And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord.

And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side:

He had a son named Saul, a specially good-looking young man; there was no one better-looking among the children of Israel: he was taller by a head than any other of the people.

Now the asses of Saul's father Kish had gone wandering away. And Kish said to his son Saul, Take one of the servants with you, and get up and go in search of the asses.

And when they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, Come, let us go back, or my father may give up caring about the asses and be troubled about us.

Then Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what are we to take the man? all our bread is gone, and we have no offering to take to the man of God: what are we to do?

Then Saul said to his servant, You have said well; come, let us go. So they went to the town where the man of God was.

Now the day before Saul came, the word of God had come to Samuel, saying,

And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, This is the man of whom I gave you word! he it is who is to have authority over my people.

Then Saul came up to Samuel in the doorway of the town and said, Give me directions, if you will be so good, to the house of the seer.

Then Samuel said to Saul, I am the seer; go up before me to the high place and take food with me today: and in the morning I will let you go, after opening to you all the secrets of your heart.

And Saul said, Am I not a man of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of the families of Benjamin? why then do you say these words to me?

Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into the guest room, and made them take the chief place among all the guests who were there, about thirty persons.

And the cook took up the leg with the fat tail on it, and put it before Saul. And Samuel said, This is the part which has been kept for you: take it as your part of the feast; because it has been kept for you till the right time came and till the guests were present. So that day Saul took food with Samuel.

And when they had come down from the high place into the town, where a bed was made ready for Saul, he went to rest.

And about dawn Samuel said to Saul on the roof, Get up so that I may send you away. So Saul got up, and he and Samuel went out together.

And on their way down to the end of the town, Samuel said to Saul, Give your servant orders to go on in front of us, (so he went on,) but you keep here, so that I may give you the word of God.

Now when Saul's old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets?

And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?

And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel.

And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom.

Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen.

And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God.

So they sent representatives to Saul's town Gibeah, and these gave the news to the people: and all the people gave themselves to weeping.

Now Saul came from the field, driving the oxen before him; and he said, Why are the people weeping? And they gave him word of what the men of Jabesh had said.

And at their words, the spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he became very angry.

And he took two oxen and, cutting them up, sent them through all the land of Israel by the hand of runners, saying, If any man does not come out after Saul and Samuel, this will be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord came on the people and they came out like one man.

Now on the day after, Saul put the people into three bands, and in the morning watch they came to the tents of the Ammonites, and they went on attacking them till the heat of the day: and those who were not put to death were put to flight in every direction, so that no two of them were together.

And the people said to Samuel, Who was it who said, Is Saul to be our king? give the men up, so that we may put them to death.

And Saul said, Not a man is to be put to death today: for today the Lord has made Israel safe.

Then Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there make the kingdom strong in the hands of Saul.

So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal they made Saul king before the Lord; and peace-offerings were offered before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy.

And Saul took for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom he kept two thousand with him in Michmash and in the mountain of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: the rest of the people he sent back to their tents.

And Jonathan made an attack on the armed force of the Philistines stationed at Gibeah; and news was given to the Philistines that the Hebrews were turned against them. And Saul had a horn sounded through all the land,

And all Israel had the news that Saul had made an attack on the Philistines, and that Israel was bitterly hated by the Philistines. And the people came together after Saul to Gilgal.

And a great number of the people had gone over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people went after him shaking in fear.

Then Saul said, Come here and give me the burned offering and the peace-offerings. And he made a burned offering to the Lord.

And when the burned offering was ended, Samuel came; and Saul went out to see him and to give him a blessing.

And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were going away from me, and you had not come at the time which had been fixed, and the Philistines had come together at Michmash;

And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever.

Then Samuel went up from Gilgal and the rest of the people went up after Saul against the men of war, and they came from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: and Saul took the number of the people who were with him, about six hundred men.

And Saul, with Jonathan his son and the people who were with them, was waiting in Geba in the land of Benjamin: but the tents of the Philistines were in Michmash.

So on the day of the fight at Michmash, not a sword or a spear was to be seen in the hands of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan: only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Now one day Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was with him, looking after his arms, Come, let us go over to the Philistine force over there. But he said nothing to his father.

And Saul was still waiting in the farthest part of Geba, under the fruit-tree in Migron: there were about six hundred men with him;

And the watchmen of Saul, looking out from Geba in the land of Benjamin, saw all the army flowing away and running here and there.

Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Let everyone be numbered and let us see who has gone from us. And when they had been numbered, it was seen that Jonathan and his servant were not there.

And Saul said to Ahijah, Let the ephod come here. For he went before Israel with the ephod at that time.

Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the noise in the tents of the Philistines became louder and louder; and Saul said to the priest, Take back your hand.

And Saul and all the people with him came together and went forward to the fight: and every man's sword was turned against the man at his side, and there was a very great noise.

Then the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines for some time, and had gone up with them to their tents, turning round were joined to those who were with Saul and Jonathan.

And all the people were with Saul, about twenty thousand men, and the fight was general through all the hill-country of Ephraim; but Saul made a great error that day, by putting the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes food before evening comes and I have given punishment to those who are against me. So the people had not a taste of food.

Then it was said to Saul, See, the people are sinning against the Lord, taking the blood with the flesh. And he said to those who gave him the news, Now let a great stone be rolled to me here.

And Saul said, Go about among the people and say to them, Let every man come here to me with his ox and his sheep, and put them to death here, and take his meal: do no sin against the Lord by taking the blood with the flesh. So all the people took their oxen with them that night and put them to death there.

And Saul put up an altar to the Lord: this was the first altar which he put up to the Lord.

And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, attacking them till the morning, till there is not a man of them living. And they said, Do whatever seems right to you. Then the priest said, Let us come near to God.

And Saul, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go down after the Philistines? will you give them up into the hands of Israel? But he gave him no answer that day.

And Saul said, Come near, all you chiefs of the people, and let us get word from God and see in whom is this sin today.

Then he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do whatever seems good to you.

Then Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, Why have you not given me an answer today? If the sin is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim, and if it is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And by the decision of the Lord, Saul and Jonathan were marked out, and the people went free.

And Saul said, Give your decision between my son Jonathan and me. And Jonathan was taken.

Then Saul said to Jonathan, Give me an account of what you have done. And Jonathan gave him the story and said, Certainly I took a little honey on the end of my rod; and now death is to be my fate.

And Saul said, May God's punishment be on me if death is not your fate, Jonathan.

And the people said to Saul, Is death to come to Jonathan, the worker of this great salvation for Israel? Let it not be so: by the living Lord, not one hair of his head is to be touched, for he has been working with God today. So the people kept Jonathan from death.

Then Saul, turning back, went after the Philistines no longer: and the Philistines went back to their place.

Now when Saul had taken his place as ruler of Israel, he made war on those who were against him on every side, Moab and the Ammonites and Edom and the kings of Zobah and the Philistines: and whichever way he went, he overcame them.

Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and these are the names of his daughters: the older was named Merab and the younger Michal;

The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, brother of Saul's father.

Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were sons of Abiel.

All through the life of Saul there was bitter war against the Philistines; and whenever Saul saw any strong man or any good fighting man, he kept him near himself.

And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to put the holy oil on you and to make you king over his people, over Israel: so give ear now to the words of the Lord.

And Saul sent for the people and had them numbered in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah.

And Saul came to the town of Amalek, and took up his position in the valley secretly.

And Saul said to the Kenites, Go away, take yourselves out from among the Amalekites, or destruction will overtake you with them: for you were kind to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites went away from among the Amalekites.

And Saul made an attack on the Amalekites from Havilah on the road to Shur, which is before Egypt.

But Saul and the people did not put Agag to death, and they kept the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fat beasts and the lambs, and whatever was good, not desiring to put them to the curse: but everything which was bad and of no use they put to the curse.

It is no longer my pleasure for Saul to be king; for he is turned back from going in my ways, and has not done my orders. And Samuel was very sad, crying to the Lord in prayer all night.

And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal.

And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, May the blessing of the Lord be with you: I have done what was ordered by the Lord.

And Saul said, They have taken them from the Amalekites: for the people have kept the best of the sheep and of the oxen as an offering to the Lord your God; all the rest we have given up to destruction.

Then Samuel said to Saul, Say no more! Let me give you word of what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.

And Saul said, Truly, I have done the orders of the Lord and have gone the way the Lord sent me; I have taken Agag, the king of Amalek, and have given the Amalekites up to destruction.

And Saul said to Samuel, Great is my sin: for I have gone against the orders of the Lord and against your words: because, fearing the people, I did what they said.

And Samuel said to Saul, I will not go back with you: for you have put away from you the word of the Lord, and the Lord has put you from your place as king over Israel.

And when Samuel was turning round to go away, Saul took the skirt of his robe in his hand, and the cloth came away.

So Samuel went back after Saul, and Saul gave worship to the Lord.

Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah, in the land of Saul.

And Samuel never saw Saul again till the day of his death; but Samuel was sorrowing for Saul: and it was no longer the Lord's pleasure for Saul to be king over Israel.

And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons.

And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord.

Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him.

And Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is troubling you.

And Saul said to his servants, Then get me a man who is an expert player, and make him come to me.

So Saul sent his servants to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who is with the sheep.

And Jesse took five cakes of bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David.

And David came to Saul, waiting before him: and he became very dear to Saul, who made him his servant, giving him the care of his arms.

And Saul sent to Jesse saying, Let David be with me, for he is pleasing to me.

And whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him.

And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines.

He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.