And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread, which thou shall receive from their hand.

After that thou shall come to the hill of God where is the garrison of the Philistines. And it shall come to pass, when thou have come there to the city, that thou shall meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with

And the Spirit of LORD will come mightily upon thee, and thou shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.

And let it be, when these signs have come to thee, that thou do as occasion shall serve thee, for God is with thee.

And thou shall go down before me to Gilgal. And, behold, I will come down to thee, to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings. Thou shall tarry seven days till I come to thee, and show thee what thou s

And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all those signs came to pass that day.

And when they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him. And the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them.

And it came to pass, when all who knew him formerly saw, that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

And a man from the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

And Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Where did ye go? And he said, To seek the donkeys, and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel.

And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said to you.

And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he did not tell him.

And Samuel called the people together to LORD to Mizpah.

And he said to the sons of Israel, Thus says LORD, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you,

but ye have this day rejected your God who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses, and ye have said to him, No, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before LORD by your tribes, and by y

So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families, and the family of the Matrites was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken. But when they sought him, he could not be found.

Therefore they asked of LORD further, Is there yet a man to come here? And LORD answered, Behold, he has hid himself among the baggage.

And they ran and fetched him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom LORD has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, Live, O king!

Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah, and mighty men went with him, whose hearts God had touched.

But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out, and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.

And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel, and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to thee.

Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

And, behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field, and Saul said, What troubles the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

And the Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was greatly kindled.

And he took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come forth behind Saul and behind Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. A

And he numbered them in Bezek, and the sons of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

And they said to the messengers who came, Thus ye shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have deliverance. And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.

Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and ye shall do with us all that seems good to you.

And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and smote the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And it came to pass, that those who remaine

And the people said to Samuel, Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men that we may put them to death.

And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day, for today LORD has wrought deliverance in Israel.

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

And all the people went to Gilgal. And there they made Saul king before LORD in Gilgal, and there they offered sacrifices of peace-offerings before LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that ye said to me, and have made a king over you.

And now, behold, the king walks before you. And I am old and gray headed, and, behold, my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my youth to this day.

Here I am. Witness against me before LORD, and before his anointed: Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or of whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with i

And they said, Thou have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have thou taken anything of any man's hand.

And he said to them, LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found anything in my hand. And they said, He is witness.

And Samuel said to the people, It is LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before LORD concerning all the righteous acts of LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to LORD, then LORD sent Moses and Aaron who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

But they forgot LORD their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

And they cried to LORD, and said, We have sinned because we have forsaken LORD, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

And LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelt in safety.

And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, ye said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, when LORD your God was your king.

Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for. And, behold, LORD has set a king over you.

If ye will fear LORD, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of LORD, then both ye and also the king who reigns over you shall be followers of LORD your God.

Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which LORD will do before your eyes.

Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to LORD that he may send thunder and rain, and ye shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of LORD in asking a king for you.

So Samuel called to LORD, and LORD sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared LORD and Samuel.

And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for thy servants to LORD thy God that we not die, for we have added to all our sins [this] evil, to ask a king for us.

And Samuel said to the people, Fear not. Ye have indeed done all this evil, yet turn not aside from following LORD, but serve LORD with all your heart.

And turn ye not aside after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain.

Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against LORD in ceasing to pray for you. But I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

Only fear LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider what great things he has done for you.

But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

Saul was [forty] years old when he began to reign. And when he had reigned two years over Israel,

Saul chose for him three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash, and on the mount of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin, and the rest of the people he sent every man to

And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.

And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.

And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel: thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude. And they came up, and encamped in Michmash,

When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits.

Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead, but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed], but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him.

And Saul said, Bring here the burnt-offering to me, and the peace-offerings. And he offered the burnt-offering.

And it came to pass that, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, behold, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.

And Samuel said, What have thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash,

therefore I said, Now the Philistines will come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of LORD. I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-offering.

And Samuel said to Saul, Thou have done foolishly. Thou have not kept the commandment of LORD thy God, which he commanded thee. For now LORD would have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever,

but now thy kingdom shall not continue. LORD has sought for him a man after his own heart, and LORD has appointed him to be prince over his people, because thou have not kept that which LORD commanded thee.

And Samuel arose, and got up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual,

and another company turned the way to Beth-horon, and another company turned the way of the border that looks down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.

Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads.

So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But with Saul and with Jonathan his son there was found.

And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

Now it fell upon a day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on yonder side. But he did not tell his father.

And Saul abode in the outermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about six hundred men,

and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan was gone.

And between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side. And the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh

The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

And Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that LORD will work for us, for there is no limitation to LORD to save by many or by few.

And his armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in thy heart. Turn thee, behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.

Then Jonathan said, Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them.

If they say thus to us, Tarry until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them.

But if they say thus, Come up to us, then we will go up, for LORD has delivered them into our hand, and this shall be the sign to us.

And both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.

And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me, for LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel

And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer killed them after him.

And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.

And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled. And the earth quaked, so there was an exceedingly great trembling.

And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went [here] and there.