Then said the people to Samuel, "What are they that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us? Bring them that we may slay them.'"

But Saul said, "There shall no man die this day, for today the LORD hath saved Israel."

And the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king there, before the LORD in Gilgal. And there they offered peace offerings before the LORD. And there Saul and all the people rejoiced exceedingly.

Then said Samuel unto the people, "Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there."

Then Nahash the Ammonite came and besieged Jabesh in Gilead. And all the people of Jabesh said unto Nahash,

"Make a covenant with us and we will be thy servants." And Nahash the Ammonite said, "Hereto will I make a covenant with you: even to thrust out all your right eyes, that I may bring that shame upon all Israel."

Then came the spirit of God upon Saul, when he heard those tidings, and he was exceeding angry.

And on the morrow Saul put the people in three parts. And they came in upon the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites, until the heat of the day. And they that remained, scattered: so that two of them were not left together.

Then said the elders of Jabesh, "Give us seven days respite that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel. And then if there come no man to help us, we will come out to thee."

And took a yoke of oxen and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, "Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall his oxen be served." Then the fear of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as it had been but one man.

Then came the messengers to Gibeah where Saul dwelt, and told this tidings in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept.

And behold Saul came following his oxen out of the field, and asked what ailed the people to weep. And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.

And when they were numbered in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundredth thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

And then the men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will come out unto you, that ye may do with us all that pleaseth you."

And they said unto the messengers that came, "So say unto the men of Jabesh in Gilead: 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun be hot, ye shall have help.'" And the messengers came and showed the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.