Saul Defeats the Ammonites

11 Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Ja′besh-gil′ead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” ² But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus put disgrace upon all Israel.” ³ The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” ⁴ When the messengers came to Gib′e-ah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people; and all the people wept aloud.

⁵ Now Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen; and Saul said, “What ails the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. ⁶ And the spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. ⁷ He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. ⁸ When he mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.^{[a] 9} And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Ja′besh-gil′ead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. ¹⁰ Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” ¹¹ And on the morrow Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and cut down the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹² Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” ¹³ But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has wrought deliverance in Israel.” ¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Samuel’s Farewell Address

12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and have made a king over you. ² And now, behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you; and I have walked before you from my youth until this day. ³ Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify gainst me^[b] and 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 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶ And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness,^[c] who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the saving deeds of the Lord which he performed for you and for your fathers. ⁸ When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them,^[d] then your fathers cried to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. ⁹ But they forgot the Lord their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sis′era, commander of the army of Jabin king of^[e] Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. ¹⁰ And they cried to the Lord, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Ba′als and the Ash′taroth; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.’ ¹¹ And the Lord sent Jerubba′al^[f] and Barak,^[g] and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. ¹² And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you will fear the Lord and serve him and hearken to his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well; ¹⁵ but if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.^{[h] 16} Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, “Fear not; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; ²¹ and do not turn aside after^[i] vain things which cannot profit or save, for they are vain. ²² For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. ²³ Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. ²⁴ Only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”^[j]

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

13 Saul was . . .^[k] years old when he began to reign; and he reigned . . . and two^[l][m] years over Israel.

² Saul chose three thousand men of Israel; two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gib′e-ah of Benjamin; the rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. ³ Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines which was at Geba; and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴ And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-a′ven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in straits (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, ⁷ or crossed the fords of the Jordan^[n] to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸ He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and salute him. ¹¹ Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, ¹² I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the Lord’; so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you; for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel for ever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart; and the Lord has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” ¹⁵ And Samuel arose, and went up from Gilgal to Gib′e-ah of Benjamin.

Preparations for Battle

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. ¹⁶ And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were present with them, stayed in Geba of Benjamin; but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷ And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies; one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shu′al, ¹⁸ another company turned toward Beth-hor′on, and another company turned toward the border that looks down upon the valley of Zebo′im toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now there was no smith to be found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears”; ²⁰ but every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle;^{[o] 21} and the charge was a pim for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.^{[p] 22} So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. ²³ And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

Assurance of God’s Protection

A Song of Ascents.

Feeding the Five Thousand

³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. ³² And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. ³³ Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ As he landed he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late; ³⁶ send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[a] worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Beth-sa′ida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, he went up into the hills to pray. ⁴⁷ And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ And he saw that they were distressed in rowing, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” ⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵² for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Healing the Sick in Gennesaret

⁵³ And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennes′aret, and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, ⁵⁵ and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.