Old/New Testament
7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. They took it to Abinadab’s house on a hill. There they made Abinadab’s son Eleazar holy for the Lord so he could guard the Ark of the Covenant.
The Lord Saves the Israelites
2 The Ark of the Covenant stayed at Kiriath Jearim a long time—20 years in all. And the people of Israel began to follow the Lord again. 3 Samuel spoke to the whole group of Israel. He said, “If you’re turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must remove your foreign gods. You must remove your idols of Ashtoreth. You must give yourselves fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will save you from the Philistines.”
4 So the Israelites put away their idols of Baal and Ashtoreth. And they served only the Lord.
5 Samuel said, “All Israel must meet at Mizpah. I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So the Israelites met together at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord. They did not eat that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel served as judge of Israel at Mizpah.
7 The Philistines heard the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah. So the Philistine kings came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard they were coming, they were afraid. 8 They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop praying to the Lord our God for us! Ask the Lord to save us from the Philistines!” 9 Then Samuel took a baby lamb. He offered the lamb to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He called to the Lord for Israel’s sake. And the Lord answered him.
10 While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistines came near. They were going to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered against the Philistines with loud thunder. They were so frightened they became confused. So the Israelites defeated the Philistines in battle. 11 The men of Israel ran out of Mizpah and chased the Philistines. They went almost to Beth Car, killing the Philistines along the way.
Peace Comes to Israel
12 After this happened Samuel took a stone. He set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named the stone Ebenezer.[a] Samuel said, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” 13 So the Philistines were defeated. They did not enter the Israelites’ land again.
The Lord was against the Philistines all Samuel’s life. 14 Earlier the Philistines had taken towns from the Israelites. But the Israelites won them back, from Ekron to Gath. They also took back from the Philistines the neighboring lands of these towns. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel continued as judge of Israel all his life. 16 Every year he went from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah. He judged the Israelites in all these towns. 17 But Samuel always went back to Ramah, where his home was. He also judged Israel there. And there he built an altar to the Lord.
Israel Asks for a King
8 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges for Israel. 2 His first son was named Joel, and his second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba. 3 But Samuel’s sons did not live as he did. They tried to get money dishonestly. They took money secretly to be dishonest in their judging.
4 So all the elders came together and met Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You’re old, and your sons don’t live as you do. Give us a king to rule over us like all the other nations.”
6 When the elders said that, Samuel was not pleased. He prayed to the Lord. 7 The Lord told Samuel, “Listen to whatever the people say to you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me from being their king. 8 They are doing as they have always done. When I took them out of Egypt, they left me. They served other gods. They are doing the same to you. 9 Now listen to the people. But give them a warning. Tell them what the king who rules over them will do.”
10 Samuel answered those who had asked him for a king. He told them all the words of the Lord. 11 Samuel said, “If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take your sons. He will make them serve with his chariots and his horses. They will run in front of the king’s chariot. 12 The king will make some of your sons commanders over 1,000 men or over 50 men. He will make some of your other sons plow his ground and reap his harvest. He will take others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 This king will take your daughters. Some of your daughters will make perfume. Others will cook and bake for him. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards and olive groves. He will give them to his servants. 15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and servants. 16 He will take your men servants and girl servants. He will take your best cattle and your donkeys. He will use them all for his own work. 17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that time comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose. The Lord will not answer you then.”
19 But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, “No! We want a king to rule over us. 20 Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will judge us. He will go with us and fight our battles.”
21 Samuel heard all that the people said. Then he repeated all their words to the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “You must listen to them. Give them a king.”
Then Samuel told the people of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”
Saul Looks for His Father’s Donkeys
9 Kish son of Abiel was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was an important man. (Abiel was the son of Zeror. And Zeror was the son of Becorath. He was the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.) 2 Kish had a son named Saul. Saul was a fine young man. There was no Israelite better than he. Saul stood a head taller than any other man in Israel.
3 Now the donkeys of Saul’s father, Kish, were lost. So Kish said to Saul, his son, “Take one of the servants. Go and look for the donkeys.” 4 Saul went through the mountains of Ephraim. And he went through the land of Shalisha. But he and the servant could not find the donkeys. They went into the land of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. They went through the land of Benjamin. But they still did not find the donkeys. 5 They arrived in the area of Zuph. Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go back. My father will stop thinking about the donkeys. He will start worrying about us.”
6 But the servant answered, “A man of God is in this town. People respect him because everything he says comes true. Let’s go into the town now. Maybe he can tell us something about the journey we have taken.”
7 Saul said to his servant, “If we go into the town, what can we give him? The food in our bags is gone. We have no gift to give him. Do we have anything at all to give him?”
8 Again the servant answered Saul. “Look, I have one-tenth of an ounce of silver. Give it to the man of God. Then he will tell us about our journey.” 9 (In the past, someone in Israel might want to ask something from God. If so, he would say, “Let’s go to the seer.” We call the person a man of God today. But in the past he was called a “seer.”)
10 Saul said to his servant, “That is a good idea. Come, let’s go.” So they went toward the town where the man of God was.
11 Saul and the servant were going up the hill to the town. On the way they met some young women coming out to get water. Saul and the servant asked them, “Is the seer here?”
12 The young women answered, “Yes, he’s here. He’s ahead of you. Hurry now. He has just come to our town today. This is because the people will offer a sacrifice at the place of worship. 13 When you enter the town, you will find him. He will be there before he goes up to the place of worship to eat. The people will not begin eating until the seer comes. He must bless the sacrifice. After that, the guests will eat. Go now, and you should find him.”
Saul Meets Samuel
14 Saul and the servant went up to the town. Just as they entered the town, they saw Samuel. He was on his way up to the place of worship. So he was coming out of the city toward them.
15 The day before Saul came, the Lord had told Samuel: 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man. He will be from Benjamin. You must appoint him as leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines. I have seen the suffering of my people. I have listened to their cry.”
17 When Samuel first saw Saul, the Lord spoke to Samuel. He said, “This is the man I told you about. He will rule my people.”
18 Saul came near Samuel at the gate. Saul said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
19 Samuel answered, “I am the seer. Go ahead of me to the place of worship. Today you and your servant are to eat with me. Tomorrow morning I will send you home. And I will answer all your questions. 20 Don’t worry about the donkeys you lost three days ago. They have been found. Israel now wants you and all your father’s family.”
21 Saul answered, “But I am from the tribe of Benjamin. It’s the smallest tribe in Israel. And my family group is the smallest in the tribe of Benjamin. Why do you say Israel wants me?”
22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into a large room. He gave them a chief place at the table. About 30 guests were there. 23 Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the meat I gave you. It’s the portion I told you to set aside.”
24 So the cook took the thigh and put it on the table in front of Saul. Samuel said, “This is the meat saved for you. Eat it because it was set aside for you for this special time. As I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25 After they finished eating, they came down from the place of worship. They went to the town. Then Samuel talked with Saul on the roof[b] of his house. 26 At dawn they got up, and Samuel called to Saul on the roof. He said, “Get up, and I will send you on your way.” So Saul got up. He went out of the house with Samuel. 27 Saul, his servant and Samuel were getting near the edge of the city. Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us. I have a message from God for you.”
Jesus Is the Christ
18 One time when Jesus was praying alone, his followers came together there. Jesus asked them, “Who do the people say I am?”
19 They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah.[a] And others say you are one of the prophets from long ago who has come back to life.”
20 Then Jesus asked, “And who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ from God.”
21 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone. Then he said, 22 “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. The Son of Man will be killed. But after three days he will be raised from death.”
23 Jesus went on to say to all of them, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say ‘no’ to the things he wants. Every day he must be willing even to die on a cross, and he must follow me. 24 Whoever wants to save his life will lose it. And whoever gives his life for me will save it. 25 It is worth nothing for a man to have the whole world, if he himself is destroyed or lost. 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my teaching, then I[b] will be ashamed of him. I will be ashamed of him at the time I come with my glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth. Some of you people standing here will see the kingdom of God before you die.”
Jesus with Moses and Elijah
28 About eight days after Jesus said these things, he took Peter, James, and John and went up on a mountain to pray. 29 While Jesus was praying, his face was changed, and his clothes became shining white. 30 Then two men were talking with Jesus. The men were Moses and Elijah.[c] 31 They appeared in heavenly glory, talking with Jesus about his death which would happen in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and the others were asleep. But they woke up and saw the glory of Jesus. They also saw the two men who were standing with him. 33 When Moses and Elijah were about to leave, Peter said, “Master, it is good that we are here. We will put three tents here—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Peter did not know what he was saying.)
34 While Peter was saying these things, a cloud came down all around them. Peter, James, and John became afraid when the cloud covered them. 35 A voice came from the cloud. The voice said, “This is my Son. He is the One I have chosen. Obey him.”
36 When the voice finished speaking, only Jesus was there. Peter, James, and John said nothing. At that time they told no one about what they had seen.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.