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.”

Chapter 13

War with the Philistines

1 Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel.

2 Now 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.

3 Jonathan smote 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.”

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

5 Now 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.

6 When 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.

7 Also 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.

8 Now 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.

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

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

11 But 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,

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

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

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

15 Then 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.

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

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

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

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

20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe.

21 The charge was 1two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the hoes.

22 So it came about on the day of battle that aneither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan.

23 And athe garrison of the Philistines went out to bthe pass of Michmash.