10 Saul Anointed King

10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince[1] over his heritage. ²When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ ³Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. ⁴And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. ⁵After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim,[2] where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. ⁶Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. ⁷Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. ⁸Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

⁹When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. ¹⁰When they came to Gibeah,[3] behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹²And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” ¹⁶And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

Saul Proclaimed King

¹⁷Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”

²⁰Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot;[4] and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. ²²So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” ²³Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. ²⁶Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

[1] Septuagint; Hebrew lacks over his people Israel? And you shall. . . . to be prince [2]Gibeath-elohim means the hill of God [3]Gibeah means the hill [4] Septuagint adds finally he brought the family of the Matrites near, man by man

11 Saul Defeats the Ammonites

11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” ²But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.” ³The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” ⁴When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.

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

The Kingdom Is Renewed

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

12 Samuel’s Farewell Address

12:1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. ²And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. ³Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me[5] and I will restore it to you.” ⁴They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” ⁵And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

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

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

[5] Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Testify against me [6] Septuagint; Hebrew lacks is witness [7] Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and the Egyptians oppressed them [8] Septuagint the army of Jabin king of Hazor [9] Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Bedan [10] Septuagint; Hebrew fathers