Chapter 10

Saul among Prophets

1 Then aSamuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, bkissed him and said, “Has not cthe Lord anointed you a ruler over dHis inheritance?

2 “When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to aRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘bThe donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has 1ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’

3 “Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the 1aoak of Tabor, and there three men going up bto God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine;

4 and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand.

5 “Afterward you will come to 1athe hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet ba group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and cthey will be prophesying.

6 “Then athe Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and byou shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.

7 “It shall be when these signs come to you, ado for yourself what 1the occasion requires, for bGod is with you.

8 “And ayou shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and bsacrifice peace offerings. cYou shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.”

9 Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God achanged 1his heart; and all those signs came about on that day.

10 aWhen they came to 1the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them.

11 It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? aIs Saul also among the prophets?”

12 A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “aIs Saul also among the prophets?”

13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 Now aSaul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “bTo look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.”

15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

16 So Saul said to his uncle, “aHe told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

Saul Publicly Chosen King

17 Thereafter Samuel called the apeople together to the Lord at Mizpah;

18 and he said to the sons of Israel, “aThus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the 1power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’

19 “But you ahave today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have 1said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ Now therefore, bpresent yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”

20 Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.

21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found.

22 Therefore athey inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” So the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.”

23 So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, ahe was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.

24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him awhom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “1bLong live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people athe ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and bplaced it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house.

26 Saul also went ato his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him.

27 But certain 1aworthless men said, “How can this one deliver us?” And they despised him and bdid not bring him any present. But he kept silent.

Chapter 11

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

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

2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make 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.”

3 aThe 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 deliver us, we will come out to you.”

4 Then 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.

5 Now 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 related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

6 Then athe Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and 1he became very angry.

7 He took a yoke 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 the Lord fell on the people, and they came out cas one man.

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

9 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 deliverance.’ ” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

10 Then the men of Jabesh said, “aTomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good 1to you.”

11 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.

12 Then 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.”

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

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

15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king abefore the Lord in Gilgal. There they also boffered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Chapter 12

Samuel Addresses Israel

1 Then 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 “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 the Lord 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.”

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

5 He said to them, “The Lord 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.”

6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord 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 plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and your fathers.

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

9 “But athey forgot the Lord their God, so bHe sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain 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 “aThey cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord 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 the Lord sent aJerubbaal and 1bBedan and cJephthah and dSamuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

The King Confirmed

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

13 “Now therefore, ahere is the king whom you have chosen, bwhom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21 “You must not turn aside, for then you would go after afutile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile.

22 “For athe Lord will not abandon His people bon account of His great name, because the Lord 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 the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but bI will instruct you in the good and right way.

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

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