1 Samuel
1:1Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite: 1:2And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children. 1:3Now this man went up from his town every year to give worship and to make offerings to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 1:4And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast: 1:5But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children. 1:6And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children; 1:7And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food. 1:8Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons? 1:9So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord. 1:10And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord. 1:11And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut. 1:12Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. 1:13For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine. 1:14And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink? Put away the effects of your wine from you. 1:15And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord. 1:16Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain. 1:17Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him. 1:18And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad. 1:19And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind. 1:20Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him. 1:21And the man Elkanah with all his family went up to make the year's offering to the Lord, and to give effect to his oath. 1:22But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go till the child has been taken from the breast, and then I will take him with me and put him before the Lord, where he may be for ever. 1:23And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast. 1:24Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh: now the child was still very young. 1:25And when they had made an offering of the ox, they took the child to Eli. 1:26And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side: 1:27My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request: 1:28So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord's. Then he gave the Lord worship there.
2:1And Hannah, in prayer before the Lord, said, My heart is glad in the Lord, my horn is lifted up in the Lord: my mouth is open wide over my haters; because my joy is in your salvation. 2:2No other is holy as the Lord, for there is no other God but you: there is no Rock like our God. 2:3Say no more words of pride; let not uncontrolled sayings come out of your mouths: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, by him acts are judged. 2:4The bows of the men of war are broken, and the feeble are clothed with strength. 2:5Those who were full are offering themselves as servants for bread; those who were in need are at rest; truly, she who had no children has become the mother of seven; and she who had a family is wasted with sorrow. 2:6The Lord is the giver of death and life: sending men down to the underworld and lifting them up. 2:7The Lord gives wealth and takes a man's goods from him: crushing men down and again lifting them up; 2:8Lifting the poor out of the dust, and him who is in need out of the lowest place, to give them their place among rulers, and for their heritage the seat of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has made them the base of the world. 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the evil-doers will come to their end in the dark night, for by strength no man will overcome. 2:10Those who make war against the Lord will be broken; against them he will send his thunder from heaven: the Lord will be judge of the ends of the earth, he will give strength to his king, lifting up the horn of him on whom the holy oil has been put. 2:11Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child became the servant of the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest. 2:12Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord. 2:13And the priests' way with the people was this: when any man made an offering, the priest's servant came while the flesh was being cooked, having in his hand a meat-hook with three teeth; 2:14This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 2:15And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked. 2:16And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force. 2:17And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings. 2:18But Samuel did the work of the Lord's house, while he was a child, dressed in a linen ephod. 2:19And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering. 2:20And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house. 2:21And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord. 2:22Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel. 2:23And he said to them, Why are you doing such things? for from all this people I get accounts of your evil ways. 2:24No, my sons, the account which is given me, which the Lord's people are sending about, is not good. 2:25If one man does wrong to another, God will be his judge: but if a man's sin is against the Lord, who will take up his cause? But they gave no attention to the voice of their father, for it was the Lord's purpose to send destruction on them. 2:26And the young Samuel, becoming older, had the approval of the Lord and of men. 2:27And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, The Lord says, Did I let myself be seen by your father's people when they were in Egypt, servants in Pharaoh's house? 2:28Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod? Did I give to your father's family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel? 2:29Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people? 2:30For this reason the Lord God of Israel has said, Truly I did say that your family and your father's people would have their place before me for ever: but now the Lord says, Let it not be so; I will give honour to those by whom I am honoured, and those who have no respect for me will be of small value in my eyes. 2:31See, the days are coming when your arm and the arm of your father's people will be cut off; 2:32And never again will there be an old man in your family. 2:33But one man of your family will not be cut off by my hand, and his eyes will be made dark, and grief will be in his heart: and all the offspring of your family will come to their end by the sword of men. 2:34And this will be the sign to you, which will come on Hophni and Phinehas, your sons; death will overtake them on the same day. 2:35And I will make a true priest for myself, one who will do what is in my heart and in my mind: and I will make for him a family which will not come to an end; and his place will be before my holy one for ever. 2:36Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest's places so that I may have a little food.
3:1Now the young Samuel was the servant of the Lord before Eli. In those days the Lord kept his word secret from men; there was no open vision. 3:2And at that time, when Eli was resting in his place, (now his eyes were becoming clouded so that he was not able to see,) 3:3And the light of God was still burning, while Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 3:4The voice of the Lord said Samuel's name; and he said, Here am I. 3:5And running to Eli he said, Here am I, for you said my name. And Eli said, I did not say your name; go to your rest again. So he went back to his bed. 3:6And again the Lord said, Samuel. And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. But he said in answer, I said nothing, my son; go to your rest again. 3:7Now at that time Samuel had no knowledge of the Lord, and the revelation of the word of the Lord had not come to him. 3:8And for the third time the Lord said Samuel's name. And he got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. Then it was clear to Eli that the voice which had said the child's name was the Lord's. 3:9So Eli said to Samuel, Go back: and if the voice comes again, let your answer be, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. So Samuel went back to his bed. 3:10Then the Lord came and said as before, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel made answer, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. 3:11And the Lord said to Samuel, See, I will do a thing in Israel at which the ears of everyone hearing of it will be burning. 3:12In that day I will do to Eli everything which I have said about his family, from first to last. 3:13And you are to say to him that I will send punishment on his family for ever, for the sin which he had knowledge of; because his sons have been cursing God and he had no control over them. 3:14So I have made an oath to the family of Eli that no offering of meat or of meal which they may make will ever take away the sin of his family. 3:15And Samuel kept where he was, not moving till the time came for opening the doors of the house of God in the morning. And fear kept him from giving Eli an account of his vision. 3:16Then Eli said, Samuel, my son. And Samuel answering said, Here am I. 3:17And he said, What did the Lord say to you? Do not keep it from me: may God's punishment be on you if you keep from me anything he said to you. 3:18Then Samuel gave him an account of everything, keeping nothing back. And he said, It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him. 3:19And Samuel became older, and the Lord was with him and let not one of his words be without effect. 3:20And it was clear to all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba that Samuel had been made a prophet of the Lord. 3:21And the Lord was seen again in Shiloh; for the Lord gave to Samuel in Shiloh the revelation of his word.
4:1Now at that time the Philistines came together to make war against Israel, and the men of Israel went out to war against the Philistines and took up their position at the side of Eben-ezer: and the Philistines put their forces in position in Aphek. 4:2And the Philistines put their forces in order against Israel, and the fighting was hard, and Israel was overcome by the Philistines, who put to the sword about four thousand of their army in the field. 4:3And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today? Let us get the ark of the Lord's agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us. 4:4So the people sent to Shiloh and got the ark of the agreement of the Lord of armies whose resting-place is between the winged ones; and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the ark of God's agreement. 4:5And when the ark of the Lord's agreement came into the tent-circle, all Israel gave a great cry, so that the earth was sounding with it. 4:6And the Philistines, hearing the noise of their cry, said, What is this great cry among the tents of the Hebrews? Then it became clear to them that the ark of the Lord had come to the tent-circle. 4:7And the Philistines, full of fear, said, God has come into their tents. And they said, Trouble is ours! for never before has such a thing been seen. 4:8Trouble is ours! Who will give us salvation from the hands of these great gods? These are the gods who sent all sorts of blows on the Egyptians in the waste land. 4:9Be strong, O Philistines, be men! Do not be servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you: go forward to the fight without fear. 4:10So the Philistines went to the fight, and Israel was overcome, and every man went in flight to his tent: and great was the destruction, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel were put to the sword. 4:11And the ark of God was taken; and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were put to the sword. 4:12And a man of Benjamin went running from the fight and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothing out of order and earth on his head. 4:13And when he came, Eli was seated by the wayside watching: and in his heart was fear for the ark of God. And when the man came into the town and gave the news, there was a great outcry. 4:14And Eli, hearing the noise and the cries, said, What is the reason of this outcry? And the man came quickly and gave the news to Eli. 4:15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed so that he was not able to see. 4:16And the man said to Eli, I have come from the army and have come in flight today from the fight. And he said, How did it go, my son? 4:17And the man said, Israel went in flight from the Philistines, and there has been great destruction among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken. 4:18And at these words about the ark of God, Eli, falling back off his seat by the side of the doorway into the town, came down on the earth so that his neck was broken and death overtook him, for he was an old man and of great weight. He had been judging Israel for forty years. 4:19And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child and near the time when she would give birth; and when she had the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, her pains came on her suddenly and she gave birth. 4:20And when she was very near death the women who were with her said, Have no fear, for you have given birth to a son. But she made no answer and gave no attention to it. 4:21And she gave the child the name of Ichabod, saying, The glory has gone from Israel: because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 4:22And she said, The glory is gone from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.
5:1Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. 5:2They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon. 5:3And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again. 5:4And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place. 5:5So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod. 5:6But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod. 5:7And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god. 5:8So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. 5:9But after they had taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the town, small and great. 5:10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people. 5:11So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there. 5:12And those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the cry of the town went up to heaven.
6:1Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months. 6:2And the Philistines sent for the priests and those who were wise in secret arts, and said to them, What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? How are we to send it away to its place? 6:3And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it without an offering, but send him a sin-offering with it: then you will have peace again, and it will be clear to you why the weight of his hand has not been lifted from you. 6:4Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords. 6:5So make images of the growths caused by your disease and of the mice which are damaging your land; and give glory to the God of Israel: it may be that the weight of his hand will be lifted from you and from your gods and from your land. 6:6Why do you make your hearts hard, like the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians? When he had made sport of them, did they not let the people go, and they went away? 6:7So now, take and make ready a new cart, and two cows which have never come under the yoke, and have the cows yoked to the cart, and take their young ones away from them: 6:8And put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the gold images which you are sending as a sin-offering in a chest by its side; and send it away so that it may go. 6:9If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance. 6:10And the men did so; they took two cows, yoking them to the cart and shutting up their young ones in their living-place: 6:11And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold images. 6:12And the cows took the straight way, by the road to Beth-shemesh; they went by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, and the sound of their voices was clear on the road; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the edge of Beth-shemesh. 6:13And the people of Beth-shemesh were cutting their grain in the valley, and lifting up their eyes they saw the ark and were full of joy when they saw it. 6:14And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and came to a stop there by a great stone: and cutting up the wood of the cart they made a burned offering of the cows to the Lord. 6:15Then the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest in which were the gold images, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh made burned offerings and gave worship that day before the Lord. 6:16And the five lords of the Philistines, having seen it, went back to Ekron the same day. 6:17Now these are the gold images which the Philistines sent as a sin-offering to the Lord; one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 6:18And the gold mice, one for every town of the Philistines, the property of the five lords, walled towns as well as country places: and the great stone where they put the ark of the Lord is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite to this day. 6:19But the Lord sent destruction on seventy men of the people of Beth-shemesh for looking into the ark of the Lord; and great was the sorrow of the people for the destruction which the Lord had sent on them. 6:20And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to keep his place before the Lord, this holy God? and to whom may he go from us? 6:21And they sent men to the people living in Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have sent back the ark of the Lord; come and take it up to your country.
7:1So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah, and they made his son Eleazar holy and put the ark in his care. 7:2And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping. 7:3Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines. 7:4So the children of Israel gave up the worship of Baal and Astarte, and became worshippers of the Lord only. 7:5Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you. 7:6So they came together to Mizpah, and got water, draining it out before the Lord, and they took no food that day, and they said, We have done evil against the Lord. And Samuel was judge of the children of Israel in Mizpah. 7:7Now when the Philistines had news that the children of Israel had come together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the children of Israel, hearing of it, were full of fear. 7:8And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines. 7:9And Samuel took a young lamb, offering all of it as a burned offering to the Lord; and Samuel made prayers to the Lord for Israel and the Lord gave him an answer. 7:10And while Samuel was offering the burned offering, the Philistines came near for the attack on Israel; but at the thunder of the Lord's voice that day the Philistines were overcome with fear, and they gave way before Israel. 7:11And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and went after the Philistines, attacking them till they came under Beth-car. 7:12Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help. 7:13So the Philistines were overcome, and did not come into the country of Israel again: and all the days of Samuel the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 7:14And the towns which the Philistines had taken were given back to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and all the country round them Israel made free from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7:15And Samuel was judge of Israel all the days of his life. 7:16From year to year he went in turn to Beth-el and Gilgal and Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 7:17And his base was at Ramah, where his house was; there he was judge of Israel and there he made an altar to the Lord.
8:1Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 8:2The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. 8:3And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging. 8:4Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah, 8:5And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations. 8:6But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord. 8:7And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them. 8:8As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you. 8:9Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler. 8:10And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the people who were desiring a king. 8:11And he said, This is the sort of king who will be your ruler: he will take your sons and make them his servants, his horsemen, and drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his war-carriages; 8:12And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages. 8:13Your daughters he will take to be makers of perfumes and cooks and bread-makers. 8:14He will take your fields and your vine-gardens and your olive-gardens, all the best of them, and give them to his servants. 8:15He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants. 8:16He will take your men-servants and your servant-girls, and the best of your oxen and your asses and put them to his work. 8:17He will take a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his servants. 8:18Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day. 8:19But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us, 8:20So that we may be like the other nations, and so that our king may be our judge and go out before us to war. 8:21Then Samuel, after hearing all the people had to say, went and gave an account of it to the Lord. 8:22And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town.
9:1Now there was a man of Benjamin named Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a man of wealth. 9:2He had a son named Saul, a specially good-looking young man; there was no one better-looking among the children of Israel: he was taller by a head than any other of the people. 9:3Now the asses of Saul's father Kish had gone wandering away. And Kish said to his son Saul, Take one of the servants with you, and get up and go in search of the asses. 9:4So they went through the hill-country of Ephraim and through the land of Shalishah, but they saw no sign of them: then they went through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there: and they went through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not come across them. 9:5And when they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, Come, let us go back, or my father may give up caring about the asses and be troubled about us. 9:6But the servant said to him, See now, in this town there is a man of God, who is highly honoured, and everything he says comes true: let us go there now; it may be that he will give us directions about our journey. 9:7Then Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what are we to take the man? all our bread is gone, and we have no offering to take to the man of God: what are we to do? 9:8But the servant said in answer, I have here a fourth part of a shekel of silver: I will give that to the man of God, and he will give us directions about our way. 9:9(In the past in Israel, when a man went to get directions from God, he said, Come let us go to the Seer, for he who now is named Prophet was in those days given the name of Seer.) 9:10Then Saul said to his servant, You have said well; come, let us go. So they went to the town where the man of God was. 9:11And when they were on the way up to the town, they saw some young girls going out to get water and said to them, Is the seer here? 9:12And they said, He is; in fact he is before you: go quickly now, for he has come into the town today, for the people are making an offering in the high place today: 9:13When you come into the town you will see him straight away, before he goes up to the high place for the feast: the people are waiting for his blessing before starting the feast, and after that the guests will take part in it. So go up now and you will see him. 9:14So they went up to the town, and when they came inside the town, Samuel came face to face with them on his way to the high place. 9:15Now the day before Saul came, the word of God had come to Samuel, saying, 9:16Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and on him you are to put the holy oil, making him ruler over my people Israel, and he will make my people safe from the hands of the Philistines: for I have seen the sorrow of my people, whose cry has come up to me. 9:17And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, This is the man of whom I gave you word! he it is who is to have authority over my people. 9:18Then Saul came up to Samuel in the doorway of the town and said, Give me directions, if you will be so good, to the house of the seer. 9:19Then Samuel said to Saul, I am the seer; go up before me to the high place and take food with me today: and in the morning I will let you go, after opening to you all the secrets of your heart. 9:20As for your asses which have been wandering for three days, give no thought to them, for they have come back. And for whom are all the desired things in Israel? are they not for you and your father's family? 9:21And Saul said, Am I not a man of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of the families of Benjamin? why then do you say these words to me? 9:22Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into the guest room, and made them take the chief place among all the guests who were there, about thirty persons. 9:23And Samuel said to the cook, Give me that part which I gave you orders to keep by you. 9:24And the cook took up the leg with the fat tail on it, and put it before Saul. And Samuel said, This is the part which has been kept for you: take it as your part of the feast; because it has been kept for you till the right time came and till the guests were present. So that day Saul took food with Samuel. 9:25And when they had come down from the high place into the town, where a bed was made ready for Saul, he went to rest. 9:26And about dawn Samuel said to Saul on the roof, Get up so that I may send you away. So Saul got up, and he and Samuel went out together. 9:27And on their way down to the end of the town, Samuel said to Saul, Give your servant orders to go on in front of us, (so he went on,) but you keep here, so that I may give you the word of God.
10:1Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you: 10:2When you have gone away from me today, you will see two men by the resting-place of Rachel's body, in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went in search of have come back, and now your father, caring no longer for the asses, is troubled about you, saying, What am I to do about my son? 10:3Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full of wine: 10:4They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them. 10:5After that you will come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where an armed force of the Philistines is stationed: and when you come to the town, you will see a band of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments of music before them; and they will be acting like prophets: 10:6And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man. 10:7And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you. 10:8Then you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to do. 10:9And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place that day. 10:10And when they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets came face to face with him; and the spirit of God came on him with power and he took his place among them as a prophet. 10:11Now when Saul's old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets? 10:12And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets? 10:13Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house. 10:14And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel. 10:15Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you? 10:16And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom. 10:17Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah; 10:18And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down: 10:19But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands. 10:20So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 10:21Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen. 10:22So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods. 10:23So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people. 10:24And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see the man of the Lord's selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king! 10:25Then Samuel gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 10:26And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God. 10:27But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.
11:1Then about a month after this, Nahash the Ammonite came up and put his forces in position for attacking Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make an agreement with us and we will be your servants. 11:2And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make an agreement with you on this condition, that all your right eyes are put out; so that I may make it a cause of shame to all Israel. 11:3Then the responsible men of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, so that we may send men to every part of Israel: and then, if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you. 11:4So they sent representatives to Saul's town Gibeah, and these gave the news to the people: and all the people gave themselves to weeping. 11:5Now Saul came from the field, driving the oxen before him; and he said, Why are the people weeping? And they gave him word of what the men of Jabesh had said. 11:6And at their words, the spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he became very angry. 11:7And he took two oxen and, cutting them up, sent them through all the land of Israel by the hand of runners, saying, If any man does not come out after Saul and Samuel, this will be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord came on the people and they came out like one man. 11:8And he had them numbered in Bezek: the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 11:9Then he said to the representatives who had come, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is high, you will be made safe. And the representatives came and gave the news to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. 11:10So the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. 11:11Now on the day after, Saul put the people into three bands, and in the morning watch they came to the tents of the Ammonites, and they went on attacking them till the heat of the day: and those who were not put to death were put to flight in every direction, so that no two of them were together. 11:12And the people said to Samuel, Who was it who said, Is Saul to be our king? give the men up, so that we may put them to death. 11:13And Saul said, Not a man is to be put to death today: for today the Lord has made Israel safe. 11:14Then Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there make the kingdom strong in the hands of Saul. 11:15So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal they made Saul king before the Lord; and peace-offerings were offered before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy.
12:1And Samuel said to all Israel, You see that I have given ear to everything you said to me, and have made a king over you. 12:2And now, see, the king is before you: and I am old and grey-headed, and my sons are with you: I have been living before your eyes from my early days till now. 12:3Here I am: give witness against me before the Lord and before the man on whom he has put the holy oil: whose ox or ass have I taken? to whom have I been untrue? who has been crushed down by me? from whose hand have I taken a price for the blinding of my eyes? I will give it all back to you. 12:4And they said, You have never been untrue to us or cruel to us; you have taken nothing from any man. 12:5Then he said, The Lord is witness against you, and the man on whom he has put the holy oil is witness this day that you have seen no wrong in me. And they said, He is witness. 12:6And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness, who gave authority to Moses and Aaron, and who took your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 12:7Keep your places now, while I take up the argument with you before the Lord, and give you the story of the righteousness of the Lord, which he has made clear by his acts to you and to your fathers. 12:8When Jacob and his sons had come into Egypt, and were crushed by the Egyptians, the prayers of your fathers came up to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your fathers out of Egypt, and he put them into this place. 12:9But they were false to the Lord their God, and he gave them up into the hands of Sisera, captain of the army of Jabin, king of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the king of Moab, who made war against them. 12:10Then crying out to the Lord, they said, We have done evil, because we have been turned away from the Lord, worshipping the Baals and the Astartes: but now, make us safe from those who are against us and we will be your servants. 12:11So the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and took you out of the power of those who were fighting against you on every side, and made you safe. 12:12And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, No more of this; we will have a king for our ruler: when the Lord your God was your king. 12:13Here, then, is the king marked out by you: the Lord has put a king over you. 12:14If in the fear of the Lord you are his servants, hearing his voice and not going against the orders of the Lord, but being true to the Lord your God, you and the king ruling over you, then all will be well: 12:15But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord, but go against his orders, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and against your king for your destruction, as it was against your fathers. 12:16Now keep where you are and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. 12:17Is it not now the time of the grain cutting? My cry will go up to the Lord and he will send thunder and rain: so that you may see and be conscious of your great sin which you have done in the eyes of the Lord in desiring a king for yourselves. 12:18So Samuel made prayer to the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people were in fear of the Lord and of Samuel. 12:19And all the people said to Samuel, Make prayer for us to the Lord your God so that death may not overtake us: for in addition to all our sins we have done this evil, in desiring a king. 12:20Then Samuel said to the people, Have no fear: truly you have done evil, but do not be turned away from the Lord; be his servants with all your heart; 12:21And do not go from the right way turning to those false gods in which there is no profit and no salvation, for they are false. 12:22For the Lord will not give his people up, because of the honour of his name; for it was the Lord's pleasure to make of you a people for himself. 12:23And as for me, never will I go against the orders of the Lord by giving up my prayers for you: but I will go on teaching you the good and right way. 12:24Only go in the fear of the Lord, and be his true servants with all your heart, keeping in mind what great things he has done for you. 12:25But if you still do evil, destruction will overtake you and your king.
13:1*** 13:2And Saul took for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom he kept two thousand with him in Michmash and in the mountain of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: the rest of the people he sent back to their tents. 13:3And Jonathan made an attack on the armed force of the Philistines stationed at Gibeah; and news was given to the Philistines that the Hebrews were turned against them. And Saul had a horn sounded through all the land, 13:4And all Israel had the news that Saul had made an attack on the Philistines, and that Israel was bitterly hated by the Philistines. And the people came together after Saul to Gilgal. 13:5And the Philistines came together to make war on Israel, three thousand war-carriages and six thousand horsemen and an army of people like the sands of the sea in number: they came up and took up their position in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 13:6When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, (for the people were troubled,) they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows. 13:7And a great number of the people had gone over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people went after him shaking in fear. 13:8And he went on waiting there for seven days, the time fixed by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were starting to go away from him. 13:9Then Saul said, Come here and give me the burned offering and the peace-offerings. And he made a burned offering to the Lord. 13:10And when the burned offering was ended, Samuel came; and Saul went out to see him and to give him a blessing. 13:11And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were going away from me, and you had not come at the time which had been fixed, and the Philistines had come together at Michmash; 13:12I said, Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal, and I have made no prayer for help to the Lord: and so, forcing myself to do it, I made a burned offering. 13:13And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever. 13:14But now, your authority will not go on: the Lord, searching for a man who is pleasing to him in every way, has given him the place of ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord gave you orders to do. 13:15Then Samuel went up from Gilgal and the rest of the people went up after Saul against the men of war, and they came from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: and Saul took the number of the people who were with him, about six hundred men. 13:16And Saul, with Jonathan his son and the people who were with them, was waiting in Geba in the land of Benjamin: but the tents of the Philistines were in Michmash. 13:17And three bands of men came out from the Philistines to make an attack; one band went by the road which goes to Ophrah, into the land of Shual: 13:18And another went in the direction of Beth-horon: and another went by the hill looking down on the valley of Zeboiim, in the direction of the waste land. 13:19Now there was no iron-worker in all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, For fear the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears: 13:20But all the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their ploughs and blades and axes and hooks made sharp; 13:21For they had instruments for putting an edge on their ploughs and blades and forks and axes, and for putting iron points on their ox-driving rods. 13:22So on the day of the fight at Michmash, not a sword or a spear was to be seen in the hands of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan: only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. 13:23And the armed force of the Philistines went out to the narrow way of Michmash.
14:1Now one day Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was with him, looking after his arms, Come, let us go over to the Philistine force over there. But he said nothing to his father. 14:2And Saul was still waiting in the farthest part of Geba, under the fruit-tree in Migron: there were about six hundred men with him; 14:3And Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, who had the ephod. And the people had no idea that Jonathan had gone. 14:4Now between the narrow roads over the mountains by which Jonathan was making his way to the Philistines' forces, there was a sharp overhanging rock on one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: one was named Bozez and the other Seneh. 14:5The one rock went up on the north in front of Michmash and the other on the south in front of Geba. 14:6And Jonathan said to his young servant who had his arms, Come, let us go over to the armies of these men who have no circumcision: it may be that the Lord will give us help, for there is no limit to his power; the Lord is able to give salvation by a great army or by a small band. 14:7And his servant said to him, Do whatever is in your mind: see, I am with you in every impulse of your heart. 14:8Then Jonathan said, Now we will go over to these men and let them see us. 14:9If they say to us, Keep quiet where you are till we come to you; then we will keep our places and not go up to them. 14:10But if they say, Come up to us; then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands: and this will be the sign to us. 14:11And they let the Philistine force see the two of them: and the Philistines said, Look! the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have taken cover. 14:12And the armed men of the force gave Jonathan and his servant their answer, saying, Come up here to us, and we will let you see something. Then Jonathan said to his servant, Come up after me: for the Lord has given them up into the hands of Israel. 14:13And Jonathan went up, gripping with his hands and his feet, his servant going up after him; and the Philistines gave way before Jonathan when he made an attack on them, and his servant put them to death after him. 14:14And at their first attack, Jonathan and his servant put to the sword about twenty men, all inside the space of half an acre of land. 14:15And there was great fear in the tents and in the field and among all the men of the armed force, and the attackers were shaking with fear; even the earth was moved with a great shaking and there was a fear as from God. 14:16And the watchmen of Saul, looking out from Geba in the land of Benjamin, saw all the army flowing away and running here and there. 14:17Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Let everyone be numbered and let us see who has gone from us. And when they had been numbered, it was seen that Jonathan and his servant were not there. 14:18And Saul said to Ahijah, Let the ephod come here. For he went before Israel with the ephod at that time. 14:19Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the noise in the tents of the Philistines became louder and louder; and Saul said to the priest, Take back your hand. 14:20And Saul and all the people with him came together and went forward to the fight: and every man's sword was turned against the man at his side, and there was a very great noise. 14:21Then the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines for some time, and had gone up with them to their tents, turning round were joined to those who were with Saul and Jonathan. 14:22And all the men of Israel who had taken cover in the hill-country of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had been put to flight, went after them, attacking them. 14:23So the Lord made Israel safe that day: and the fight went over to Beth-aven. 14:24And all the people were with Saul, about twenty thousand men, and the fight was general through all the hill-country of Ephraim; but Saul made a great error that day, by putting the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes food before evening comes and I have given punishment to those who are against me. So the people had not a taste of food. 14:25And there was honey on the face of the field, and all the people came to the honey, the bees having gone from it; 14:26But not a man put his hand to his mouth for fear of the curse. 14:27But Jonathan, having no knowledge of the oath his father had put on the people, stretching out the rod which was in his hand, put the end of it in the honey, and put it to his mouth; then his eyes were made bright. 14:28Then one of the people said to him, Your father put the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes any food this day. And the people were feeble, needing food. 14:29Then Jonathan said, My father has made trouble come on the land: now see how bright my eyes have become because I have taken a little of this honey. 14:30How much more if the people had freely taken their food from the goods of those who were fighting against them! would there not have been much greater destruction among the Philistines? 14:31That day they overcame the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were feeble from need of food. 14:32And rushing at the goods taken in the fight, the people took oxen and sheep and young oxen, and put them to death there on the earth, and had a meal, taking the flesh with the blood in it. 14:33Then it was said to Saul, See, the people are sinning against the Lord, taking the blood with the flesh. And he said to those who gave him the news, Now let a great stone be rolled to me here. 14:34And Saul said, Go about among the people and say to them, Let every man come here to me with his ox and his sheep, and put them to death here, and take his meal: do no sin against the Lord by taking the blood with the flesh. So all the people took their oxen with them that night and put them to death there. 14:35And Saul put up an altar to the Lord: this was the first altar which he put up to the Lord. 14:36And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, attacking them till the morning, till there is not a man of them living. And they said, Do whatever seems right to you. Then the priest said, Let us come near to God. 14:37And Saul, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go down after the Philistines? will you give them up into the hands of Israel? But he gave him no answer that day. 14:38And Saul said, Come near, all you chiefs of the people, and let us get word from God and see in whom is this sin today. 14:39For, by the living Lord, the saviour of Israel, even if the sinner is Jonathan, my son, death will certainly be his fate. But not a man among all the people gave him any answer. 14:40Then he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do whatever seems good to you. 14:41Then Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, Why have you not given me an answer today? If the sin is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim, and if it is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And by the decision of the Lord, Saul and Jonathan were marked out, and the people went free. 14:42And Saul said, Give your decision between my son Jonathan and me. And Jonathan was taken. 14:43Then Saul said to Jonathan, Give me an account of what you have done. And Jonathan gave him the story and said, Certainly I took a little honey on the end of my rod; and now death is to be my fate. 14:44And Saul said, May God's punishment be on me if death is not your fate, Jonathan. 14:45And the people said to Saul, Is death to come to Jonathan, the worker of this great salvation for Israel? Let it not be so: by the living Lord, not one hair of his head is to be touched, for he has been working with God today. So the people kept Jonathan from death. 14:46Then Saul, turning back, went after the Philistines no longer: and the Philistines went back to their place. 14:47Now when Saul had taken his place as ruler of Israel, he made war on those who were against him on every side, Moab and the Ammonites and Edom and the kings of Zobah and the Philistines: and whichever way he went, he overcame them. 14:48And he did great things, and overcame the Amalekites, and made Israel safe from the hands of their attackers. 14:49Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and these are the names of his daughters: the older was named Merab and the younger Michal; 14:50The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, brother of Saul's father. 14:51Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were sons of Abiel. 14:52All through the life of Saul there was bitter war against the Philistines; and whenever Saul saw any strong man or any good fighting man, he kept him near himself.
15:1And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to put the holy oil on you and to make you king over his people, over Israel: so give ear now to the words of the Lord. 15:2The Lord of armies says, I will give punishment to Amalek for what he did to Israel, fighting against him on the way when Israel came out of Egypt. 15:3Go now and put Amalek to the sword, putting to the curse all they have, without mercy: put to death every man and woman, every child and baby at the breast, every ox and sheep, camel and ass. 15:4And Saul sent for the people and had them numbered in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah. 15:5And Saul came to the town of Amalek, and took up his position in the valley secretly. 15:6And Saul said to the Kenites, Go away, take yourselves out from among the Amalekites, or destruction will overtake you with them: for you were kind to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites went away from among the Amalekites. 15:7And Saul made an attack on the Amalekites from Havilah on the road to Shur, which is before Egypt. 15:8He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, prisoner, and put all the people to the sword without mercy. 15:9But Saul and the people did not put Agag to death, and they kept the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fat beasts and the lambs, and whatever was good, not desiring to put them to the curse: but everything which was bad and of no use they put to the curse. 15:10Then the Lord said to Samuel, 15:11It is no longer my pleasure for Saul to be king; for he is turned back from going in my ways, and has not done my orders. And Samuel was very sad, crying to the Lord in prayer all night. 15:12And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal. 15:13And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, May the blessing of the Lord be with you: I have done what was ordered by the Lord. 15:14And Samuel said, What then is this sound of the crying of sheep and the noise of oxen which comes to my ears? 15:15And Saul said, They have taken them from the Amalekites: for the people have kept the best of the sheep and of the oxen as an offering to the Lord your God; all the rest we have given up to destruction. 15:16Then Samuel said to Saul, Say no more! Let me give you word of what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on. 15:17And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel, 15:18And the Lord sent you on a journey and said, Go and put to the curse those sinners, the Amalekites, fighting against them till every one is dead. 15:19Why then did you not do the orders of the Lord, but by violently taking their goods did evil in the eyes of the Lord? 15:20And Saul said, Truly, I have done the orders of the Lord and have gone the way the Lord sent me; I have taken Agag, the king of Amalek, and have given the Amalekites up to destruction. 15:21But the people took some of their goods, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which were put to the curse, to make an offering of them to the Lord your God in Gilgal. 15:22And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in offerings and burned offerings as in the doing of his orders? Truly, to do his pleasure is better than to make offerings, and to give ear to him than the fat of sheep. 15:23For to go against his orders is like the sin of those who make use of secret arts, and pride is like giving worship to images. Because you have put away from you the word of the Lord, he has put you from your place as king. 15:24And Saul said to Samuel, Great is my sin: for I have gone against the orders of the Lord and against your words: because, fearing the people, I did what they said. 15:25So now, let my sin have forgiveness, and go back with me to give worship to the Lord. 15:26And Samuel said to Saul, I will not go back with you: for you have put away from you the word of the Lord, and the Lord has put you from your place as king over Israel. 15:27And when Samuel was turning round to go away, Saul took the skirt of his robe in his hand, and the cloth came away. 15:28And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you. 15:29And further, the Glory of Israel will not say what is false, and his purpose may not be changed: for he is not a man, whose purpose may be changed. 15:30Then he said, Great is my sin: but still, give me honour now before the heads of my people and before Israel, and come back with me so that I may give worship to the Lord your God. 15:31So Samuel went back after Saul, and Saul gave worship to the Lord. 15:32Then Samuel said, Make Agag, the king of the Amalekites, come here to me. And Agag came to him shaking with fear. And Agag said, Truly the pain of death is past. 15:33And Samuel said, As your sword has made women without children, so now your mother will be without children among women. And Agag was cut up by Samuel, bone from bone, before the Lord in Gilgal. 15:34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah, in the land of Saul. 15:35And Samuel never saw Saul again till the day of his death; but Samuel was sorrowing for Saul: and it was no longer the Lord's pleasure for Saul to be king over Israel.
16:1And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons. 16:2And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord. 16:3And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you. 16:4And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace? 16:5And he said, In peace: I have come to make an offering to the Lord: make yourselves clean and come with me to make the offering. And he made Jesse and his sons clean, and sent for them to be present at the offering. 16:6Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord's selection is before him. 16:7But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord's view is not man's; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart. 16:8Then Jesse sent for Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. 16:9Then Jesse made Shammah come before him. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. 16:10And Jesse made his seven sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not taken any of these. 16:11Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here. 16:12So he sent and made him come in. Now he had red hair and beautiful eyes and pleasing looks. And the Lord said, Come, put the oil on him, for this is he. 16:13Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah. 16:14Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him. 16:15And Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is troubling you. 16:16Now give orders to your servants who are here before you to go in search of a man who is an expert player on a corded instrument: and it will be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will make music for you on his instrument, and you will get well. 16:17And Saul said to his servants, Then get me a man who is an expert player, and make him come to me. 16:18Then one of the servants in answer said, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Beth-lehemite, who is expert at playing, and a strong man and a man of war; and he is wise in his words, and pleasing in looks, and the Lord is with him. 16:19So Saul sent his servants to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who is with the sheep. 16:20And Jesse took five cakes of bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David. 16:21And David came to Saul, waiting before him: and he became very dear to Saul, who made him his servant, giving him the care of his arms. 16:22And Saul sent to Jesse saying, Let David be with me, for he is pleasing to me. 16:23And whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him.
17:1Now the Philistines got their armies together for war, and came together at Socoh in the land of Judah, and took up their position between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 17:2And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines. 17:3The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 17:4And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall. 17:5And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass. 17:6His legs were covered with plates of brass and hanging on his back was a javelin of brass. 17:7The stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker's rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels' weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover. 17:8He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 17:9If he is able to have a fight with me and overcome me, then we will be your servants: but if I am able to overcome him, then you will be our servants and do work for us. 17:10And the Philistine said, I have put to shame the armies of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may have a fight together. 17:11And Saul and all Israel, hearing those words of the Philistine, were troubled and full of fear. 17:12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah named Jesse, who had eight sons; and he was an old man in Saul's day, and far on in years. 17:13And the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone with Saul to the fight: the names of the three who went to the fight were Eliab, the oldest, and Abinadab the second, and Shammah the third. 17:14And David was the youngest: and the three oldest were with Saul's army. 17:15Now David went to and from Saul, looking after his father's sheep at Beth-lehem. 17:16And the Philistine came near every morning and evening for forty days. 17:17And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dry grain and these ten cakes of bread, and go quickly with them to the tents to your brothers; 17:18And take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are and come back with a sign to say how they are. 17:19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 17:20And David got up early in the morning, and, giving the sheep into the care of a keeper, took the things and went as Jesse had said; and he came to the lines where the carts were, when the army was going out to the fight giving their war-cry. 17:21And Israel and the Philistines had put their forces in position, army against army. 17:22And David gave his parcels into the hands of the keeper of the army stores, and went running to the army and came to his brothers to get knowledge about them. 17:23And while he was talking to them, the fighter, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out from the Philistines' lines and said the same words, in David's hearing. 17:24And all the men of Israel, when they saw him, went in flight, overcome with fear. 17:25And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man? Clearly he has come out to put shame on Israel: and it is certain that if any man overcomes him, the king will give that man great wealth, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's family free in Israel. 17:26And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God? 17:27And the people gave him this answer, So it will be done to the man who overcomes him. 17:28And Eliab, his oldest brother, hearing what David said to the men, was moved to wrath against David, and said, Why have you come here? Into whose care have you given that little flock of sheep in the waste land? I have knowledge of your pride and the evil of your heart, you have come down to see the fight. 17:29And David said, What have I done now? was it not only a word? 17:30And turning away from him to one of the other men, he said the same words: and the people gave him the same answer. 17:31And, hearing what David said, they gave Saul word of it: and he sent for him. 17:32And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart become feeble because of him; I, your servant, will go out and have a fight with this Philistine. 17:33And Saul said to David, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and have a fight with him: for you are only a boy, and he has been a man of war from his earliest days. 17:34And David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeper of his father's sheep; and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 17:35I went out after him, and overcame him, and took it out of his mouth: and if, turning on me, he came at me, I took him by the hair and overcame him and put him to death. 17:36Your servant has overcome lion and bear: and the fate of this Philistine, who is without circumcision, will be like theirs, seeing that he has put shame on the armies of the living God. 17:37And David said, The Lord, who kept me safe from the grip of the lion and the bear, will be my saviour from the hands of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go! and may the Lord be with you. 17:38Then Saul gave David his clothing of war, and put a head-dress of brass on his head and had him clothed with a coat of metal. 17:39And David took Saul's sword and put the band round him over the metal coat, and was unable to go forward; for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, It is not possible for me to go out with these, for I am not used to them. So David took them off. 17:40Then he took his stick in his hand, and got five smooth stones from the bed of the stream and put them in a bag such as is used by sheep-keepers; and in his hand was a leather band used for sending stones: and so he went in the direction of the Philistine. 17:41And the Philistine came nearer to David; and the man who had his body-cover went before him. 17:42And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking. 17:43And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come out to me with sticks? And the Philistine put curses on David by all his gods. 17:44And the Philistine said to David, Come here to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. 17:45Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel on which you have put shame. 17:46This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God; 17:47And all these people who are here today may see that the Lord does not give salvation by sword and spear: for the fight is the Lord's, and he will give you up into our hands. 17:48Now when the Philistine made a move and came near to David, David quickly went at a run in the direction of the army, meeting the Philistine face to face. 17:49And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and sent it from his leather band straight at the Philistine, and the stone went deep into his brow, and he went down to the earth, falling on his face. 17:50So David overcame the Philistine with his leather band and a stone, wounding the Philistine and causing his death: but David had no sword in his hand. 17:51So running up to the Philistine and putting his foot on him, David took his sword out of its cover, and put him to death, cutting off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their fighter was dead, they went in flight. 17:52And the men of Israel and of Judah got up, and gave a cry, and went after the Philistines as far as Gath and the town doors of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines were falling down by the road from Shaaraim all the way to Gath and Ekron. 17:53Then the children of Israel came back from going after the Philistines, and took their goods from the tents. 17:54And David took the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem, but the metal war-dress and the arms he put in his tent. 17:55And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, On your life, O king, I have no idea. 17:56And the king said, Make search and see whose son this young man is. 17:57And when David was coming back after the destruction of the Philistine, Abner took him to Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 17:58And Saul said to him, Young man, whose son are you? And David in answer said, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Beth-lehem.
18:1Now after David's talk with Saul was ended, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and David became as dear to him as his very life. 18:2And that day Saul took David and would not let him go back to his father's house. 18:3Then Jonathan and David made an agreement together, because of Jonathan's love for David. 18:4And Jonathan took off the robe he had on and gave it to David, with all his military dress, even to his sword and his bow and the band round his body. 18:5And David went wherever Saul sent him, and did wisely: and Saul put him at the head of his men of war, and this was pleasing to all the people as well as to Saul's servants. 18:6Now on their way, when David came back after the destruction of the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, with songs and dances, meeting David with melody and joy and instruments of music. 18:7And the women, answering one another in their song, said, Saul has put to death his thousands and David his tens of thousands. 18:8And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom? 18:9And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David. 18:10Now on the day after, an evil spirit from God came on Saul with great force and he was acting like a prophet among the men of his house, while David was making music for him, as he did day by day: and Saul had his spear in his hand. 18:11And Saul, balancing the spear in his hand, said, I will give David a blow, pinning him to the wall. And David got away from him twice. 18:12And Saul went in fear of David, because the Lord was with David and had gone away from Saul. 18:13So Saul sent him away, and made him a captain over a thousand; and he went about his business before the people. 18:14And in all his undertakings David did wisely; and the Lord was with him. 18:15And when Saul saw how wisely he did, he was in fear of him. 18:16But David was loved by all Israel and Judah, for he went out and came in before them. 18:17And Saul said to David, Here is my oldest daughter Merab, whom I will give you for your wife: only be strong for me, fighting in the Lord's wars. For Saul said, Let it not be through me that his fate comes to him, but through the Philistines. 18:18And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my father's family in Israel, that I am to be son-in-law to the king? 18:19But when the time came to give Merab, Saul's daughter, to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholath. 18:20And Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David: and Saul had word of it and was pleased. 18:21And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time. 18:22And Saul gave his servants orders saying, Have talk with David secretly and say to him, See how the king has delight in you, and how you are loved by all his servants: then be the king's son-in-law. 18:23And Saul's servants said these things to David. And David said, Does it seem to you a small thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, of no great name? 18:24And the servants of Saul gave him an account of what David had said. 18:25And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines. 18:26And when his servants said these words to David, he was well pleased to be the son-in-law of the king. And the days were still not past. 18:27So David and his men got up and went, and put to death two hundred of the Philistines; and David took their private parts and gave the full number of them to the king, so that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. 18:28And it was clear to Saul that the Lord was with David; and he was loved by all Israel. 18:29And Saul's fear of David became all the greater, and he went on hating him, day by day. 18:30Then the rulers of the Philistines went out to war: and whenever they went out, David did more wisely than all the other servants of Saul, so that his name became greatly honoured.
19:1And Saul gave orders to his son Jonathan and to all his servants to put David to death. But Saul's son Jonathan had great delight in David. 19:2And Jonathan said to David, Saul, my father, is purposing your death: so now, take care in the morning, and keep yourself safe in a secret place: 19:3And I will go out and take my place by my father's side in the field near where you are; and I will get into talk with my father about you, and when I see how things are, I will give you word. 19:4And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you: 19:5For he put his life in danger and overcame the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel salvation: you saw it and were glad: why then are you sinning against him who has done no wrong, desiring the death of David without cause? 19:6And Saul gave ear to the voice of Jonathan, and said with an oath, By the living Lord, he is not to be put to death. 19:7Then Jonathan sent for David and gave him word of all these things. And Jonathan took David to Saul, who kept him by his side as in the past. 19:8And there was war again: and David went out fighting the Philistines, causing great destruction among them; and they went in flight before him. 19:9And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him. 19:10And Saul would have sent his spear through him, pinning him to the wall, but he got away and the spear went into the wall: and that night David went in flight and got away. 19:11Then in that night Saul sent men to David's house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David's wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning. 19:12So Michal let David down through the window, and he went in flight and got away. 19:13Then Michal took the image and put it in the bed, with a cushion of goat's hair at its head, and she put clothing over it. 19:14And when Saul sent men to take David, she said, He is ill. 19:15And Saul sent his men to see David, saying, Do not come back without him, take him in his bed, so that I may put him to death. 19:16And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head 19:17And Saul said to Michal, why have you been false to me, letting my hater go and get safely away? And in answer Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, or I will put you to death. 19:18So David went in flight and got away and came to Ramah, to Samuel, and gave him an account of all Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and were living in Naioth. 19:19And word was given to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah. 19:20And Saul sent men to take David; and when they saw the band of prophets at work, with Samuel in his place at their head, the spirit of God came on Saul's men, and they became like prophets. 19:21And Saul, having news of this, sent other men, who in the same way became like prophets. And a third time Saul sent men, and they like the others became like prophets. 19:22Then he himself went to Ramah, and came to the great water-spring in Secu; and questioning the people he said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, They are at Naioth in Ramah. 19:23And he went on from there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God came on him, and he went on, acting like a prophet, till he came to Naioth in Ramah. 19:24And he took off his clothing, acting like a prophet before Samuel, and falling down he was stretched out, without his clothing, all that day and all that night. This is the reason for the saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?