< 1 Samuel 11 >
1 And it was don as aftir a monethe, Naas of Amon stiede, and bigan to fiyte ayens Jabes of Galaad. And alle the men of Jabes seiden to Naas, Haue thou vs boundun in pees, and we schulen serue thee.
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.
2 And Naas of Amon answeride to hem, In this Y schal smyte boond of pees with you, that Y putte out the riyt iyen of alle you, and that Y sette you schenschip in al Israel.
And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this [condition] will I make [a covenant] with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it [for] a reproach upon all Israel.
3 And the eldere men of Jabes seiden to him, Graunte thou to vs seuene daies, that we senden messangeris to alle the termes of Israel; and if noon be that defende vs, we schulen go out to thee.
And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days respit, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel: and then, if [there is] no man to save us, we will come out to thee.
4 Therfor messangeris camen in to Gabaad of Saul, and spaken these wordis, `while the puple herde; and al the puple reiside her vois, and wepte.
Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people; and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
5 And lo! Saul cam, `and suede oxis fro the feeld; and he seide, What hath the puple, for it wepith? And thei telden to hym the wordis of men of Jabes.
And behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What [aileth] the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.
6 And the Spirit of the Lord skippide in to Saul, whanne he hadde herd these wordis, and his woodnesse was `wrooth greetli.
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
7 And he took euer either oxe, and kittide in to gobetis, and sente in to alle the termes of Israel, bi the hondis of messangeris; and seide, Who euer goith not out, and sueth not Saul and Samuel, so it schal be don to hise oxun. Therfor the drede of the Lord asailide the puple, and thei yeden out as o man.
And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent [them] throughout all the borders of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.
8 And he noumbride hem in Besech; and thre hundrid thousynd weren of the sones of Israel; forsothe of the men of Juda weren thretti thousynde.
And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 And thei seiden to the messangeris that camen, Thus ye schulen seie to the men that ben in Jabes of Galaad, To morew schal be helthe to you, whanne the sunne is hoot. Therfor the messangeris camen, and telden to the men of Jabes; whiche weren glad,
And they said to the messengers that came, thus shall ye say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, To-morrow by [the time] the sun is hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and showed [it] to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
10 and seiden, Eerli we schulen go out to you, and ye schulen do to vs al that plesith you.
Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out to you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good to you.
11 And it was don, whanne the morewe dai cam, Saul ordeynede the puple in to thre partis; and he entride in to the myddil tentis `in the wakyng of the morewtid, and he smoot Amon til the dai `was hoot; `forsothe the residues weren scaterid, so that tweyne togidere weren not left in hem.
And it was [so] on the morrow, that Saul disposed the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning-watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they who remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
12 And the puple seide to Samuel, Who is this, that seide, Saul schal not regne on vs? Yyue ye the men, and we schulen sle hem.
And the people said to Samuel, Who [is] he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.
13 And Saul seide, No man schal be slayn in this dai, for to dai the Lord made helthe in Israel.
And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to-day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.
14 Forsothe Samuel seide to the puple, Come ye, and go we in to Galgala, and renule we there the rewme.
Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
15 And al the puple yede in to Galgala, and there thei maden Saul kyng bifor the Lord `in Galgala; and thei offriden pesible sacrifices bifor the Lord. And Saul was glad there, and alle the men of Israel greetli.
And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal: and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.