1 Then Nahash the Ammonite •*• came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash: 'Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.' 2And Nahash the Ammonite said unto them: *On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.' 3And the elders of Jabesh said unto nm: 'Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to deliver us, we FIRST SAMUEL FIRST SAMUEL will come out to thee.7 4Then came the messengers to Gibeath-shaul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people; and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5And, behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said: 'What aileth the people that they weep?7 And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6And the spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly. 7And he took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying: 'Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen.7 And the dread of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out as one man. 8And he numbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9And they said unto the messengers that came: 'Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead: To-morrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have deliverance.7 And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. 10And the men of Jabesh said: 'To-morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.7 uAnd it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three com- panies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and smote the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and it came to pass, that they that remained were scat- tered, so that two of them were not left together. ^And the people said unto Samuel: 'Who is he that said: Shaft Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.7 There shall not a man be put to death this day; for to-day the LORD hath wrought deliver- ance in Israel.7 14Then said Samuel to the people: 'Come and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.7 15And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. 1 O And Samuel said unto all Israel: 'Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. 2And now, behold, the king walketh before you; and I am old and gray- headed; and, behold, my sons are with you; and I have walked before you from my youth unto this day. 3Here I am; witness against me be- fore the LORD, and before His anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I de- frauded? or whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.7 4And they said: 'Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand/ 6And he said unto them: 'The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand.7 And they said: 'He is witness.7 6And Samuel said unto the people: It is the LORD that made Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. TSTow therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous, acts of the LORD, which He did to you and to your 12 FIRST SAMUEL fathers. 8When Jacob was come into then your fathers cried unto the LORD, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, ^ and they were made to dwell in this place. 9But they forgot the LORD their God, and He gave them over into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10And they cried unto the LORD, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve Thee. 11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelt in safety. ^And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me: Nay, but a king shall reign over us; when the LORD your God was your king. 13Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for; and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. 14If ye will fear the LORD, and 1 serve Him, and hearken unto His voice, and not rebel against the com- mandment of the LORD, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you, be followers of the LORD your God —; 15but if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, and against your fathers. asNow therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. 17Is it not wheat harvest to-day? 'I will call unto the LORD, that He may send {minder and rain; and ye shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.' 18So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. "Aid all the people said unto Samuel: 'Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not; for we have added unto all our fting this evil, to ask us a king.' 20And Samuel said unto the people: 'Fear not; ye have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; 21and turn ye not aside; for then should ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain. ^For the LORD will not forsake His people for His great name's sake; because it hath pleased the LORD to make you a people unto Himself. ^Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and the right way. ^Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you. 25But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be swept away, both ye and your king.'
13 Saul was years old when » The number is wanting in the Hebrew.
he began to reign; and two years he reigned over Israel. 2And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmas and in the mount of Beth-el, and^a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeath- benjamin; and the rest of the people tie sent every man to his tent. 8Ajid Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the horn throughout all the FIRST SAMUEL land, saying: 'Let the Hebrews hear/ 4And all Israel heard say that Sa,ul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also had made himself odious with the Philis- tines. And the people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.
6And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude; and they came up, and pitched ha Michmas, eastward of Beth-aven. 6When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait — for the people were distressed — then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in holds, and in pits. 7Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8And he tarried seven days, ac- cording to the set time that Samuel had appointed; but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scat- tered from hm). 9And Saul said: 'Bring hither to me the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings.' And he offered the burnt-offering. 10And it came to pass that, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt- offering, behold, -Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. ^And Samuel said: 'What hast thou done?' And Saul said: 'Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou earnest not within the days appointed, and that the Philis- tines assembled themselves together against Michmas; ^therefore said I: Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favour of the LORD; I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-offering/ BAnd Samuel said to Saul: "Thou hast done foolish- ly; thou hast not kept the com- mandment of the LORD thy God, which He commanded thee; for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel foi ever. 14But now thy kingdom shall not continue; the LORD hath sought him a man after His own heart, and the LORD hath appointed him to be prince over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee/ ^And Samuel arose, and got Him up from Gilgal unto Gibeath-benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men. 16And Saul, and Jon- athan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in "Gibeath- benjamin; but the Philistines en- camped in Michmas. 17And the spoil- ers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies, one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual; 18and another company turned the way to Beth-horon; and another company turned the way of the border that lopketh down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said: 'Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears'; 20but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his plowshare, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. fflAnd the price of the filing was ba pirn for the mat- tocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks with three teeth, and for the axes; and to set the goads. ^So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear > Heb. Geba. bThat is, two-thirds of a shekel FIRST SAMUEL found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan; but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. ^And the gar- rison of the Philistines went out unto the pass of Michmas. •J A Now it fell upon a day, that -1- -1- Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bore his armour: 'Come and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side/ But he told not his father. 2And Saul tarried in the ut- termost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron; and the people that were with him were about six hundred men, 3and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's [brother, the son of Phinehas, the son .of Eli, the priest of the LOED in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. 4And between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag oa the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the ,6ther Seneh. ^The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmas, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
6And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour: 'Come and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us; for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.' 7And his armour-bearer said unto him: ' Do all that is in thy heart; turn thee, behold I am with thee according to thy heart.' 8Then said Jonathan: 'Behold, we wiU pass over unto the men, and we will disclose ourselves unto them. 9If they say thus unto us: Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. 10But if they say thus: Come up unto us; then we will go up; for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand; and this shall be the sign unto us.' uAnd both of them disclosed themselves unto the gar- rison of the Philistines; and the Philis- tines said: 'Behold Hebrews coming forth out of the holes where they hid themselves' 12And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and said: ' Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.' And Jonathan said unto his armour- bearer: 'Come up after me; for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.' 13And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armour-bearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan; and his armour-bearer slew them after him. 14And that first slaughter, which Jon- athan and his armour-bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land. 16And there was a trembling in the camp in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked; so it grew into a terror from God. 16And the watchmen of Saul hi Gibeath-benjamm looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went hither and thither.
17Then said Saul unto the people that were with him: 'Number now, and see who is gone from us.' And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armour-bearer were not there. 18And Saul said unto Ahi- jah: 'Bring hither the ark of God.' For the ark of God was there at that time with the children of Israel. 19And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philis- FIRST SAMUEL tines went on and increased; and Saul said unto the priest: * Withdraw thy hand.' 20And Saul and all the people that were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle; and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture. 21Now the Hebrews that were with the Philistines as be- foretime, and that went up with them into the camp round about; even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. 22Likewise all the men of Israel that had hid themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. ^So the LORD saved Israel that day; and the battle passed on as far as Beth-aven.
^And the men of Israel were dis- tressed that day; but Saul adjured the people, saying: l Cursed be the man that eateth any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on mine enemies.' So none of the people tasted food. 26And all the people came in- to the forest; and there was honey upon the ground. 26And when the people were come unto the forest, be- hold a flow of honey; but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. 27But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the peo- ple with the oath; and he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honey- comb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened. 28Then an- swered one of the people, and said: 'Thy father straitiy charged the peo- ple with an oath, saying: Cursed be the man that eateth food this day; and the people are faint.' 29Then said Jonathan: 'My father hath troubled the land; see, I pray you, how mine eyes are brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. 30How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? had there not been then a much greater slaugh- ter among the Philistines?' 31And they smote of the Philistines that day from Michmas to Aijalon; and the people were very faint. ^And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people did eat them with the blood. ^Then they told Saul, saying: 'Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood.' And he said: ' Ye have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone unto me this day.' ^And Saul said: ' Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them: Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood.' And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. 35And Saul built an altar unto the LORD; the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD.
^And Saul said: 'Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them.' And they said: 'Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee.' Then said the priest: 'Let us draw near hither unto God.' 37And Saul asked counsel 9f God: 'Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt Thou deliver them into the hand of Israel?' But He answered him not that day. 38And Saul said: 'Draw nigh hither, all ye chiefs of the peo- ple; and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. 39For, as the LORD liveth, who saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall FIRST SAMUEL FIRST SAMUEL surely die.' But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. 40Then said he unto all Israel 'Be ye on one side, and I and Jon- athan my son will be on the other side/ And the people said unto Saul: 'Do what seemeth good unto thee.' ^Therefore Saul said unto the LORD, the God of Israel: ' Declare the right/ And Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot; but the people escaped. Saul said: * Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.' And Jonathan was taken. -"Then Saul said to Jon- athan: ' Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said. 'I did certainly taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; here ani I: I will die. **And Saul said: ' God dp so and more also; thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.' ^And the people said unto Saul: 'Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far from it; as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day.' So the people rescued Jon- athan, that he died not. 46Then Saul went up from following the Philis- tines; and the Philistines went to their own place.
47So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his ene- mies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the longs of Zobah, and against the Philis- tines; and whithersoever he turned himself, he put them to the worse. *8And he did valiantly, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.
the sons of Saul were Jon- athan,, and Ishvi, and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters • Heb. JLbmer.
were these: the name of the first-born Merab, and the name of the younger Michal; 60and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz; and the name of the captain of his host was *Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. 61And Eash was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him.
And Samuel said unto Saul: 'The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. 2Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. 3Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suck- ling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.'
4And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. 6And Saul said unto the Kenites: £Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children ' of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.' So the Kenites departed From among the Amalekites. 7And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is in front of Egypt. 8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9But Saul and FIRST SAMUEL the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young of the second birth, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but every thing that was of no account and feeble, that they destroyed utterly.
10Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying: u'It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from fol- lowing Me, and hath not performed My commandments.' And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. 12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying: 'Saul caine to Carmel, and, behold, he is setting him up a monument, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal/ "And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him: ' Bless- ed be thou of the LORD; I have per- formed the commandment of the LOED/ 14And Samuel said: 'What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' 15And Saul said: 'They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly de- stroyed/ 16Then Samuel said unto Saul: 'Stay, and I will tell thee what the LOED hath said to me this night/ And he said unto Mm: 'Say on/ 17And Samuel said: 'Though thou be little in thine own sight, art thou not head of the tribes of Israel? ' And the LOED anointed thee king over Israel; 18and the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said: Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. "Wherefore then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the LORD?' 20And Saul said unto Samuel: 'Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LOED sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ^But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in, Gilgal/ ^And Samuel said: 'Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, As in hearkening to the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to hearken than the fat of rams. ^For rebellion is as the sin of witch- craft, And stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king/ ^And Saul said unto Samuel: 'I have sinned; for I have transgressed the command- ment of the LORD, and thy words; because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice. ^Now there- fore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD/ ^And Samuel said unto Saul: 'I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel/ 27And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. 2SAnd Samuel said unto him: 'The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou, 29And also the Glory of Israel will FIRST SAMUEL FIRST SAMUEL not lie nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent.' 30Then he said: 'I have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.' 31So Samuel re- turned after Saul; and Saul wor- shipped the LORD.
^Then said Samuel ' Bi ing ye hither "to me Agag the king of the Arnaltk- ites.' And Agag came unto him in chains. And Agag said: 'Surely the bitterness of death is at hand/ ^And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, So shall thy mother be childless among women.
And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
^Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeath-shaul. 35And Samuel never beheld Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul; and the LORD repented that He had made Saul king over Israel. -j f* And the LORD said unto Samuel* •*- ^ •" How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided Me a king among his sons.' 2And Samuel said: 'How can I go? if Saul hear it, he wilt kill me.' And the LORD said: 'Take a heifer with thee, and say: I am come to sacri- fice to the LORD. 3And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will tell thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee.' 4And Samuel did that which the LORD spoke, and came to Beth- lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said* 'Comest thou peaceably?' 6And he said: 'Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice un- to the LORD; sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.' And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6And it came to pass, when they were come, that he beheld Eliab, and said: 'Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him/ 7But the LORD said unto Samuel: 'Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for it is not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.' 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said: 'Neither hath the LORD chosen this.' 9Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said: 'Neither hath the LORD chosen this.' 10And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'The LORD hath not chosen these.' 11And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'Are here all thy children?' And he said: ' There remameth yet the youngest, and, be- hold, he keepeth the sheep.' And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither.' ^And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of beautiful eyes, and goodly to look upon. And the LORD said: 'Arise, anoint him; for this is he.' 13Then Samuel m took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 14Now the spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrified him.- 15And Saul's servants said unto him: 'Be- hold now, an evil spirit from God