Samuel’s Address at Saul’s Coronation

12 Now Samuel said to all Israel: “Indeed I have ^[a]heeded ^(A)your voice in all that you said to me, and ^(B)have made a king over you. ² And now here is the king, ^(C)walking before you; ^(D)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 ^(E)His anointed: ^(F)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 ^(G)bribe with which to ^(H)blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”

⁴ And they said, ^(I)“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, ^(J)that you have not found anything ^(K)in my hand.”

And they answered, “He is witness.”

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, ^(L)“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 ^(M)reason with you before the Lord concerning all the ^(N)righteous acts of the Lord which He did to you and your fathers: ^8 (O)When Jacob had gone into ^[b]Egypt, and your fathers ^(P)cried out to the Lord, then the Lord ^(Q)sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. ⁹ And when they ^(R)forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of ^(S)Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the ^(T)Philistines, and into the hand of the king of ^(U)Moab; and they fought against them. ¹⁰ Then they cried out to the Lord, and said, ^(V)‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord ^(W)and served the Baals and ^[c]Ashtoreths; but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ ¹¹ And the Lord sent ^[d]Jerubbaal, ^[e]Bedan, ^(X)Jephthah, and ^(Y)Samuel,^[f] and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. ¹² And when you saw that ^(Z)Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, ^(AA)you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when ^(AB)the Lord your God was your king.

¹³ “Now therefore, ^(AC)here is the king ^(AD)whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, ^(AE)the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you ^(AF)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 ^(AG)not obey the voice of the Lord, but ^(AH)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, ^(AI)stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes: ¹⁷ Is today not the ^(AJ)wheat harvest? ^(AK)I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and ^(AL)rain, that you may perceive and see that ^(AM)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 ^(AN)all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, ^(AO)“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; ^(AP)yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ And ^(AQ)do not turn aside; ^(AR)for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. ²² For ^(AS)the Lord will not forsake ^(AT)His people, ^(AU)for His great name’s sake, because ^(AV)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 ^(AW)in ceasing to pray for you; but ^(AX)I will teach you the ^(AY)good and the right way. ^24 (AZ)Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for ^(BA)consider what ^(BB)great things He has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, ^(BC)you shall be swept away, ^(BD)both you and your king.”

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

13 Saul ^[a]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 ^(A)Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with ^(B)Jonathan in ^(C)Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.

³ And Jonathan attacked ^(D)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(E)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 ^[b]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, ^[c]thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people ^(F)as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(G)Beth Aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people ^(H)hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the ^(I)land of Gad and Gilead.

As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. ^8 (J)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 ^[d]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.”

The Beast from the Sea

13 Then ^[a]I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw ^(A)a beast rising up out of the sea, ^(B)having ^[b]seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a ^(C)blasphemous name. ² Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The ^(D)dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. ³ And I saw one of his heads ^(E)as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And ^(F)all the world marveled and followed the beast. ⁴ So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(G)“Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

⁵ And he was given ^(H)a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to ^[c]continue for ^(I)forty-two months. ⁶ Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, ^(J)His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ It was granted to him ^(K)to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And ^(L)authority was given him over every ^[d]tribe, tongue, and nation. ⁸ All who dwell on the earth will worship him, ^(M)whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain ^(N)from the foundation of the world.

^9 (O)If anyone has an ear, let him hear.