Samuel

Sha'ul's uncle said to him and his servant, "Where did you go?" He answered, "To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they hadn't been found, we went to Sh'mu'el."

"Tell me, please," said Sha'ul's uncle, "what Sh'mu'el said to you."

Sha'ul answered his uncle, "He told us that the donkeys had been found," but said nothing to him about the matter of his being made king.

Sh'mu'el summoned the people to ADONAI in Mitzpah.

So Sh'mu'el had all the tribes come forward, and the tribe of Binyamin was chosen.

Sh'mu'el said to all the people, "Do you see the man ADONAI has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?"Then all the people shouted, "Long live the king!"

Sh'mu'el told the people what kinds of rulings should be made in the kingdom, then wrote it on a scroll and set it down before ADONAI. After that, he sent all the people away, everyone to his own home.

he seized a pair of oxen and cut them in pieces; then he sent them throughout the territory of Isra'el with messengers saying, "Anyone who doesn't come and follow Sha'ul and Sh'mu'el, this is what will be done to his oxen!"The fear of ADONAI fell on the people, and they came out with united hearts.

The people said to Sh'mu'el, "Who are the men who said, 'Is Sha'ul to rule over us?' Hand them over to us, so we can put them to death."

Then Sh'mu'el said to the people, "Come, let's go to Gilgal and inaugurate the kingship there.

Sh'mu'el said to all Isra'el, "Here, I have done everything you asked me to do -I have made a king over you.

Sh'mu'el said to the people, "It was ADONAI who appointed Moshe and Aharon and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt.

So ADONAI sent Yeruba'al, B'dan, Yiftach and Sh'mu'el and rescued you from the power of our enemies on every side, and you lived securely.

Sh'mu'elADONAI's viewpoint is the thing you have done in asking for a king."called to ADONAI, and ADONAI sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people became very much afraid of ADONAI and Sh'mu'el.

All the people said to Sh'mu'el, "Pray to ADONAI your God for your servants, so that we won't die; because to all our other sins now we've added this evil as well, asking for a king over us."

Sh'mu'el answered the people, "Don't be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet now, just don't turn away from following ADONAI; but serve ADONAI with all your heart.

He waited seven days, as Sh'mu'el had instructed; but Sh'mu'el didn't come to Gilgal; so the army began to drift away from him.

As soon as he had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, there was Sh'mu'el -he had come, and Sha'ul went out to meet and greet him.

Sh'mu'el said, "What have you done?" Sha'ul answered, "I saw that the army was drifting away from me, that you hadn't come during the time appointed The Hebrew text lacks the number. and that the P'lishtim had assembled at Mikhmas.

Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, "You did a foolish thing. You didn't observe the mitzvah of ADONAI, which he gave you. If you had, ADONAI would have set up your kingship over Isra'el forever.

Then Sh'mu'el left Gilgal and went up to Giv'at-Binyamin. Sha'ul counted how many were still there with him, about 600 men.

Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, "ADONAI sent me to anoint you king over his people, over Isra'el. Now listen to what ADONAI has to say.

Then the word of ADONAI came to Sh'mu'el:

"I regret setting up Sha'ul as king, because he has turned back from following me and hasn't obeyed my orders."This made Sh'mu'el very sad, so that he cried to ADONAI all night.

Sh'mu'el got up early in the morning to meet Sha'ul; however, Sh'mu'el was told, "Sha'ul came to Karmel to set up a monument for himself there, but now he has left and is on his way down to Gilgal."