Saul

The Spirit of God fell on Sha'ul when he heard this; blazing furiously with anger,

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 next day Sha'ul divided the people into three companies. Then they entered the camp of the 'Amoni during the morning watch and kept attacking until the heat of the day, until those who remained were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

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."

But Sha'ul said, "No one will be put to death today, because today ADONAI has rescued Isra'el."

So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal, before ADONAI, they made Sha'ul king. They presented sacrifices as peace offerings before ADONAI there, and there Sha'ul and all the people of Isra'el celebrated with great joy.

Sha'ul was - years old when he began his reign, and he had ruled Isra'el for two years,

when he chose three thousand of Isra'el's men. Two thousand of them were with Sha'ul in Mikhmas and in the hills of Beit-El, and a thousand were with Y'honatan in Giv'at-Binyamin. The rest of the people he sent back to their respective tents.

Y'honatan assassinated the governor of the P'lishtim in Geva. The P'lishtim heard of it; so Sha'ul had the shofar sounded throughout the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!"

All Isra'el heard that Sha'ul had assassinated the governor of the P'lishtim and thus made Isra'el a stench in the nostrils of the P'lishtim. So the people rallied behind Sha'ul in Gilgal;

while some of the Hebrews crossed the Yarden to the territory of Gad and Gil'ad. But Sha'ul was still in Gilgal, where all the people were eager to follow him.

Sha'ul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings," and he offered the burnt offering.

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.

Sha'ul, Y'honatan his son and the men with him took up quarters at Giv'at-Binyamin, while the P'lishtim remained in camp at Mikhmas.

Thus when the time came to fight, no one in the army of Sha'ul and Y'honatan was equipped with either sword or spear; although Sha'ul and Y'honatan his son did have them.

One day Y'honatan the son of Sha'ul said to the young man carrying his armor, "Come, let's go across to the garrison of the P'lishtim on the other side. But he didn't tell his father.

Sha'ul was waiting at the far edge of Giv'ah under the pomegranate tree in Migron; the force with him numbered about 600 men.

Sha'ul's men on watch in Giv'at-Binyamin could see the enemy camp scattering and running in all directions.

Sha'ul ordered the forces with him to call the roll and see who was missing. So they called the roll, and found Y'honatan and his armor-bearer not present.

Sha'ul told Achiyah, "Bring the ark of God here"; for at that time the ark of God was with the people of Isra'el.

But while Sha'ul was talking to the cohen, the uproar in the camp of the P'lishtim continued and kept getting louder. Sha'ul said to the cohen, "Put your hand down."

Sha'ul and the entire force with him assembled and went to battle, but they found the P'lishtim all fighting each other in utter confusion.