26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. 27 But the worthless men said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace. [1]
CHAP. 11.
1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
3 And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers to all the land of Israel: and then, if there is no man to save us, we will come out to thee. [2]
4 Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
5 And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.
6 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
7 And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the land of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. [3]
8 And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 And they said to the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say to the men of Jabeshgilead, To morrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and told it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. [4]
10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out to you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good to you.
11 And it was so on the next morning, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they who remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
12 And the people said to Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.
13 And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.
14 Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
15 And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
CHAP. 12.
1 And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that ye said to me, and have made a king over you.
2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.
3 Behold, here I am : witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose donkey have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or from whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes with it? and I will restore it you. [5] [6]
4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken any thing from any man’s hand.
5 And he said to them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found any thing in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
6 And Samuel said to the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt. [7]
7 Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. [8] [9]
8 When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers from Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
9 And when they forgot the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
10 And they cried to the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of
