1 Samuel 11–13

Saul Rescues the City of Jabesh

11Nahash^ak the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead.^l And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty^m with us, and we will be subject to you.”

²But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the conditionⁿ that I gouge^o out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace^p on all Israel.”

³The elders^q of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue^r us, we will surrender^s to you.”

⁴When the messengers came to Gibeah^t of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept^u aloud. ⁵Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.

⁶When Saul heard their words, the Spirit^v of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. ⁷He took a pair of oxen,^w cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel,^x proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone^y who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out together as one.^{z 8}When Saul mustered^a them at Bezek,^b the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.

⁹They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.’ ” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. ¹⁰They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender^c to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”

¹¹The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions;^d during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites^e and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

Saul Confirmed as King

¹²The people then said to Samuel, “Who^f was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”

¹³But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today,^g for this day the Lord has rescued^h Israel.”

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgalⁱ and there renew the kingship.^j” ¹⁵So all the people went to Gilgal^k and made Saul king^l in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

Samuel’s Farewell Speech

12Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened^m to everything you said to me and have set a kingⁿ over you. ²Now you have a king as your leader.^o As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons^p are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. ³Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed.^q Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey^r have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe^s to make me shut my eyes? If I have done^t any of these things, I will make it right.”^u

⁴“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

⁵Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness^v against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything^w in my hand.^x”

“He is witness,” they said.

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought^y your ancestors up out of Egypt. ⁷Now then, stand^z here, because I am going to confront^a you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts^b performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors.

⁸“After Jacob^c entered Egypt, they cried^d to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent^e Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹“But they forgot^f the Lord their God; so he sold them^g into the hand of Sisera,^h the commander of the army of Hazor,ⁱ and into the hands of the Philistines^j and the king of Moab,^k who fought against them. ¹⁰They cried^l out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken^m the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths.ⁿ But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal,^ao Barak,^bp Jephthah^q and Samuel,^cr and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

¹²“But when you saw that Nahash^s king^t of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule^u over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³Now here is the king^v you have chosen, the one you asked^w for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴If you fear^x the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel^y against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! ¹⁵But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against^z his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

¹⁶“Now then, stand still^a and see^b this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! ¹⁷Is it not wheat harvest^c now? I will call^d on the Lord to send thunder^e and rain.^f And you will realize what an evil^g thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”

¹⁸Then Samuel called on the Lord,^h and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in aweⁱ of the Lord and of Samuel.

¹⁹The people all said to Samuel, “Pray^j to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die,^k for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

²⁰“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil;^l yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹Do not turn away after useless^m idols.ⁿ They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²²For the sake^o of his great name^p the Lord will not reject^q his people, because the Lord was pleased to make^r you his own. ²³As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray^s for you. And I will teach^t you the way that is good and right. ²⁴But be sure to fear^u the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart;^v consider^w what great^x things he has done for you. ²⁵Yet if you persist^y in doing evil, both you and your king^z will perish.”^a

Samuel Rebukes Saul

13Saul was thirty^a years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-^b two years.

²Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand^b were with him at Mikmash^c and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah^d in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

³Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost^e at Geba,^f and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet^g blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious^h to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines assembledⁱ to fight Israel, with three thousand^c chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand^j on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash,^k east of Beth Aven.^{l 6}When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid^m in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.^{n 7}Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad^o and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking^p with fear. ⁸He waited seven^q days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered^r up the burnt offering. ¹⁰Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel^s arrived, and Saul went out to greet^t him.

¹¹“What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,^{u 12}I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal,^v and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.^w’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³“You have done a foolish thing,^x” Samuel said. “You have not kept^y the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.^{z 14}But now your kingdom^a will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart^b and appointed^c him ruler^d of his people, because you have not kept^e the Lord’s command.”

¹⁵Then Samuel left Gilgal^d and went up to Gibeah^f in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.^g

Israel Without Weapons

¹⁶Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah^eh in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷Raidingⁱ parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah^j in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸another toward Beth Horon,^k and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim^l facing the wilderness.

¹⁹Not a blacksmith^m could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!ⁿ” ²⁰So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles^f sharpened. ²¹The price was two-thirds of a shekel^g for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel^h for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

²²So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan^o had a sword or spear^p in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Jonathan Attacks the Philistines

²³Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass^q at Mikmash.^r