1Sa 11 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead ; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash , “ Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.”

1 Samuel 11

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

1 Now ^aNahash the Ammonite went up and besieged ^bJabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make ^ca covenant with us and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make it with you on this condition, ^dthat I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, and thereby I will inflict ^ea disgrace on all Israel.” 3 So ^fthe elders of Jabesh said to him, “Allow us seven days to send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” 4 Then the messengers came ^gto Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people ^hraised their voices and wept.

5 Now behold, Saul was coming from the field ⁱbehind the oxen, and Saul said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they reported to him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6 Then ^jthe Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and ^{▼▼Lit his anger burned exceedingly}he became very angry. 7 He then took a yoke of oxen and ^lcut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “ ^mWhoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, the same shall be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out ⁿas one person. 8 He ^{▼▼Lit mustered}counted them in ^pBezek; and the ^qsons of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah, thirty thousand. 9 They said to the messengers who had come, “This is what you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be saved.’” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they rejoiced. 10 Then the men of Jabesh said, “ ^rTomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good ^{▼▼Lit in your sight}to you.” 11 The next morning Saul put the people ^tin three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch, and struck and killed the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

12 Then the people said to Samuel, “ ^uWho is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^{▼▼Lit Give
,} ^wBring the men, so that we may put them to death!” 13 But Saul said, “ ^xNot a single person shall be put to death this day, for today ^ythe Lord has brought about ^{▼▼Or deliverance in}victory in Israel.”

14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to ^aaGilgal and ^abrenew the kingdom there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^acbefore the Lord in Gilgal. There they also ^adoffered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.