1Sa 10, 1Sa 14, Neh 3 | ESV | STEP | Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said , Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel ? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies . And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage .

1 ^aThen Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head ^band kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince ^{▼▼Or leader} over ^dhis people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew lacks over his people Israel? And you shall. . . . to be prince} over his heritage. 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by ^fRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ^g‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now ^hyour father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the ⁱoak of Tabor. Three men ^jgoing up ^kto God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to ^lGibeath-elohim, ^{▼▼ Gibeath-elohim means the hill of God} ⁿwhere there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down ^ofrom the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 ^pThen the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, ^qand you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when ^rthese signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, ^sfor God is with you. 8 Then go down before me ^tto Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^uto sacrifice peace offerings. ^vSeven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

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

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

Saul Proclaimed King

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

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

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

1 Samuel 14

Jonathan Defeats the Philistines

1 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. 2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave ^{▼▼Or under the pomegranate [tree]} at ^auMigron. The people who were with him were about ^avsix hundred men, 3 including ^awAhijah the son of Ahitub, ^axIchabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord ^ayin Shiloh, ^azwearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4 Within ^bathe passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5 The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of ^bbGeba.

6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these ^bcuncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, ^bdfor nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” 7 And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. ^{▼▼Septuagint Do all that your mind inclines to} Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” 8 Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” 11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming ^bfout of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” 12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” 13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. 14 And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre ^{▼▼Hebrew a yoke} of land. 15 And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even ^bhthe raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic. ^{▼▼Or became a panic from God}

16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude ^bjwas dispersing here and there. ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew they went here and there} 17 Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count and see who has gone from us.” And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. 18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God went at that time with the people ^{▼▼Hebrew; Septuagint “Bring the ephod.” For at that time he wore the ephod before the people} of Israel. 19 Now ^bmwhile Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” 20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, ^bnevery Philistine’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. 21 Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, ^boeven they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 Likewise, when all the men of Israel ^bpwho had hidden themselves ^bqin the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. 23 ^brSo the Lord saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond ^bsBeth-aven.

Saul’s Rash Vow

24 And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, ^btso Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food. 25 Now when all the people ^{▼▼Hebrew land} came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. 26 And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, ^bvso he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright. 28 Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were ^bwfaint. 29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

31 They struck down the Philistines that day from ^bxMichmash to ^byAijalon. And the people were very ^bzfaint. 32 The people ^capounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them ^cbwith the blood. 33 Then they told Saul, “Behold, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating ^ccwith the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.” ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew this day} 34 And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood.’” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there. 35 And Saul ^cebuilt an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.

36 Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But ^cfthe priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” 37 And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” ^cgBut he did not answer him that day. 38 And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. 39 For ^chas the Lord lives who saves Israel, ^cithough it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. 40 Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” 41 Therefore Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” ^{▼▼Vulgate and Septuagint; Hebrew Therefore Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, “Give Thummim.”} ^ckAnd Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. 42 Then Saul said, ^cl“Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken.

43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, ^cm“Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, ^cn“I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.” 44 And Saul said, ^co“God do so to me and more also; ^cpyou shall surely die, Jonathan.” 45 Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! ^cqAs the Lord lives, ^crthere shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die. 46 Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

Saul Fights Israel’s Enemies

47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, ^csagainst the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of ^ctZobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. 48 And he did valiantly ^cuand struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.

49 ^cvNow the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was ^cwMerab, and the name of the younger Michal. 50 And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. ^cxAnd the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, ^cySaul’s uncle. 51 ^czKish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of ^daAbiel.

52 There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, ^dbhe attached him to himself.

Nehemiah 3

Rebuilding the Wall

1 Then ^dcEliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built ^ddthe Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and ^deset its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the ^dfTower of Hananel. 2 And next to him ^dgthe men of Jericho built. And next to them ^{▼▼Hebrew him} Zaccur the son of Imri built.

3 The sons of Hassenaah built ^dithe Fish Gate. ^djThey laid its beams and ^dkset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4 And next to them ^dlMeremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them ^dmMeshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. 5 And next to them ^dnthe Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. ^{▼▼Or lords}

6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah ^dprepaired the Gate of Yeshanah. ^{▼▼Or of the old city} ^drThey laid its beams and ^dsset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of ^dtthe governor of the province Beyond the River. 8 Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as ^duthe Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ^dvruler of half the district of ^{▼▼Or foreman of half the portion assigned to; also verses 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18} Jerusalem, repaired. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and ^dxthe Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ^dyruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired ^dzthe Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and ^easet its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} of the wall, as far as ^ecthe Dung Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of ^edBeth-haccherem, repaired ^eethe Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and ^efset its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

15 And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired ^egthe Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and ^ehset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of ^eithe Pool of Shelah of ^ejthe king’s garden, as far as ^ekthe stairs that go down from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite ^elthe tombs of David, as far as ^emthe artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18 After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at ^enthe buttress. ^{▼▼Or corner; also verses 20, 24, 25} 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of ^epEliashib the high priest. 21 After him ^eqMeremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 After him the priests, the men of ^erthe surrounding area, repaired. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to ^esthe corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at ^etthe court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26 ^euand the temple servants living on ^evOphel repaired to a point opposite ^ewthe Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27 After him ^exthe Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Above ^eythe Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him ^ezMeshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite ^fahis chamber. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, ^{▼▼Or Hammiphkad Gate} and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and ^fcthe Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.