1 Samuel 11
1 And Nahash the Ammonite comes up, and encamps against Jabesh-Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh say to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we serve you.”
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.
2 And Nahash the Ammonite says to them, “For this I cut [a covenant] with you, in picking out every right eye of yours—and I have set it [for] a reproach on all Israel.”
And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make an agreement with you on this condition, that all your right eyes are put out; so that I may make it a cause of shame to all Israel.
3 And [the] elderly of Jabesh say to him, “Leave us alone [for] seven days, and we send messengers into all the border of Israel: and if there is none saving us—then we have come out to you.”
Then the responsible men of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, so that we may send men to every part of Israel: and then, if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you.
4 And the messengers come to Gibeah of Saul, and speak the words in the ears of the people, and all the people lift up their voice and weep;
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.
5 and behold, Saul has come out of the field after the herd, and Saul says, “What [is that] to the people, that they weep?” And they recount the words of the men of Jabesh to him.
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.
6 And the Spirit of God prospers over Saul, in his hearing these words, and his anger burns greatly,
And at their words, the spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he became very angry.
7 and he takes a couple of oxen, and cuts them in pieces, and sends [them] through all the border of Israel, by the hand of the messengers, saying, “He who is not coming out after Saul and after Samuel—thus it is done to his oxen”; and the fear of YHWH falls on the people, and they come out as one man.
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.
8 And he inspects them in Bezek, and the sons of Israel are three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
And he had them numbered in Bezek: the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 And they say to the messengers who are coming, “Thus you say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: Tomorrow you have safety—by the heat of the sun”; and the messengers come and declare [it] to the men of Jabesh, and they rejoice;
Then he said to the representatives who had come, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is high, you will be made safe. And the representatives came and gave the news to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
10 and the men of Jabesh say [to the Ammonites], “Tomorrow we come out to you, and you have done to us according to all that [is] good in your eyes.”
So the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.
11 And it comes to pass, on the next day, that Saul puts the people in three detachments, and they come into the midst of the camp in the morning-watch, and strike Ammon until the heat of the day; and it comes to pass that those left are scattered, and there have not been left two of them together.
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.
12 And the people say to Samuel, “Who is he that says, Saul reigns over us? Give up the men, and we put them to death.”
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.
13 And Saul says, “There is no man put to death on this day, for today YHWH has worked salvation in Israel.”
And Saul said, Not a man is to be put to death today: for today the Lord has made Israel safe.
14 And Samuel says to the people, “Come and we go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there”;
Then Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there make the kingdom strong in the hands of Saul.
15 and all the people go to Gilgal, and cause Saul to reign there before YHWH in Gilgal, and sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings there before YHWH, and Saul rejoices there—and all the men of Israel—very greatly.
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.
