Samuel & King Saul

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

He had the tribe of Binyamin come forward by families, and the family of the Matri was chosen, and Sha'ul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he couldn't be found.

They asked ADONAI, "Has the man come here?"ADONAI answered, "There he is, hiding, in among the equipment."

They ran and brought him from there, and when he stood among the people he was head and shoulders taller than anyone around.

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.

Sha'ul too went home to Giv'ah, accompanied by warriors whose hearts God had touched.

True, there were some scoundrels who said, "How can this man save us?"They showed him no respect and brought him no gift, but he held his peace.

Then Nachash the 'Amoni came up and set up camp to fight Yavesh-Gil'ad. All the men of Yavesh said to Nachash, "If you will make a treaty with us, we will be your subjects."

Nachash the 'Amoni replied, "I'll do it on this condition: that all your right eyes be gouged out and thus bring disgrace on all of Isra'el."

The leaders of Yavesh answered him, "Give us seven days' grace to send messengers throughout Isra'el's territory; then, if no one will rescue us, we will surrender to you."

The messengers came to Giv'ah, where Sha'ul lived, and said these words in the hearing of the people; and all the people cried out and wept.

As this was going on, Sha'ul came, following the oxen out of the field. Sha'ul asked, "What's wrong with the people to make them cry like that?"They told him what the men from Yavesh had said.

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.

He reviewed them in Bezek; there were 300,000 from the people of Isra'el; the men of Y'hudah numbered 30,000.

To the messengers that had come they said, "Tell the men of Yavesh-Gil'ad, 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have been rescued.'"The messengers returned and told the men of Yavesh; they were overjoyed.

Then the men of Yavesh said [to Nachash], "Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do with us whatever you like."

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."

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

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.

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.

There is the king, walking ahead of you; but I am old and gray-headed. There are my sons with you, and I have walked at your head from when I was a boy until today.