1 Samuel 7-12

I Samuel 7

¹And the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

²And it came to pass, from the day that the ark abode in Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

³And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your heart, then put away the strange gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

⁴Then the children of Israel did put away the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.

⁵And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.

⁶And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.

⁷And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

⁸And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

⁹And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt offering unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD answered him.

¹⁰And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten down before Israel.

¹¹And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car.

¹²Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

¹³So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

¹⁴And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the border thereof did Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

¹⁶And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.

¹⁷And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel: and he built there an altar unto the LORD.

I Samuel 8

¹And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.

³And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah:

⁵and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

⁶But the thing displeased Samuel; when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

⁷And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.

⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

⁹Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

¹⁰And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.

¹¹And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots:

¹²and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.

¹³And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

¹⁴And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

¹⁵And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

¹⁶And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

¹⁷He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants.

¹⁸And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not answer you in that day.

¹⁹But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

²⁰that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

²¹And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

²²And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

I Samuel 9

¹Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valour.

²And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a young man and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

³And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

⁴And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.

⁵When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us.

⁶And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man that is held in honour; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can tell us concerning our journey whereon we go.

⁷Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?

⁸And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Beheld, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.

⁹(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)

¹⁰Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was.

¹¹As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here?

¹²And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before thee: make haste now, for he is come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place:

¹³as soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for at this time ye shall find him.

¹⁴And they went up to the city; and as they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place.

¹⁵Now the LORD had revealed unto Samuel a day before Saul came, saying,

¹⁶Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be prince over my people Israel, and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me:

¹⁷And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man of whom I spake to thee! this same shall have authority over my people.

¹⁸Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is.

¹⁹And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer; go up before me unto the high place, for ye shall eat with me today: and in the morning I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart.

²⁰And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for thee, and for all thy father’s house?

²¹And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou to me after this manner?

²²And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the guest-chamber, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons.

²³And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee.

²⁴And the cook took up the thigh, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which hath been reserved! set it before thee and eat; because unto the appointed time hath it been kept for thee, for I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.

²⁵And when they were come down from the high place into the city, he communed with Saul upon the housetop.

²⁶And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad.

²⁷As they were going down at the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still at this time, that I may cause thee to hear the word of God.

I Samuel 10

¹Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not that the LORD hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance?

²When thou art departed from me today, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and taketh thought for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

³Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the oak of Tabor, and there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

⁴and they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hand.

⁵After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall be prophesying:

⁶and the spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

⁷And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

⁸And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come unto thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.

⁹And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

¹⁰And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them.

¹¹And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹²And one of the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹³And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴And Saul’s uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel.

¹⁵And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.

¹⁶And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

¹⁷And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpah;

¹⁸and he said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you:

¹⁹but ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saveth you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

²⁰So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

²¹And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they sought him, he could not be found.

²²Therefore they asked of the LORD further, Is there yet a man to come hither? And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.

²³And they ran and fetched him thence; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

²⁴And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

²⁵Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, 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.

²⁶And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the host, whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷But certain sons of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

I Samuel 11

¹Then 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 him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel: and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to thee.

⁴Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and spake 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? 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. 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, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have deliverance. And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

¹⁰Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.

¹¹And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; 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 which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

¹²And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.

¹³And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for today the LORD hath wrought deliverance in Israel.

¹⁴Then said Samuel to the people, Come and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.

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.

I Samuel 12

¹And 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 before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.

⁴And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand.

⁵And 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. And they said, He is witness.

⁶And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that appointed Moses and Aaron, and that 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 acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

⁸When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

⁹But they forgat the LORD their God, and he sold them 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.

¹¹And 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 dwelled in safety.

¹²And 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 serve him, and hearken unto his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you be followers of the LORD your God, well:

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, as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.

¹⁷Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the LORD, that he may send thunder 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.

¹⁹And 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 sins 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.

²²For 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.

²³Moreover as for me, God forbid 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.

²⁴Only 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 consumed, both ye and your king.