for this.”

¹¹The woman said, “So whom do you want me to bring up?”

“Samuel. Bring me Samuel.”

¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly to Saul, “Why did you lie to me? You’re Saul!”

¹³The king told her, “You have nothing to fear … but what do you see?”

“I see a spirit ascending from the underground.”

¹⁴“And what does he look like?” Saul asked.

“An old man ascending, robed like a priest.”

Saul knew it was Samuel. He fell down, face to the ground, and worshiped.

¹⁵Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by calling me up?”

“Because I’m in deep trouble,” said Saul. “The Philistines are making war against me and God has deserted me—he doesn’t answer me any more, either by prophet or by dream. And so I’m calling on you to tell me what to do.”

^16–19“Why ask me?” said Samuel. “God has turned away from you and is now on the side of your neighbor. God has done exactly what he told you through me—ripped the kingdom right out of your hands and given it to your neighbor. It’s because you did not obey God, refused to carry out his seething judgment on Amalek, that God does to you what he is doing today. Worse yet, God is turning Israel, along with you, over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And, yes, indeed, God is giving Israel’s army up to the Philistines.”

^20–22Saul dropped to the ground, felled like a tree, terrified by Samuel’s words. There wasn’t an ounce of strength left in him—he’d eaten nothing all day and all night.

Read in Logos