1 Samuel 11–13

Saul Saves the City of Jabesh Gilead

11Nahash was the king of Ammon. He and his army went up to Jabesh Gilead. They surrounded it and got ready to attack it. All of the men of Jabesh spoke to Nahash. They said, “Make a peace treaty with us. Then we’ll be under your control.”

²Nahash, the king of Ammon, replied, “I will make a peace treaty with you. But I’ll do it only on one condition. You must let me put out the right eye of every one of you. I want to bring shame on the whole nation of Israel.”

³The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days to report back to you. We’ll send messengers all through Israel. If no one comes to save us, we’ll hand ourselves over to you.”

⁴The messengers came to Gibeah of Saul. They reported to the people the terms Nahash had required. Then all of the people sobbed out loud.

⁵Just then Saul was coming in from the fields. He was walking behind his oxen. He asked, “What’s wrong with the people? Why are they sobbing?” He was told what the men of Jabesh had said.

⁶When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came on him with power. He burned with anger. ⁷He got a pair of oxen and cut them into pieces. He sent the pieces by messengers all through Israel. They announced, “You must follow Saul and Samuel. If you don’t, this is what will happen to your oxen.”

The terror of the Lord fell on the people. So all of them came together with one purpose in mind.

⁸Saul brought his army together at Bezek. There were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 from Judah.

⁹The messengers who had come were told, “Go back and report to the men of Jabesh Gilead. Tell them, ‘By the hottest time of the day tomorrow, you will be saved.’ ”

The messengers went and reported it to the men of Jabesh. It made those men very happy. ¹⁰They said to the people of Ammon, “Tomorrow we’ll hand ourselves over to you. Then you can do to us what seems best to you.”

¹¹The next day Saul separated his men into three groups. While it was still dark, they broke into the camp of the Ammonite army. They kept killing the men of Ammon until the hottest time of the day. Those who got away alive were scattered. There weren’t two of them left together anywhere.

The People Agree to Have Saul as King

¹²The people said to Samuel, “Who asked, ‘Is Saul going to rule over us?’ Bring those people to us. We’ll put them to death.”

¹³But Saul said, “We won’t put anyone to death today! After all, this is the day the Lord has saved Israel.”

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “Come on. Let’s go to Gilgal. There we’ll agree to have Saul as our king.”

¹⁵So all of the people went to Gilgal. There, with the Lord as witness, they agreed to have Saul as their king. There they sacrificed friendship offerings to the Lord. And there Saul and all of the people of Israel celebrated with great joy.

Samuel Tells Israel to Serve the Lord

12Samuel spoke to all of the people of Israel. He said, “I’ve done everything you asked me to do. I’ve placed a king over you. ²Now you have a king as your leader. But I’m old. My hair is gray. My sons are here with you. I’ve been your leader from the time I was young until this very day.

³“Here I stand. Bring charges against me if you can. The Lord is a witness. And so is his anointed king. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Have I cheated anyone? Have I beaten anyone down? Have I accepted money from anyone who wanted special favors? If I’ve done any of those things, I’ll make it right.”

⁴“You haven’t cheated us,” they replied. “You haven’t beaten us down. You haven’t taken anything from anyone.”

⁵Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you this very day. And so is his anointed king. They are witnesses that I haven’t taken anything from any of you.”

“The Lord is a witness,” they said.

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord appointed Moses and Aaron. He brought up out of Egypt your people who lived long ago. ⁷Now then, stand here. I’m going to remind you of all of the good things the Lord has done for you and your people. He is a witness.

⁸“After Jacob’s family entered Egypt, they cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron. They brought your people out of Egypt. They settled them in this land.

⁹“But the people forgot the Lord their God. So he gave them over to the powerful hand of Sisera. Sisera was the commander of the army of Hazor. The Lord also gave the people of Israel over to the powerful hand of the Philistines and the king of Moab. All of those nations fought against Israel.

¹⁰“So the people cried out to the Lord. They said, ‘We have sinned. We’ve deserted the Lord. We’ve served the gods that are named after Baal. We’ve served the goddesses that are named after Ashtoreth. But save us now from the powerful hands of our enemies. Then we will serve you.’

¹¹“The Lord sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah and me. He saved you from the hands of your enemies, who were all around you. So you lived in safety.

¹²“But then you saw that Nahash, the king of Ammon, was about to attack you. So you said to me, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us.’ You said it even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³Now here is the king you have chosen. He’s the one you asked for. The Lord has placed a king over you.

¹⁴“But you must have respect for the Lord. You must serve him and obey him. You must not say no to his commands. Both you and the king who rules over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, that’s good. ¹⁵But you must not disobey him. You must not say no to his commands. If you do, his powerful hand will punish you. That’s what happened to your people who lived before you.

¹⁶“So stand still. Watch the great thing the Lord is about to do right here in front of you! ¹⁷It’s time to gather in the wheat, isn’t it? I’ll call out to the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will realize what an evil thing you did in the sight of the Lord. You shouldn’t have asked for a king.”

¹⁸Samuel called out to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all of the people had great respect for the Lord and for Samuel.

¹⁹They said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us. Pray that we won’t die because we asked for a king. That was an evil thing to do. We added it to all of our other sins.”

²⁰“Don’t be afraid,” Samuel replied. “It’s true that you have done all of those evil things. But don’t turn away from the Lord. Serve him with all your heart.

²¹“Don’t turn away and worship statues of gods. They are useless. They can’t do you any good. They can’t save you either. They are completely useless.

²²“But the Lord will be true to his great name. He won’t turn his back on his people. That’s because he was pleased to make you his own people.

²³“I would never sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. I’ll teach you to live in a way that is good and right.

²⁴“But be sure to have respect for the Lord. Serve him faithfully. Do it with all your heart. Think about the great things he has done for you. ²⁵But don’t be stubborn. Don’t continue to do what is evil. If you do, both you and your king will be swept away.”

Saul Refuses to Obey the Lord’s Command

13Saul was 30 years old when he became king. He ruled over Israel for 42 years.

²He chose 3,000 of Israel’s men. Two thousand of them were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel. One thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul sent the rest back to their homes.

³Some Philistine soldiers were stationed at Geba. Jonathan attacked them. The other Philistines heard about it.

Saul announced, “Let the Hebrew people hear about what has happened!” He had trumpets blown all through the land. ⁴So all of the people of Israel heard the news. They were told, “Saul has attacked the Philistine army camp at Geba. He has made Israel smell very bad to the Philistines.” The people of Israel were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines gathered together to fight against Israel. They had 3,000 chariots and 6,000 chariot drivers. Their soldiers were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash. It was east of Beth Aven.

⁶The men of Israel saw that their army was in deep trouble. So they hid in caves and bushes. They hid among the rocks. They hid in pits and empty wells. ⁷Some of them even went across the Jordan River. They went to the lands of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal. All of the troops who were with him were shaking with fear. ⁸He waited seven days, just as Samuel had told him to. But Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal. And Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the friendship offerings.” Then he offered up the burnt offering.

¹⁰Just as Saul finished offering the sacrifice, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹“What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “I saw that the men were scattering. I saw that the Philistines were gathering together at Micmash. You didn’t come when you said you would. ¹²So I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down to attack me at Gilgal. And I haven’t asked the Lord to show us his favor.’ So I felt I had to sacrifice the burnt offering.”

¹³“You did a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You haven’t obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. If you had, he would have made your kingdom secure over Israel for all time to come. ¹⁴But now your kingdom won’t last. The Lord has already looked for a man who is dear to his heart. He has appointed him leader of his people. That’s because you haven’t obeyed the Lord’s command.”

¹⁵Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul counted the men who stayed with him. The total number was about 600.

Israel Doesn’t Have Swords or Spears

¹⁶Saul and his son Jonathan were staying in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. What was left of the army was there with them. At the same time, the Philistines camped at Micmash.

¹⁷Three groups of soldiers went out from the Philistine camp to attack Israel. One group turned and went toward Ophrah in…