1 Samuel 7-9

GOD’S WORD Translation

7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came to take the Lord’s ark and brought it into Abinadab’s house on the hill. They gave Abinadab’s son Eleazar the holy occupation of guarding the Lord’s ark.

Israel Admits It Has Sinned

² A long time passed after the ark came to stay at Kiriath Jearim. For 20 years the entire nation of Israel mournfully sought the Lord.

³ Samuel told the entire nation of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord wholeheartedly, get rid of the foreign gods you have, including the statues of the goddess Astarte. Make a commitment to the Lord, and serve only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”

⁴ So the Israelites got rid of the statues of Baal and Astarte and served only the Lord.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all the Israelites together at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So the Israelites gathered together at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of the Lord, and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel judged Israel in Mizpah.

The Philistines Defeated

⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the Philistine rulers came to attack Israel. The Israelites heard ⌞about the Philistine plan⌟ and were afraid of them. ⁸ The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t turn a deaf ear to us! Don’t stop crying to the Lord our God for us! Ask him to save us from the Philistines!”

⁹ Then Samuel took a lamb, one still feeding on milk, and sacrificed it as a burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried to the Lord on behalf of Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines came to fight against Israel. On that day the Lord thundered loudly at the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel. ¹¹ Israel’s soldiers left Mizpah, pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as Beth Car.

¹² Then Samuel took a rock and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer [Rock of Help] and said, “Until now the Lord has helped us.”

¹³ The power of the Philistines was crushed, so they didn’t come into Israel’s territory again. The Lord restrained the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. ¹⁴ The cities between Ekron and Gath which the Philistines took from Israel were returned to Israel. And Israel recovered the territory controlled by these cities from the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ Samuel judged Israel as long as he lived. ¹⁶ Every year he went around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah in order to judge Israel in all those places. ¹⁷ Then he would return home to Ramah. There, too, he judged Israel. And in Ramah he built an altar to the Lord.

Israel Rejects the Lord as King

8 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel; the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. ³ The sons didn’t follow their father’s example but turned to dishonest ways of making money. They took bribes and denied people justice.

⁴ Then all the leaders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They told him, “You’re old, and your sons aren’t following your example. Now appoint a king to judge us so that we will be like all the other nations.”

⁶ But Samuel considered it wrong for them to request a king to judge them. So Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ The Lord told Samuel, “Listen to everything the people are saying to you. They haven’t rejected you; they’ve rejected me. ⁸ They’re doing just what they’ve done since I took them out of Egypt—leaving me and serving other gods. ⁹ Listen to them now, but be sure to warn them and tell them about the rights of a king.”

¹⁰ Then Samuel told the people who had asked him for a king everything the Lord had said. ¹¹ Samuel said, “These are the rights of a king:

He will draft your sons, make them serve on his chariots and horses, and make them run ahead of his chariots.

¹² He will appoint them to be his officers over 1,000 or over 50 soldiers, to plow his ground and harvest his crops, and to make weapons and equipment for his chariots.

¹³ He will take your daughters and have them make perfumes, cook, and bake.

¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his officials.

¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and wine and give it to his aids and officials.

¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves, your best cattle,^[a] and your donkeys for his own use.

¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks.

In addition, you will be his servants.

¹⁸ “When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. The Lord will not answer you when that day comes.”

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. They said, “No, we want a king! ²⁰ Then we, too, will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us, lead us out ⌞to war⌟, and fight our battles.”

²¹ When Samuel heard everything the people had to say, he reported it privately to the Lord. ²² The Lord told him, “Listen to them, and give them a king.”

Then Samuel told the people of Israel, “Go ⌞back⌟ to your own cities.”

Saul Searches for His Father’s Donkeys

9 There was a man from the tribe of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was a son of Abiel, grandson of Zeror, and great-grandson of Becorath, whose father was Aphiah, a descendant of Benjamin. Kish was a powerful man. ² He had a son named Saul, a handsome, young man. No man in Israel was more handsome than Saul. He stood a head taller than everyone else.

³ When some donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, Kish told Saul, “Take one of the servants with you, and go look for the donkeys.”

⁴ They went through the mountains of Ephraim and the region of Shalisha without finding the donkeys. Then Saul and his servant went through the region of Shaalim, but the donkeys weren’t there. The men went through the territory of Benjamin but ⌞still⌟ didn’t find them. ⁵ When they came to the territory of Zuph, Saul told his servant who was with him, “Let’s go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and worry about us ⌞instead⌟.”

Saul Seeks Samuel’s Advice

⁶ The servant responded, “There’s a man of God in this city, a highly respected man. Everything he says is sure to happen. Let’s go there. Maybe he’ll tell us which way we should go.”

⁷ “If we go,” Saul asked his servant, “what could we bring the man since the food in our sacks is gone? There’s no present we can bring the man of God. What do we have?”

⁸ The servant again answered Saul, “Look, here! I have one-tenth of an ounce of silver. I’ll give it to the man of God. Then he’ll tell us where to find the donkeys.”

⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a person went to ask God ⌞a question⌟, he would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer,” because a person we now call a prophet used to be called a seer.)

¹⁰ Saul told his servant, “That’s a good idea! Come on, let’s go.” They went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they were going up the hill to the city, they met girls coming out to get water. They asked the girls, “Is the seer here?”

¹² The girls answered, “He’s there ahead of you. Hurry! He ⌞just⌟ went into the city today since the people are offering a sacrifice on the worship site. ¹³ As you go into the city, you can find him before he goes to the worship site to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, since he blesses the sacrifice. Then those who are invited may eat. Go. You should be able to find him now.”

¹⁴ So Saul and his servant went to the city. As they entered it, Samuel was coming toward them on his way to the worship site. ¹⁵ Now, the Lord had revealed the following message to Samuel one day before Saul came: ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the territory of Benjamin. Anoint him to be ruler of my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines because I’ve seen my people’s ⌞suffering⌟ and their cry has come to me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel noticed Saul, the Lord told him, “There’s the man I told you about. This man will govern my people.”

¹⁸ Saul approached Samuel inside the gateway and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

¹⁹ Samuel replied, “I’m the seer. Go ahead of me to the worship site. You will eat with me today. In the morning I’ll let you go after I tell you all that’s on your mind. ²⁰ Don’t trouble yourself about the donkeys that were lost three days ago because they’ve been found. Who will have all that is desirable in Israel? Won’t it be you and your father’s family?”

²¹ Saul replied, “I am a man from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe of Israel. My family is the most insignificant of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. So why are you saying such things to me?”

²² Samuel brought Saul and his servant to the banquet hall and had them sit at the head of the guests—about 30 people. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, “Bring me the portion of the sacrificial meat that I gave you and told you to put aside.” ²⁴ So the cook picked up the leg and thigh and laid it in front of Saul. Samuel said, “This was kept in order to be laid in front of you. Eat it. When I invited people to the feast, I set it aside for you.” Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ Then they left the worship site for the city. They spread blankets on the roof for Saul, and he slept there.^[b]

²⁶ At dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up! ⌞It’s time for⌟ me to send you away.” Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went outside. ²⁷ As they were going toward the city limits, Samuel told Saul, “Have the servant go ahead of you.” (He went ahead.) “But you stay here, and I will tell you God’s word.”