And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and came to a stop there by a great stone: and cutting up the wood of the cart they made a burned offering of the cows to the Lord.

And the golden mice, by the number of all the cities of the Philistines, pertaining to the five lords, both fortified cities, and country villages, - yea, even the great meadow whereon they rested the ark of Yahweh, until this day, is in the field-land of Joshua, the man of Beth-shemesh.

And the men of the House of the Sun will say, Who shall be able to stand before Jehovah this holy God? and to whom shall it go up from us?

Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the Lord.

Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines.

And Philisteim will hear that the sons of Israel were gathered. together to Mizpeh, and the princes of Philisteim will go up against Israel And the sons of Israel will hear, and be afraid of the face of Philisteim.

As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel. But on that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by Israel.

And Philisteim will be subdued, and they will no more add to come into the bound of Israel: and the hand of Jehovah will be against Philisteim all the days of Samuel

And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even as far as Gath; even the boundaries thereof, did Israel rescue out of the hand of the Philistines, - thus came there to be peace between Israel and the Amorites.

and went about year by year, to Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places, and came again to Ramah:

And it will be when Samuel was old, he set his sons judges to Israel.

And the name of his son the firstborn will be Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: judges at the Well of the Oath.

And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging.

And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations.

But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord.

And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt even to this day, by which they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to thee.

Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler.

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

He will appoint them for himself to be commanders over thousands and over fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day.

And the people refused to hearken to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,

That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

And there will be a man of Benjamin, and his name Kish, son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Bechorah, son of Aphiah, son of a man, a Jaminite, a man of strength.

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.

And the she asses of Kish, Saul's father, will be lost: and Kish will say to Saul, his son, Take now with thee one of the boys, and arise, Go seek the asses.

And he passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. And he passed through the land of the B

When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return, lest my father leave off caring for the asses, and be anxious for us.

And he saith to him, 'Lo, I pray thee, a man of God is in this city, and the man is honoured; all that he speaketh doth certainly come; now, we go there, it may be he doth declare to us our way on which we have gone.'

And Saul will say to his boy, And behold, we will go, and what shall we bring to the man? for the bread departed from our vessels, and not a gift to bring to the man of God: what with us?

And the boy will add to answer Saul, and he will say, Behold, we shall find in my hand the fourth of a shekel of silver: and I gave it to the man of God and he announced to us our way.

Beforetime, in Israel, thus, said a man when he went to enquire of God, Come and let us go as far as the seer, - for, the prophet of to-day, used to be called, beforetime, the seer.

And Saul will say to his boy, Thy word was good; going, we will go: and they will go to the city where was the man of God there.

As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him.

To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.

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.

As for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not be concerned about them, for they have been found. And for whom are all things that are desirable in Israel? Are they not for you and for all your father’s household (family)?”

And Samuel will take Saul and his boy, and will bring them to the chamber, and will give to them place among the first of those being called, and they about thirty men.

And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee.

And they will rise early: and it will be about the hind of the dawn, and Samuel will call to Saul to the roof, saying, Arise, and I will send thee away. And Saul will arise, and they two will go forth, he and Samuel without

They coming down to the extremity of the city, and Samuel said to Saul, Say to the boy, Pass over before us: and he will pass over: and thou stand according to the day, and I will cause thee to hear the word of God.

Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

Then you will go on from there and further you will come to the oak of Tabor. There three men will meet you, who [are] going up to God at Bethel. One will be carrying three male kid goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a skin of wine.

They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them.

After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying:

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

And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

Now when all who knew Saul previously saw that he actually prophesied now [by inspiration] with the prophets, the people said one to another, “What has happened to [Saul, who is nobody but] the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Then said Saul's uncle unto him, and unto his young man - Whither have ye been? And he said, To seek the asses, and, when they were nowhere, to be seen, we came unto Samuel.

And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

And when Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.

When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.

Therefore they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” So the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.”

So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people.

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

But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.

Then about a month after this, Nahash the Ammonite came up and put his forces in position for attacking Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make an agreement with us and we will be your servants.

And Nahash the Ammonite said unto 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 unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.

And he 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 it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.

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

And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

And it will be on the morrow, and Saul will put the people three heads; and they will come into the midst of the camp in the watch of the morning, and they will strike Ammon till the heat of the day: and there will be those being left and they will be scattered, and two among them were not left 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, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.

Here I am: give witness against me before the Lord and before the man on whom he has put the holy oil: whose ox or ass have I taken? to whom have I been untrue? who has been crushed down by me? from whose hand have I taken a price for the blinding of my eyes? I will give it all back to you.

Keep your places now, while I take up the argument with you before the Lord, and give you the story of the righteousness of the Lord, which he has made clear by his acts to you and to your fathers.

When Jacob and his sons had come into Egypt, and were crushed by the Egyptians, the prayers of your fathers came up to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your fathers out of Egypt, and he put them into this place.

But they forgot the LORD their God, so he handed them over to the domination of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into domination by the Philistines and by the king of Moab, and Israel fought against them.

Then crying out to the Lord, they said, We have done evil, because we have been turned away from the Lord, worshipping the Baals and the Astartes: but now, make us safe from those who are against us and we will be your servants.

Here, then, is the king marked out by you: the Lord has put a king over you.

If ye will fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken unto his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you be followers of Jehovah your God, well :

But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.

[Is] the wheat harvest not today? I will call out to Yahweh so that he still sends thunder and rain, so that you will know and will see that your wickedness [is] great that you have done in the eyes of Yahweh by asking for a king for yourselves."

And Samuel will call to Jehovah, and Jehovah will give voices and rain in that day: and all the people will be greatly afraid of Jehovah and Samuel.

Then all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God so that we will not die, because we have added to all our sins by requesting a king for ourselves."

Samuel replied, “Don’t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don’t turn away from following the Lord. Instead, worship the Lord with all your heart.

and turn ye not aside; for it would be 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 Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

Only go in the fear of the Lord, and be his true servants with all your heart, keeping in mind what great things he has done for you.

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

And Saul will choose to him three thousand from Israel; and two thousand will be with Saul in Michmash, and in the mount of the house of God, and a thousand were with Jonathan in the hill of Benjamin: and the remainder of the people he sent a man to his tent.

Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted all the land saying, "Let the Hebrews pay attention!"

And all Israel have heard, saying, 'Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines,' and also, 'Israel hath been abhorred by the Philistines;' and the people are called after Saul to Gilgal.

Then the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen with other people like the sand by the seaside in multitude and came up and pitched in Michmash eastward from Bethaven.

And he went on waiting there for seven days, the time fixed by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were starting to go away from him.

And it will be when he finished to bring up the burnt-offering, and behold, Samuel came; and Saul went forth to his meeting, and to bless him.

But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

And three bands of men came out from the Philistines to make an attack; one band went by the road which goes to Ophrah, into the land of Shual:

And another went in the direction of Beth-horon: and another went by the hill looking down on the valley of Zeboiim, in the direction of the waste land.

Now no blacksmith (metal-worker) could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears.”

So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

And it will be the day, and Jonathan son of Saul, will say to the boy lifting up his arms, Come, and we will pass over to the station of the rovers, which is from beyond this And to his father he announced not

And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.

if they say on this wise to us, 'Tarry until we come to you,' then we will stand still where we be and not go up unto them.