Bible in 90 Days

³⁰ Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father should minister in my sight, for ever. But now saith the Lord: Far be this from me: but whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify: but they that despise me, shall be despised.

³¹ Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.

³² And thou shalt see thy rival in the temple, in all the prosperity of Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.

³³ However I will not altogether take away a man of thee from my altar: but that thy eyes may faint and thy soul be spent: and a great part of thy house shall die when they come to man's estate.

³⁴ And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees: In one day they shall both of them die.

³⁵ And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart, and my soul, and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk all days before my anointed.

³⁶ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall remain in thy house, shall come that he may be prayed for, and shall offer a piece of silver, and a roll of bread, and shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the priestly office, that I may eat a morsel of bread.

3 Now the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no manifest vision.

² And it came to pass one day when Heli lay in his place, and his eyes were grown dim, that he could not see:

³ Before the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

⁴ And the Lord called Samuel. And he answered: Here am I.

⁵ And he ran to Heli and said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. He said: I did not call: go back and sleep. And he went and slept.

⁶ And the Lord called Samuel again. And Samuel arose and went to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou calledst me. He answered: I did not call thee, my son: return and sleep.

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the word of the Lord been revealed to him.

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose up and went to Heli.

⁹ And said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. Then Heli understood that the Lord called the child, and he said to Samuel: Go, and sleep: and if he shall call thee any more, thou shalt say: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and slept in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came and stood: and he called, as he had called the other times: Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold I do a thing in Israel: and whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall tingle.

¹² In that day I will raise up against Heli all the things I have spoken concerning his house: I will begin, and I will make an end.

¹³ For I have foretold unto him, that I will judge his house for ever, for iniquity, because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise them.

¹⁴ Therefore have I sworn to the house of Heli, that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated with victims nor offerings for ever.

¹⁵ And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision to Heli.

¹⁶ Then Heli called Samuel, and said: Samuel, my son. And he answered: Here am I.

¹⁷ And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord hath spoken to thee? I beseech thee hide it not from me. May God do so and so to thee, and add so and so, if thou hide from me one word of all that were said to thee.

¹⁸ So Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide them from him. And he answered: It is the Lord: let him do what is good in his sight.

¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground.

²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Bersabee, knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord.

²¹ And the Lord again appeared in Silo, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Silo, according to the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to pass to all Israel.

4 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight: and Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and camped by the Stone of help. And the Philistines came to Aphec,

² And put their army in array against Israel. And when they had joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines, and there was slain in that fight here and there in the fields about four thousand men.

³ And the people returned to the camp: and the ancients of Israel said: Why hath the Lord defeated us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch unto us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Silo, and let it come in the midst of us, that it may save us from the hand of our enemies.

⁴ So the people sent to Silo, and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts sitting upon the cherubims: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth rang again.

⁶ And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and they said: What is this noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.

⁷ And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come into the camp. And sighing, they said:

⁸ Woe to us: for there was no such great joy yesterday and the day before: Woe to us. Who shall deliver us from the hand of these high gods? these are the gods that struck Egypt with all the plagues in the desert.

⁹ Take courage and behave like men, ye Philistines: lest you come to be servants to the Hebrews, as they have served you: take courage and fight.

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown, and every man fled to his own dwelling: and there was an exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

¹¹ And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were slain.

¹² And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Silo the same day, with his clothes rent, and his head strewed with dust.

¹³ And when he was come, Heli sat upon a stool over against the way watching. For his heart was fearful for the ark of God. And when the man was come into the city, he told it: and all the city cried out.

¹⁴ And Heli heard the noise of the cry, and he said: What meaneth the noise of this uproar? But he made haste, and came, and told Heli.

¹⁵ Now Heli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see.

¹⁶ And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of the field this day. And he said to him: What is there done, my son?

¹⁷ And he that brought the news answered, and said: Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter of the people: moreover thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees, are dead: and the ark of God is taken.

¹⁸ And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from his stool backwards by the door, and broke his neck, and died. For he was an old man, and far advanced in years: and he judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ And his daughter in law the wife of Phinees, was big with child, and near her time: and hearing the news that the ark of God was taken, and her father in law, and her husband, were dead, she bowed herself and fell in labour: for her pains came upon her on a sudden.

²⁰ And when she was upon the point of death, they that stood about her said to her: Fear not, for thou hast borne a son. She answered them not, nor gave heed to them.

²¹ And she called the child Ichabod, saying: The glory is gone from Israel, because the ark of God was taken, and for her father in law, and her husband:

²² And she said: The glory is departed from Israel, because the ark of God was taken.

5 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the Stone of help into Azotus.

² And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

³ And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place.

⁴ And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold:

⁵ And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day.

⁶ And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he destroyed them, and afflicted Azotus and the coasts thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the midst of that country, there came forth a multitude of mice, and there was the confusion of a great mortality in the city.

⁷ And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague, said: The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us: for his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

⁸ And sending, they gathered together all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethrites answered: Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about.

⁹ And while they were carrying it about, the band of the Lord came upon every city with an exceeding great slaughter: and he smote the men of every city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And the Gethrites consulted together, and made themselves seats of skins.

¹⁰ Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.

¹¹ They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines: and they said: Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return into its own place, and not kill us and our people.

¹² For there was the fear of death in every city, and the hand of God was exceeding heavy. The men also that did not die, were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to heaven.

6 Now the ark of God was in the land of the Philistines seven months.

² And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying: What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? tell us how we are to send it back to its place? And they said:

³ If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty, but render unto him what you owe for sin, and then you shall be healed: and you shall know why his hand departeth not from you.

⁴ They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him for sin? and they answered:

⁵ According to the number of the provinces of the Philistines you shall make five golden emerods, and five golden mice: for the same plague hath been upon you all, and upon your lords. And you shall make the likeness of your emerods, and the likeness of the mice that have destroyed the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: to see if he will take off his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.

⁶ Why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts? did not he, after he was struck, then let them go, and they departed?

⁷ Now therefore take and make a new cart: and two kine that have calved, on which there hath come no yoke, tie to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

⁸ And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and lay it on the cart, and the vessels of gold, which you have paid him for sin, you shall put into a little box, at the side thereof: and send it away that it may go.

⁹ And you shall look: and if it go up by the way of his own coasts towards Bethsames, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, we shall know that it is not his hand hath touched us, but it hath happened by chance.

¹⁰ They did therefore in this manner: and taking two kine, that had suckling calves, they yoked them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

¹¹ And they laid the ark of God upon the cart, and the little box that had in it the golden mice and the likeness of the emerods.

¹² And the kine took the straight way that leadeth to Bethsames, and they went along the way, lowing as they went: and turned not aside neither to the right hand nor to the left: and the lords of the Philistines followed them as far as the borders of Bethsames.

¹³ Now the Bethsamites were reaping wheat in the valley: and lifting up their eyes they saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

¹⁴ And the cart came into the field of Josue a Bethsamite, and stood there. And there was a great stone, and they cut in pieces the wood of the cart, and laid the kine upon it a holocaust to the Lord.

¹⁵ And the Levites took down the ark of God, and the little box that was at the side of it, wherein were the vessels of gold, and they put them upon the great stone. The men also of Bethsames offered holocausts and sacrificed victims that day to the Lord.

¹⁶ And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Accaron the same day.

¹⁷ And these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines returned for sin to the Lord: For Azotus one, for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Geth one, for Accaron one:

¹⁸ And the golden mice according to the number of the cities of the Philistines, of the five provinces, from the fenced city to the village that was without wall, and to the great Abel (the stone) whereon they set down the ark of the Lord, which was till that day in the field of Josue the Bethsamite.

¹⁹ But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had seen the ark of the Lord: and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people. And the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten the people with a great slaughter.

²⁰ And the men of Bethsames said: Who shall be able to stand before the Lord this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

²¹ And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Cariathiarim, saying: The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, come ye down and fetch it up to you.

7 And then men of Cariathiarim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord and carried it into the house of Abinadab in Gabaa: and they sanctified Eleazar his son, to keep the ark of the Lord.

² And it came to pass, that from the day the ark of the Lord abode in Cariathiarim days were multiplied, (for it was now the twentieth year,) and all the house of Israel rested following the Lord.

³ And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying: If you turn to the Lord with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you, Baalim and Astaroth: and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

⁴ Then the children of Israel put away Baalim and Astaroth, and served the Lord only.

⁵ And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Masphath, that I may pray to the Lord for you.

⁶ And they gathered together to Masphath: and they drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and they fasted on that day, and they said there: We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Masphath.

⁷ And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Masphath, and the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines.

⁸ And they said to Samuel: Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

⁹ And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it whole for a holocaust to the Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.

¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Samuel was offering the holocaust, the Philistines began the battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and terrified them, and they were overthrown before the face of Israel.

¹¹ And the men of Israel going out of Masphath pursued after the Philistines, and made slaughter of them till they came under Bethchar.

¹² And Samuel took a stone, and laid it between Masphath and Sen: and he called the place, the Stone of help. And he said: Thus far the Lord hath helped us.

¹³ And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not come any more into the borders of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines, all the days of Samuel.

¹⁴ And the cities, which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were restored to Israel, from Accaron to Geth, and their borders: and he delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and there was peace between Israel and the Amorrhites.

¹⁵ And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life:

¹⁶ And he went every year about to Bethel and to Galgal and to Masphath, and he judged Israel in the aforesaid places.

¹⁷ And he returned to Ramatha, for there was his house, and there he judged Israel: he built also there an altar to the Lord.

8 And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.

² Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the name of the second was Abia, judges in Bersabee.

³ And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

⁴ Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled, came to Samuel to Ramatha.

⁵ And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.

⁶ And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give us a king, to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.

⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them.

⁸ According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they also unto thee.

⁹ Now therefore hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them.

¹⁰ Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him,

¹¹ And said: This will be the right of the king, that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen to run before his chariots,

¹² And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots.

¹³ Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers.

¹⁴ And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants.

¹⁵ Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give his eunuchs and servants.

¹⁶ Your servants also and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses he will take away, and put them to his work.

¹⁷ Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.

¹⁸ And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves. and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king.

¹⁹ But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said: Nay: but there shall be a king over us.

²⁰ And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us.

²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.

²² And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city.

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Cis, the son of Abiel, the son of Seror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphia, the son of a man of Jemini, valiant and strong.

² And he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and goodly man, and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he appeared above all the people.

³ And the asses of Cis, Sauls father, were lost: and Cis said to his son Saul: Take one of the servants with thee, and arise, go, and seek the asses. And when they had passed through mount Ephraim,

⁴ And through the land of Salisa, and had not found them, they passed also through the land of Salim, and they were not there: and through the land of Jemini, and found them not.

⁵ And when they were come to the land of Suph, Saul said to the servant that was with him: Come, let us return, lest perhaps my father forget the asses, and be concerned for us.

⁶ And he said to him: Behold there is a man of God in this city, a famous man: all that he saith, cometh certainly to pass. Now therefore let us go thither, perhaps he may tell us of our way, for which we are come.

⁷ And Saul said to his servant: Behold we will go: but what shall we carry to the man of God? the bread is spent in our bags: and we have no present to make to the man of God, nor any thing at all.

⁸ The servant answered Saul again, and said: Behold there is found in my hand the fourth part of a sicle of silver, let us give it to the man of God, that he may tell us our way.

⁹ Now in time past, in Israel when a man went to consult God he spoke thus: Come, let us go to the seer. For he that is now called a prophet, in time past was called a seer.

¹⁰ And Saul said to his servant: Thy word is very good, come, let us go. And they went into the city, where the man of God was.

¹¹ And when they went up the ascent to the city, they found maids coming out to draw water, and they said to them: Is the seer here?

¹² They answered and said to them: He is: behold he is before you, make haste now: for he came to day into the city, for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place.

¹³ As soon as you come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat till he come: because he blesseth the victim, and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now therefore go up, for to day you shall find him.

¹⁴ And they went up into the city. And when they were walking in the midst of the city, behold Samuel was coming out over against them, to go up to the high place.

¹⁵ Now the Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel the day before Saul came, saying:

¹⁶ To morrow about this same hour I will send thee a man of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel: and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked down upon my people, because their cry is come to me.

¹⁷ And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him: Behold the man, of whom I spoke to thee, this man shall reign over my people.

¹⁸ And Saul came to Samuel in the midst of the gate and said: Tell me, I pray thee, where is the house of the seer?

¹⁹ And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer, go up before me to the high place, that you may eat with me to day, and I will let thee go in the morning: and tell thee all that is in thy heart.

²⁰ And as for the asses, which were lost three days ago, be not solicitous, because they are found. And for whom shall be all the best things of Israel? Shall they not be for thee and for all thy father's house?

²¹ And Saul answering, said: Am not I a son of Jemini of the least tribe of Israel, and my kindred the last among all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then hast thou spoken this word to me?

²² Then Samuel taking Saul and his servant, brought them into the parlour, and gave them a place at the head of them that were invited. For there were about thirty men.

²³ And Samuel said to the cook: Bring the portion, which I gave thee, and commanded thee to set it apart by thee.

²⁴ And the cook took up the shoulder, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said: Behold what is left, set it before thee, and eat: because it was kept of purpose for thee, when I invited the people. And Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ And they went down from the high place into the town, and he spoke with Saul upon the top of the house: and he prepared a bed for Saul on the top of the house, and he slept.

²⁶ And when they were risen in the morning, and it began now to be light, Samuel called Saul on the top of the house, saying: Arise, that I may let thee go. And Saul arose: and they went out both of them, to wit, he and Samuel.

²⁷ And as they were going down in the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul: Speak to the servant to go before us, and pass on: but stand thou still a while, that I may tell thee the word of the Lord.

10 And Samuel took a little vial of oil and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said: Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance, and thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their enemies, that are round about them. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that God hath anointed thee to be prince.

² When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt find two men by the sepulchre of Rachel in the borders of Benjamin to the south, and they shall say to thee: The asses are found which thou wentest to seek: and thy father thinking no more of the asses is concerned for you, and saith: What shall I do for my son?

³ And when thou shalt depart from thence, and go farther on, and shalt come to the oak of Thabor, there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine.

⁴ And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and thou shalt take them at their hand.

⁵ After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is: and when thou shalt be come there into the city, thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they shall be prophesying.

⁶ And the spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man.

⁷ When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.

⁸ And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come down to thee,) that thou mayest offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt thou wait, O till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to do.

⁹ So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto him another heart, and all these things came to pass that day.

¹⁰ And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a company of prophets met him: and the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them.

¹¹ And all that had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was with the prophets, and prophesied, said to each other: What is this that hath happened to the son of Cis? Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹² And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹³ And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴ And Saul's uncle said to him, and to his servant: Whither went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not finding them we went to Samuel.

¹⁵ And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.

¹⁶ And Saul said to his uncle: He told us that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken to him, he told him not.

¹⁷ And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:

¹⁸ And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.

¹⁹ But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you out of all your evils and your tribulations: and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your families.

²⁰ And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.

²¹ And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof, and the lot fell Upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul the son of Cis. They sought him therefore and he was not found.

²² And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.

²³ And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward.

²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king.

²⁵ And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house.

²⁶ Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷ But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents, but he dissembled as though he heard not.

11 And it came to pass about a month after this that Naas, the Ammonite came up, and began to fight against Jabes Galaad. And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

² And Naas the Ammonite answered them: On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes, and make you a reproach in all Israel.

³ And the ancients of Jabes said to him: Allow us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel: and if there be no one to defend us, we will come out to thee.

⁴ The messengers therefore came to Gabaa of Saul: and they spoke these words in the hearing of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.

⁵ And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field, and he said: What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabes.

⁶ And the spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had heard these words, and his anger was exceedingly kindled.

⁷ And taking both the oxen, he cut them in pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel by messengers, saying: Whosoever shall not come forth, and follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell upon the people, and they went out as one man.

⁸ And he numbered them in Bezec: and there were of the children of Israel three hundred thousand: and of the men of Juda thirty thousand.

⁹ And they said to the messengers that came: Thus shall you say to the men of Jabes Galaad: To morrow, when the sun shall be hot, you shall have relief. The messengers therefore came, and told the men of Jabes: and they were glad.

¹⁰ And they said: In the morning we will come out to you: and you shall do what you please with us.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when the morrow was come that Saul put the people in three companies: and he came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and he slew the Ammonites until the day grew hot, and the rest were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

¹² And the people said to Samuel: Who is he that said: Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men and we will kill them.

¹³ And Saul said: No man shall be killed this day, because the Lord this day hath wrought salvation in Israel:

¹⁴ And Samuel said to the people: Come and let us go to Galgal, and let us renew the kingdom there.

¹⁵ And all the people went to Galgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Galgal, and they sacrificed there victims of peace before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.

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

² And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and greyheaded: and my sons are with you: having then conversed with you from my youth unto this day, behold here I am.

³ Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I have taken any man's ox, or ass: If I have wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man's hand: and I will despise it this day, and will restore it to you.

⁴ And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor taken ought at any man's hand.

⁵ And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness.

⁶ And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord, who made Moses and Aaron, and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt.

⁷ Now therefore stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which he hath shewn to you, and to your fathers:

⁸ How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord: and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt: and made them dwell in this place.

⁹ And they forgot the Lord their God, and he delivered them into the hands of Sisara, captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

¹⁰ But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth: but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

¹¹ And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you dwelt securely.

¹² But seeing that Naas king of the children of Ammon was come against you, you said to me: Nay, but a king shall reign over us: whereas the Lord your God was your king.

¹³ Now therefore your king is here, whom you have chosen and desired: Behold the Lord hath given you a king.

¹⁴ If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord: then shall both you, and the king who reigneth over you, be followers of the Lord your God.

¹⁵ But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will rebel against his words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and upon your fathers.

¹⁶ Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will do in your sight.

¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain: and you shall know and see that you yourselves have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord, in desiring a king over you.

¹⁸ And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day.

¹⁹ And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel: Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king.

²⁰ And Samuel said to the people: Fear not, you have done all this evil: but yet depart not from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

²¹ And turn not aside after vain things which shall never profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.

²² And the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because the Lord hath sworn to make you his people.

²³ And far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you, and I will teach you the good and right way.

²⁴ Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth and with your whole heart, for you have seen the great works which he hath done among you.

²⁵ But if you will still do wickedly: both you and your king shall perish together.

13 Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel.

² And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel: and two thousand were with Saul in Machmas, and in mount Bethel: and a thousand with Jonathan in Gabaa of Benjamin, and the rest of the people he sent back every man to their dwellings.

³ And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines which was in Gabaa. And when the Philistines had heard of it, Saul sounded the trumpet over all the land, saying: Let the Hebrews hear.

⁴ And all Israel heard this report: Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines: and Israel took courage against the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Galgal.

⁵ The Philistines also were assembled to fight against Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a multitude of people besides, like the sand on the sea shore for number. And going up they camped in Machmas at the east of Bethaven.

⁶ And when the men of Israel saw that they were straitened, (for the people were distressed,) they hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in dens, and in pits.

⁷ And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Galaad. And when Saul was yet in Galgal, all the people that followed him were greatly afraid.

⁸ And he waited seven days according to the appointment of Samuel, I and Samuel came not to Galgal, and the people slipt away from him.

⁹ Then Saul said: Bring me the holocaust, and the peace offerings. And he offered the holocaust.

¹⁰ And when he had made an end of offering the holocaust, behold Samuel came: and Saul went forth to meet him and salute him.

¹¹ And Samuel said to him: What hast thou done? Saul answered: Because I saw that the people slipt from me, and thou wast not come according to the days appointed, and the Philistines were gathered together in Machmas,

¹² I said: Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Galgal, and I have not appeased the face of the Lord. Forced by necessity, I offered the holocaust.

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul: Thou hast done foolishly, and hast not kept the commandments of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. And if thou hadst not done thus, the Lord would now have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever.

¹⁴ But thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought him a man according to his own heart: and him hath the Lord commanded to be prince over his people, because thou hast not observed that which the Lord commanded.

¹⁵ And Samuel arose and went up from Galgal to Gabaa of Benjamin. And the rest of the people went up after Saul, to meet the people who fought against them, going from Galgal to Gabaa in the hill of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people, that were found with him, about six hundred men.

¹⁶ And Saul and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, were in Gabaa of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Machmas.

¹⁷ And there went out of the camp of the Philistines three companies to plunder. One company went towards the way of Ephra to the land of Sual;

¹⁸ And another went by the way of Beth-horon, and the third turned to the way of the border, above the valley of Seboim towards the desert.

¹⁹ Now there was no smith to be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had taken this precaution, lest the Hebrews should make them swords or spears.

²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his ploughshare, and his spade, and his axe, and his rake.

²¹ So that their shares, and their spades, and their forks, and their axes were blunt, even to the goad, which was to be mended.

²² And when the day of battle was come, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan, except Saul and Jonathan his son.

²³ And the army of the Philistines went out in order to advance further in Machmas.

14 Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, which is on the other side of yonder place. But he told not this to his father.

² And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gabaa under the pomegranate tree, which was in Magron: and the people with him were about six hundred men.

³ And Achias the son of Achitob brother to Ichabod the son of Phinees, the son of Heli the priest of the Lord in Silo, wore the ephod. And the people knew not whither Jonathan was gone.

⁴ Now there were between the ascents, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the garrison of the Philistines, rocks standing up on both sides, and steep cliffs like teeth on the one side, and on the other, the name of the one was Boses, and the name of the other was Sene:

⁵ One rock stood out towards the north over against Machmas, and the other to the south over against Gabaa.

⁶ And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us, because it is easy for the Lord to save either by many, or by few.

⁷ And his armourbearer said to him: Do all that pleaseth thy mind: go whither thou wilt, and I will be with thee wheresoever thou hast a mind.

⁸ And Jonathan said: Behold we will go over to these men. And when we shall be seen by them,

⁹ If they shall speak thus to us: Stay till we come to you: let us stand still in our place, and not go up to them.

¹⁰ But if they shall say: Come up to us: let us go up, because the Lord hath delivered them into our hands, this shall be a sign unto us.

¹¹ So both of them discovered themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said: Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes wherein they were hid.

¹² And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and to his armourbearer, and said: Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armourbearer: Let us go up, follow me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hands of Israel.

¹³ And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet, and his armourbearer after him. And some fell before Jonathan, others his armourbearer slew as he followed him.

¹⁴ And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was of about twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a yoke of oxen is wont to plough in a day.

¹⁵ And there was a miracle in the camp, through the fields: yea and all the people of their garrison, who had gone out to plunder, were amazed, and the earth trembled: and it happened as a miracle from God.

¹⁶ And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of Benjamin looked, and behold a multitude overthrown, and fleeing this way and that.

¹⁷ And Saul said to the people that were with him: Look, and see who is gone from us. And when they had sought, it was found that Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.

¹⁸ And Saul said to Achias: Bring the ark of the Lord. (For the ark of God was there that day with the children of Israel.)

¹⁹ And while Saul spoke to the priest, there arose a great uproar in the camp of the Philistines: and it increased by degrees, and was heard more clearly. And Saul said to the priest: Draw in thy hand.

²⁰ Then Saul and all the people that were with him, shouted together, and they came to the place of the fight: and behold every man's sword was turned upon his neighbour, and there was a very great slaughter.

²¹ Moreover the Hebrews that had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, and went up with them into the camp, returned to be with the Israelites, who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²² And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines fled, joined themselves with their countrymen in the fight. And there were with Saul about ten thousand men.

²³ And the Lord saved Israel that day. And the fight went on as far as Bethaven.

²⁴ And the men of Israel were joined together that day; and Saul adjured the people, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat food till evening, till I be revenged of my enemies. So none of the people tasted any food:

²⁵ And all the common people came into a forest, in which there was honey upon the ground.

²⁶ And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth. For the people feared the oath.

²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people: and he put forth the end of the rod, which he had in his hand, and dipt it in a honeycomb: and he carried his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened.

²⁸ And one of the people answering, said: Thy father hath bound the people with an oath, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat any food this day. (And the people were faint.)

²⁹ And Jonathan said: My father hath troubled the land: you have seen yourselves that my eyes are enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey:

³⁰ How much more if the people had eaten of the prey of their enemies, which they found? had there not been made a greater slaughter among the Philistines?

³¹ So they smote that day the Philistines from Machmas to Ailon. And the people were wearied exceedingly.

³² And falling upon the spoils, they took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people ate them with the blood.

³³ And they told Saul that the people had sinned against the Lord, eating with the blood. And he said: You have transgressed: roll here to me now a great stone.

³⁴ And Saul said: Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them to bring me every man his ox and his ram, and slay them upon this stone, and eat, and you shall not sin against the Lord in eating with the blood. So all the people brought every man his ox with him till the night: and slew them there.

³⁵ And Saul built an altar to the Lord and he then first began to build an altar to the Lord.

³⁶ And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near hither unto God.

³⁷ And Saul consulted the Lord: Shall I pursue after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hands of Israel? And he answered him not that day.

³⁸ And Saul said: Bring hither all the corners of the people: and know, and see by whom this sin hath happened to day.

³⁹ As the Lord liveth who is the saviour of Israel, if it was done by Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. In this none of the people gainsaid him.

⁴⁰ And he said to all Israel: Be you on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people answered Saul: Do what seemeth good in thy eyes.

⁴¹ And Saul said to the Lord: O Lord God of Israel, give a sign, by which we may know, what the meaning is, that thou answerest not thy servant to day. If this iniquity be in me, or in my son Jonathan, give a proof: or if this iniquity be in thy people, give holiness. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped.

⁴² And Saul said: Cast lots between me, and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.

⁴³ And Saul said to Jonathan: Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said: I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod, which was in my hand, and behold I must die.

⁴⁴ And Saul said: May God do so and so to me, and add still more: for dying thou shalt die, O Jonathan.

⁴⁵ And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan then die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? This must not be. As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people delivered Jonathan, that he should not die.

⁴⁶ And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own places.

⁴⁷ And Saul having his kingdom established over Israel, fought against all his enemies round about, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and Edom, and the kings of Soba, and the Philistines; and whithersoever he turned himself, he overcame.

⁴⁸ And gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec, and delivered Israel from the hand of them that spoiled them.

⁴⁹ And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and Melchisua: and the names of his two daughters, the name of the firstborn was Merob, and the name of the younger Michol.

⁵⁰ And the name of Saul's wife, was Achinoam the daughter of Achimaas; and the name of the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, the cousin german of Saul.

⁵¹ For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner, was son of Abiel.

⁵² And there was a great war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. For whomsoever Saul saw to be a valiant man, and fit for war, he took him to himself.

15 And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his People Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord:

² Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel: I how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt.

³ Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare him not, nor covet any thing that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

⁴ So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.

⁵ And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent.

⁶ And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart and get ye down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with him. For thou hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec.

⁷ And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt.

⁸ And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.

⁹ And Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the flocks of sheep and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would not destroy them: but every thing that was vile and good for nothing, that they destroyed.

¹⁰ And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying:

¹¹ It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night.

¹² And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, that Saul was come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord out of the choicest of the spoils which he had brought from Amalec.

¹³ And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.

¹⁴ And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear?

¹⁵ And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain.

¹⁶ And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him: Speak.

¹⁷ And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.

¹⁸ And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the sinners of Amalec, and thou shalt fight against them until thou hast utterly destroyed them.

¹⁹ Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to the prey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁰ And Saul said to Samuel: Yea I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have walked in the way by which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalec, and Amalec I have slain.

²¹ But the people took of the spoils sheep and oxen, as the firstfruits of those things that were slain, to offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in Galgal.

²² And Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams.

²³ Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch therefore as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king.

²⁴ And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice.

²⁵ But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord.

²⁶ And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

²⁷ And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

²⁸ And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee.

²⁹ But the triumpher in Israel will riot spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a mail that he should repent.

³⁰ Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancients of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy God.

³¹ So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord.

³² And Samuel said: Bring hitherto me Agag the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in this manner?

³³ And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal.

³⁴ And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa.

³⁵ And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel.