1Sa 11, 1Sa 13 | ESV | STEP | Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh - gilead , and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash , Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.

1 Samuel 11

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

1 ^aThen Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged ^bJabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, ^c“Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, ^dthat I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus ^ebring disgrace on all Israel.” 3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” 4 When the messengers came to ^fGibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, ^gand all the people wept aloud.

5 Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 6 ^hAnd the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 7 He took a yoke of oxen ⁱand cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, ^j“Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out ^kas one man. 8 When he mustered them at ^lBezek, ^mthe people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9 And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have ⁿsalvation.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. 10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, ^o“Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” 11 ^pAnd the next day Saul put the people ^qin three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

The Kingdom Is Renewed

12 Then the people said to Samuel, ^r“Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^sBring the men, that we may put them to death.” 13 But Saul said, ^t“Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today ^uthe Lord has worked ^vsalvation in Israel.” 14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 15 So all the people went to ^wGilgal, and there they made Saul king ^xbefore the Lord in Gilgal. There ^ythey sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

1 Samuel 13

Saul Fights the Philistines

1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, ^{▼▼Hebrew Saul was one year old when he became king, and he reigned two years over Israel (see 1 Samuel 10:6); some Greek manuscripts give Saul’s age when he began to reign as thirty years} 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in ^aaMichmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in ^abGibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated ^acthe garrison of the Philistines that was ^adat Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul ^aeblew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops ^aflike the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^agBeth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves ^ahin caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

8 ^aiHe waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, ^aj“You have done foolishly. ^akYou have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now ^alyour kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man ^amafter his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince ^{▼▼Or leader} over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew lacks The rest of the people . . . from Gilgal} to ^apGibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, ^aqabout six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in ^arGeba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 And ^asraiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward ^atBeth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of ^auZeboim toward the wilderness.

19 ^avNow there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew plowshare} 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel ^{▼▼Hebrew was a pim} for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain} 22 So on the day of the battle ^bathere was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23 And ^bbthe garrison of the Philistines went out to the ^bcpass of ^bdMichmash.