The Wicked Sons of Eli

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^(A)corrupt;^{[a] (B)}they did not know the Lord. ¹³ And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. ¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in ^(C)Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Also, before they ^(D)burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”

¹⁶ And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”

¹⁷ Therefore the sin of the young men was very great ^(E)before the Lord, for men ^(F)abhorred^[b] the offering of the Lord.

Samuel’s Childhood Ministry

^18 (G)But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, ^(H)wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹ Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she ^(I)came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ And Eli ^(J)would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the ^[c]loan that was ^(K)given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home.

²¹ And the Lord ^(L)visited^[d] Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel ^(M)grew before the Lord.

Prophecy Against Eli’s Household

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, ^[e]and how they lay with ^(N)the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. ²⁴ No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. ²⁵ If one man sins against another, ^(O)God^[f] will judge him. But if a man ^(P)sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, ^(Q)because the Lord desired to kill them.

²⁶ And the child Samuel ^(R)grew in stature, and ^(S)in favor both with the Lord and men.

²⁷ Then a ^(T)man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ^(U)‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ Did I not ^(V)choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And ^(W)did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? ²⁹ Why do you ^(X)kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My ^(Y)dwelling place, and honor your sons more than ^(Z)Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ ³⁰ Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ^(AA)‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ^(AB)‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and ^(AC)those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹ Behold, ^(AD)the days are coming that I will cut off your ^[g]arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be ^(AE)an old man in your house forever. ³³ But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. ³⁴ Now this shall be ^(AF)a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: ^(AG)in one day they shall die, both of them. ³⁵ Then ^(AH)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. ^(AI)I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before ^(AJ)My anointed forever. ^36 (AK)And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, ^[h]put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”

Samuel’s First Prophecy

3 Now ^(AL)the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And ^(AM)the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. ² And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow ^(AN)so dim that he could not see, ³ and before ^(AO)the lamp of God went out in the ^[i]tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, ⁴ that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” ⁵ So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”

And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

⁶ Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!”

So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ (Now Samuel ^(AP)did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.)

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”

Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ^(AQ)‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel ^(AR)at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² In that day I will perform against Eli ^(AS)all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ^13 (AT)For I have told him that I will ^(AU)judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because ^(AV)his sons made themselves vile, and he ^(AW)did not ^[j]restrain them. ¹⁴ And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house ^(AX)shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵ So Samuel lay down until ^[k]morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. ¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!”

He answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷ And he said, “What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. ^(AY)God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” ¹⁸ Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, ^(AZ)“It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

¹⁹ So Samuel ^(BA)grew, and ^(BB)the Lord was with him ^(BC)and let none of his words ^[l]fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel ^(BD)from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been ^[m]established as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by ^(BE)the word of the Lord.

The Death of Eli

4 And the word of Samuel came to all ^[n]Israel.

The Ark of God Captured

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside ^(BF)Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. ² Then the ^(BG)Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was ^[o]defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. ³ And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? ^(BH)Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, ^(BI)who dwells between ^(BJ)the cherubim. And the ^(BK)two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. ⁶ Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. ⁷ So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, ^(BL)“Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. ^9 (BM)Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, ^(BN)as they have been to you. ^[p]Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and ^(BO)Israel was ^[q]defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹ Also ^(BP)the ark of God was captured; and ^(BQ)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Death of Eli

¹² Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and ^(BR)came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and ^(BS)dirt on his head. ¹³ Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on ^(BT)a seat ^[r]by the wayside watching, for his heart ^[s]trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. ¹⁴ When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. ¹⁵ Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ^(BU)his eyes were so ^[t]dim that he could not see.

¹⁶ Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.”

And he said, ^(BV)“What happened, my son?”

¹⁷ So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸ Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Ichabod

¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. ²⁰ And about the time of her death ^(BW)the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she ^[u]regard it. ²¹ Then she named the child ^(BX)Ichabod,^[v] saying, ^(BY)“The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

The Philistines and the Ark

5 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it ^(BZ)from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ² When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of ^(CA)Dagon^[w] and set it by Dagon. ³ And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, ^(CB)fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and ^(CC)set it in its place again. ⁴ And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. ^(CD)The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only ^[x]Dagon’s torso was left of it. ⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house ^(CE)tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶ But the ^(CF)hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ^(CG)ravaged them and struck them with ^(CH)tumors,^[y] both Ashdod and its ^(CI)territory. ⁷ And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the ^(CJ)God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” ⁸ Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the ^(CK)lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?”

And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to ^(CL)Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. ⁹ So it was, after they had carried it away, that ^(CM)the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, ^[z]and tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰ Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” ¹¹ So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. ¹² And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the ^(CN)cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Ark Returned to Israel

6 Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. ² And the Philistines ^(CO)called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.”

³ So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it ^(CP)empty; but by all means return it to Him with ^(CQ)a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

⁴ Then they said, “What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him?”

They answered, ^(CR)“Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of ^[aa]you and on your lords. ⁵ Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ^(CS)ravage the land, and you shall ^(CT)give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ^(CU)lighten^[ab] His hand from you, from ^(CV)your gods, and from your land. ⁶ Why then do you harden your hearts ^(CW)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, ^(CX)did they not let the people go, that they might depart? ⁷ Now therefore, make ^(CY)a new cart, take two milk cows ^(CZ)which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them. ⁸ Then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart; and put ^(DA)the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go. ⁹ And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to ^(DB)Beth Shemesh, then He has done ^[ac]us this great evil. But if not, then ^(DC)we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. ¹¹ And they set the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. ¹² Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the ^(DD)highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their ^(DE)wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. ¹⁴ Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the Lord. ¹⁶ So when ^(DF)the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

^17 (DG)These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for ^(DH)Gath, one for Ekron; ¹⁸ and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

¹⁹ Then ^(DI)He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. ^[ad]He ^(DJ)struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

The Ark at Kirjath Jearim

²⁰ And the men of Beth Shemesh said, ^(DK)“Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall it go up from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^(DL)Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up with you.”

Israel Defeats the Philistines

7 Then the men of ^(DM)Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of ^(DN)Abinadab on the hill, and ^(DO)consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel

² So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you ^(DP)return to the Lord with all your hearts, then ^(DQ)put away the foreign gods and the ^(DR)Ashtoreths^[ae] from among you, and ^(DS)prepare your hearts for the Lord, and ^(DT)serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the children of Israel put away the ^(DU)Baals and the ^[af]Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.

⁵ And Samuel said, ^(DV)“Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and ^(DW)I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered together at Mizpah, ^(DX)drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they ^(DY)fasted that day, and said there, ^(DZ)“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ So the children of Israel said to Samuel, ^(EA)“Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹ And Samuel took a ^(EB)suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then ^(EC)Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. ^(ED)But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. ¹¹ And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and ^[ag]drove them back as far as below Beth Car. ¹² Then Samuel ^(EE)took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name ^[ah]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

^13 (EF)So the Philistines were subdued, and they ^(EG)did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴ Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ And Samuel ^(EH)judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. ¹⁷ But ^(EI)he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he ^(EJ)built an altar to the Lord.

Israel Demands a King

8 Now it came to pass when Samuel was ^(EK)old that he ^(EL)made his ^(EM)sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³ But his sons ^(EN)did not walk in his ways; they turned aside ^(EO)after dishonest gain, ^(EP)took bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵ and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(EQ)make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶ But the thing ^(ER)displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel ^(ES)prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for ^(ET)they have not rejected you, but ^(EU)they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹ Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and ^(EV)show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. ¹¹ And he said, ^(EW)“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your ^(EX)sons and appoint them for his own ^(EY)chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² He will ^(EZ)appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴ And ^(FA)he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ^[ai]young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. ¹⁸ And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord ^(FB)will not hear you in that day.”

¹⁹ Nevertheless the people ^(FC)refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, ²⁰ that we also may be ^(FD)like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. ²² So the Lord said to Samuel, ^(FE)“Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

Saul Chosen to Be King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(FF)Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of ^[aj]power. ² And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. ^(FG)From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, “Please take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of ^(FH)Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they had come to the land of ^(FI)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let ^(FJ)us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.”

⁶ And he said to him, “Look now, there is in this city ^(FK)a man of God, and he is an honorable man; ^(FL)all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.”

⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, ^(FM)what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”

⁸ And the servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have here at hand one-fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man ^(FN)went ^[ak]to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called ^(FO)a seer.)

¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, ^[al]“Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the hill to the city, ^(FP)they met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?”

¹² And they answered them and said, “Yes, there he is, just ahead of you. Hurry now; for today he came to this city, because ^(FQ)there is a sacrifice of the people today ^(FR)on the high place. ¹³ As soon as you come into the city, you will surely find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up, for about this time you will find him.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they were coming into the city, there was Samuel, coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

^15 (FS)Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, ¹⁶ “Tomorrow about this time ^(FT)I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, ^(FU)and you shall anoint him ^[am]commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have ^(FV)looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”

¹⁷ So when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, ^(FW)“There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, “Please tell me, where is the seer’s house?”

¹⁹ Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and tomorrow I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. ²⁰ But as for ^(FX)your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be anxious about them, for they have been found. And ^[an]on whom ^(FY)is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and on all your father’s house?”

²¹ And Saul answered and said, ^(FZ)“Am I not a Benjamite, of the ^(GA)smallest of the tribes of Israel, and ^(GB)my family the least of all the families of the ^[ao]tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?”

²² Now Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and had them sit in the place of honor among those who were invited; there were about thirty persons. ²³ And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Set it apart.’ ” ²⁴ So the cook took up ^(GC)the thigh with its upper part and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here it is, what was kept back. It was set apart for you. Eat; for until this time it has been kept for you, since I said I invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ When they had come down from the high place into the city, ^[ap]Samuel spoke with Saul on ^(GD)the top of the house. ²⁶ They arose early; and it was about the dawning of the day that Samuel called to Saul on the top of the house, saying, “Get up, that I may send you on your way.” And Saul arose, and both of them went outside, he and Samuel.

Saul Anointed King

²⁷ As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” And he went on. “But you stand here ^[aq]awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God.”

Samuel Anoints Saul

10 Then ^(GE)Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, ^(GF)and kissed him and said: “Is it not because ^(GG)the Lord has anointed you commander over ^(GH)His ^[ar]inheritance? ² When you have departed from me today, you will find two men by ^(GI)Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin ^(GJ)at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. And now your father has ceased caring about the donkeys and is worrying about ^(GK)you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ ³ Then you shall go on forward from there and come to the terebinth tree of Tabor. There three men going up ^(GL)to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. ⁴ And they will ^[as]greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands. ⁵ After that you shall come to the hill of God ^(GM)where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down ^(GN)from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; ^(GO)and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then ^(GP)the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and ^(GQ)you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. ⁷ And let it be, when these ^(GR)signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for ^(GS)God is with you. ⁸ You shall go down before me ^(GT)to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. ^(GU)Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”

⁹ So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God ^[at]gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. ^10 (GV)When they came there to the hill, there was ^(GW)a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹ And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? ^(GX)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹² Then a man from there answered and said, “But ^(GY)who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ And when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.

¹⁴ Then Saul’s ^(GZ)uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?”

So he said, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel.”

¹⁵ And Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me, please, what Samuel said to you.”

¹⁶ So Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been ^(HA)found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, he did not tell him what Samuel had said.

Saul Proclaimed King

¹⁷ Then Samuel called the people together ^(HB)to the Lord ^(HC)at Mizpah, ¹⁸ and said to the children of Israel, ^(HD)“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those who oppressed you.’ ^19 (HE)But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’ Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your ^[au]clans.”

²⁰ And when Samuel had ^(HF)caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. ²¹ When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was chosen. And Saul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they sought him, he could not be found. ²² Therefore they ^(HG)inquired of the Lord further, “Has the man come here yet?”

And the Lord answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.”

²³ So they ran and brought him from there; and when he stood among the people, ^(HH)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(HI)whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?”

So all the people shouted and said, ^(HJ)“Long^[av] live the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel explained to the people ^(HK)the behavior of royalty, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. ²⁶ And Saul also went home ^(HL)to Gibeah; and valiant men went with him, whose hearts God had touched. ^27 (HM)But some ^(HN)rebels said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him, ^(HO)and brought him no presents. But he ^[aw]held his peace.

Saul Saves Jabesh Gilead

11 Then ^(HP)Nahash the Ammonite came up and ^[ax]encamped against ^(HQ)Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, ^(HR)“Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.”

² And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring ^(HS)reproach on all Israel.”

³ Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Hold off for seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then, if there is no one to ^[ay]save us, we will come out to you.”

⁴ So the messengers came ^(HT)to Gibeah of Saul and told the news in the hearing of the people. And ^(HU)all the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵ Now there was Saul, coming behind the herd from the field; and Saul said, “What troubles the people, that they weep?” And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. ^6 (HV)Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused. ⁷ So he took a yoke of oxen and ^(HW)cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, ^(HX)“Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.”

And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out ^[az]with one consent. ⁸ When he numbered them in ^(HY)Bezek, the children ^(HZ)of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. ⁹ And they said to the messengers who came, “Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have help.’ ” Then the messengers came and reported it to the men of Jabesh, and they were glad. ¹⁰ Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do with us whatever seems good to you.”

¹¹ So it was, on the next day, that ^(IA)Saul put the people ^(IB)in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and killed Ammonites until the heat of the day. And it happened that those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹² Then the people said to Samuel, ^(IC)“Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^(ID)Bring the men, that we may put them to death.”

¹³ But Saul said, ^(IE)“Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today ^(IF)the Lord has accomplished salvation in Israel.”

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go ^(IG)to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(IH)before the Lord in Gilgal. ^(II)There they made sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Samuel’s Address at Saul’s Coronation

12 Now Samuel said to all Israel: “Indeed I have ^[ba]heeded ^(IJ)your voice in all that you said to me, and ^(IK)have made a king over you. ² And now here is the king, ^(IL)walking before you; ^(IM)and I am old and grayheaded, and look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. ³ Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before ^(IN)His anointed: ^(IO)Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any ^(IP)bribe with which to ^(IQ)blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”

⁴ And they said, ^(IR)“You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, ^(IS)that you have not found anything ^(IT)in my hand.”

And they answered, “He is witness.”

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, ^(IU)“It is the Lord who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now therefore, stand still, that I may ^(IV)reason with you before the Lord concerning all the ^(IW)righteous acts of the Lord which He did to you and your fathers: ^8 (IX)When Jacob had gone into ^[bb]Egypt, and your fathers ^(IY)cried out to the Lord, then the Lord ^(IZ)sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. ⁹ And when they ^(JA)forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of ^(JB)Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the ^(JC)Philistines, and into the hand of the king of ^(JD)Moab; and they fought against them. ¹⁰ Then they cried out to the Lord, and said, ^(JE)‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord ^(JF)and served the Baals and ^[bc]Ashtoreths; but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ ¹¹ And the Lord sent ^[bd]Jerubbaal, ^[be]Bedan, ^(JG)Jephthah, and ^(JH)Samuel,^[bf] and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. ¹² And when you saw that ^(JI)Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, ^(JJ)you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when ^(JK)the Lord your God was your king.

¹³ “Now therefore, ^(JL)here is the king ^(JM)whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, ^(JN)the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you ^(JO)fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. ¹⁵ However, if you do ^(JP)not obey the voice of the Lord, but ^(JQ)rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶ “Now therefore, ^(JR)stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes: ¹⁷ Is today not the ^(JS)wheat harvest? ^(JT)I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and ^(JU)rain, that you may perceive and see that ^(JV)your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king for yourselves.”

¹⁸ So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and ^(JW)all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, ^(JX)“Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.”

²⁰ Then Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; ^(JY)yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ And ^(JZ)do not turn aside; ^(KA)for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. ²² For ^(KB)the Lord will not forsake ^(KC)His people, ^(KD)for His great name’s sake, because ^(KE)it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. ²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord ^(KF)in ceasing to pray for you; but ^(KG)I will teach you the ^(KH)good and the right way. ^24 (KI)Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for ^(KJ)consider what ^(KK)great things He has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, ^(KL)you shall be swept away, ^(KM)both you and your king.”

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

13 Saul ^[bg]reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ² Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in ^(KN)Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with ^(KO)Jonathan in ^(KP)Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.

³ And Jonathan attacked ^(KQ)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(KR)Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become ^[bh]an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, ^[bi]thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people ^(KS)as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(KT)Beth Aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people ^(KU)hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the ^(KV)land of Gad and Gilead.

As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. ^8 (KW)Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might ^[bj]greet him.

¹¹ And Samuel said, “What have you done?”

Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, ¹² then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, ^(KX)“You have done foolishly. ^(KY)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 forever. ^14 (KZ)But now your kingdom shall not continue. ^(LA)The Lord has sought for Himself a man ^(LB)after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have ^(LC)not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of ^[bk]Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, ^(LD)about six hundred men.

No Weapons for the Army

¹⁶ Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in ^[bl]Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷ Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to ^(LE)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ another company turned to the road to ^(LF)Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of ^(LG)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now ^(LH)there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” ²⁰ But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; ²¹ and the charge for a sharpening was a ^[bm]pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. ²² So it came about, on the day of battle, that ^(LI)there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.

^23 (LJ)And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

Jonathan Defeats the Philistines

14 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who ^[bn]bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. ² And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of ^(LK)Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men. ^3 (LL)Ahijah the son of Ahitub, ^(LM)Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was ^(LN)wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

⁴ Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over ^(LO)to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. ⁵ The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.

⁶ Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these ^(LP)uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord ^(LQ)from saving by many or by few.”

⁷ So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.”

⁸ Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. ⁹ If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and ^(LR)this will be a sign to us.”

¹¹ So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have ^(LS)hidden.” ¹² Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will ^[bo]show you something.”

Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” ¹³ And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they ^(LT)fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. ¹⁴ That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about ^[bp]half an acre of land.

¹⁵ And ^(LU)there was ^[bq]trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and ^(LV)the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was ^(LW)a very great trembling. ¹⁶ Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they ^(LX)went here and there. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Now call the roll and see who has gone from us.” And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. ¹⁸ And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ^[br]ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel). ¹⁹ Now it happened, while Saul ^(LY)talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” ²⁰ Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed ^(LZ)every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion. ²¹ Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² Likewise all the men of Israel who ^(MA)had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. ^23 (MB)So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted ^(MC)to Beth Aven.

Saul’s Rash Oath

²⁴ And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had ^(MD)placed the people under oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food. ^25 (ME)Now all the people of the land came to a forest; and there was ^(MF)honey on the ground. ²⁶ And when the people had come into the woods, there was the honey, dripping; but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. ²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his ^[bs]countenance brightened. ²⁸ Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food this day.’ ” And the people were faint.

²⁹ But Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. Look now, how my countenance has brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰ How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?”

³¹ Now they had ^[bt]driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people were very faint. ³² And the people rushed on the ^[bu]spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them ^(MG)with the blood. ³³ Then they told Saul, saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating with the blood!”

So he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a large stone to me this day.” ³⁴ Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man’s ox and every man’s sheep, slaughter them here, and eat; and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood.’ ” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night, and slaughtered it there. ³⁵ Then Saul ^(MH)built an altar to the Lord. This was the first altar that he built to the Lord.

³⁶ Now Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them.”

And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.”

Then the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”

³⁷ So Saul ^(MI)asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But ^(MJ)He did not answer him that day. ³⁸ And Saul said, ^(MK)“Come over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was today. ³⁹ For ^(ML)as the Lord lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not a man among all the people answered him. ⁴⁰ Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side.”

And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”

⁴¹ Therefore Saul said to the Lord God of Israel, ^(MM)“Give^[bv] a perfect lot.” ^(MN)So Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped. ⁴² And Saul said, “Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me.” So Jonathan was taken. ⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, ^(MO)“Tell me what you have done.”

And Jonathan told him, and said, ^(MP)“I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand. So now I must die!”

⁴⁴ Saul answered, ^(MQ)“God do so and more also; ^(MR)for you shall surely die, Jonathan.”

⁴⁵ But the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! ^(MS)As the Lord lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked ^(MT)with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.

⁴⁶ Then Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

Saul’s Continuing Wars

⁴⁷ So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of ^(MU)Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of ^(MV)Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he ^[bw]harassed them. ⁴⁸ And he gathered an army and ^(MW)attacked^[bx] the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.

^49 (MX)The sons of Saul were Jonathan, ^[by]Jishui, and Malchishua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger ^(MY)Michal. ⁵⁰ The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s ^(MZ)uncle. ^51 (NA)Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵² Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, ^(NB)he took him for himself.

Saul Spares King Agag

15 Samuel also said to Saul, ^(NC)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, ^(ND)how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. ³ Now go and ^(NE)attack^[bz] Amalek, and ^(NF)utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

⁴ So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.

⁶ Then Saul said to ^(NG)the Kenites, ^(NH)“Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For ^(NI)you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ^7 (NJ)And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from ^(NK)Havilah all the way to ^(NL)Shur, which is east of Egypt. ^8 (NM)He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and ^(NN)utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people ^(NO)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Saul Rejected as King

¹⁰ Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ^11 (NP)“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has ^(NQ)turned back from following Me, ^(NR)and has not performed My commandments.” And it ^(NS)grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. ¹² So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to ^(NT)Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” ¹³ Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^(NU)“Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

¹⁵ And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; ^(NV)for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

And he said to him, “Speak on.”

¹⁷ So Samuel said, ^(NW)“When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? ¹⁸ Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are ^[ca]consumed.’ ¹⁹ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the ^[cb]spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”

²⁰ And Saul said to Samuel, ^(NX)“But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ^21 (NY)But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

²² So Samuel said:

^24 (OC)Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I ^(OD)feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, ^(OE)for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

²⁷ And as Samuel turned around to go away, ^(OF)Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, ^(OG)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. ²⁹ And also the Strength of Israel ^(OH)will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”

³⁰ Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ^(OI)honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously.

And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³ But Samuel said, ^(OJ)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to ^(OK)Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at ^(OL)Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ And ^(OM)Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, ^(ON)“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? ^(OO)Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to ^(OP)Jesse the Bethlehemite. For ^(OQ)I have ^[cd]provided Myself a king among his sons.”

² And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ^(OR)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”

⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town ^(OS)trembled at his coming, and said, ^(OT)“Do you come peaceably?”

⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(OU)Sanctify^[ce] yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ So it was, when they came, that he looked at ^(OV)Eliab and ^(OW)said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(OX)“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have ^[cf]refused him. ^(OY)For^[cg] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man ^(OZ)looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the ^(PA)heart.”

⁸ So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the ^(PB)sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not ^[ch]sit down till he comes here.” ¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(PC)ruddy, ^(PD)with ^[ci]bright eyes, and good-looking. ^(PE)And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(PF)the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul

^14 (PG)But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ^(PH)a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. ¹⁶ Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will ^(PI)play it with his hand when the ^[cj]distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”

¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, ^[ck]“Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”

¹⁸ Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and ^(PJ)the Lord is with him.”

¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” ²⁰ And Jesse ^(PK)took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. ²¹ So David came to Saul and ^(PL)stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. ²² Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at ^(PM)Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. ² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. ³ The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.

⁴ And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named ^(PN)Goliath, from ^(PO)Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was ^[cl]armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. ⁷ Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. ⁸ Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the ^(PP)servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and ^(PQ)serve us.” ¹⁰ And the Philistine said, “I ^(PR)defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was ^(PS)the son of that ^(PT)Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had ^(PU)eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul.