Old/New Testament

7 So the men of Kiryat-Ye‘arim came and brought back the ark of Adonai. They took it to the home of Avinadav on the hill and appointed his son El‘azar to guard the ark of Adonai. ² From the day that the ark arrived in Kiryat-Ye‘arim a long time elapsed, twenty years; and all the people of Isra’el yearned for Adonai.

³ Sh’mu’el addressed all the people of Isra’el; he said: “If you are returning to Adonai with all your heart, then be done with the foreign gods and ‘ashtarot that you have with you, and direct your hearts to Adonai. If you will serve only him, he will rescue you from the power of the P’lishtim.” ⁴ So the people of Isra’el banished the ba‘alim and the ‘ashtarot and served only Adonai.

⁵ Sh’mu’el said, “Gather all Isra’el to Mitzpah, and I will pray for you to Adonai.” ⁶ So they gathered together at Mitzpah, drew water and poured it out before Adonai, fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against Adonai.” Sh’mu’el began serving as judge over the people of Isra’el at Mitzpah.

⁷ When the P’lishtim heard that the people of Isra’el had gathered together at Mitzpah, the leaders of the P’lishtim marched up against Isra’el; and when the people of Isra’el heard about this, they were afraid of the P’lishtim. ⁸ The people of Isra’el said to Sh’mu’el, “Don’t stop crying out to Adonai our God for us, to save us from the power of the P’lishtim.” ⁹ Sh’mu’el took a baby lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to Adonai. Then Sh’mu’el cried to Adonai for Isra’el, and Adonai answered him. ¹⁰ As Sh’mu’el was presenting the burnt offering, the P’lishtim advanced to attack Isra’el. But this time, Adonai thundered violently over the P’lishtim, throwing them into such confusion that they were struck down before Isra’el. ¹¹ The men of Isra’el went out from Mitzpah, pursuing the P’lishtim and attacking them all the way to Beit-Kar.

¹² Sh’mu’el took a stone, placed it between Mitzpah and Shen, and gave it the name Even-‘Ezer [stone of help], explaining, “Adonai has helped us until now.” ¹³ Thus the P’lishtim were humbled, so that they no longer entered Isra’el’s territory; and the hand of Adonai was against the P’lishtim as long as Sh’mu’el lived. ¹⁴ The cities between ‘Ekron and Gat which the P’lishtim had captured from Isra’el were restored to Isra’el, and Isra’el rescued all this territory from the power of the P’lishtim. There was also peace between Isra’el and the Emori.

¹⁵ Sh’mu’el continued in office as judge of Isra’el as long as he lived. ¹⁶ Year by year he would travel in a circuit that included Beit-El, Gilgal and Mitzpah; and in all these places he served as judge over Isra’el. ¹⁷ Then he would return to Ramah, because that’s where his home was, and he would judge Isra’el there too. He also built an altar there to Adonai.

8 When Sh’mu’el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Isra’el. ² His firstborn was named Yo’el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be’er-Sheva. ³ However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice. ⁴ All the leaders of Isra’el gathered themselves together, approached Sh’mu’el in Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Look, you have grown old, and your sons are not following your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ Sh’mu’el was not pleased to hear them say, “Give us a king to judge us”; so he prayed to Adonai. ⁷ Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them. ⁸ They are doing to you exactly what they have been doing to me, from the day I brought them out of Egypt until today, by abandoning me and serving other gods. ⁹ So do what they say, but give them a sober warning, telling them what kinds of rulings their king will make.”

¹⁰ Sh’mu’el reported everything Adonai had said to the people asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “Here is the kind of rulings your king will make: he will draft your sons and assign them to take care of his chariots, be his horsemen and be bodyguards running ahead of his chariots. ¹² He will appoint them to serve him as officers in charge of a thousand or of fifty, plowing his fields, gathering his harvest, and making his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters and have them be perfume-makers, cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will expropriate your fields, vineyards and olive groves — the very best of them! — and hand them over to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the ten-percent tax of your crops and vineyards and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys, and make them work for him. ¹⁷ He will take the ten-percent tax of your flocks, and you will become his servants. ¹⁸ When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, Adonai will not answer you!”

¹⁹ However, the people refused to listen to what Sh’mu’el told them, and they said, “No! We want a king over us, ²⁰ so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles.” ²¹ Sh’mu’el heard everything the people said and repeated them for Adonai to hear. ²² Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Do what they ask, and set up a king for them.” So Sh’mu’el told the men of Isra’el, “Each of you, return to his city.”

9 There was a man from Binyamin named Kish the son of Avi’el, the son of Tz’ror, the son of B’khorat, the son of Afiach, the son of a man from Binyamin. He was a man of substance and brave as well. ² He had a son named Sha’ul who was young and good-looking; among the people of Isra’el there was no one better-looking than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else in Isra’el.

³ Once the donkeys belonging to Kish Sha’ul’s father got lost. Kish said to his son Sha’ul, “Please take one of the servants with you, go out, and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ He went through the hills of Efrayim and the territory of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they went through the territory of Sha‘alim, but they weren’t there. They went through the territory of Binyamin but didn’t find them there either. ⁵ On reaching the territory of Tzuf, Sha’ul said to his servant with him, “Come, let’s go back; otherwise my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” ⁶ His servant replied, “Here now, there’s a man of God in this city, a man who is highly respected, and everything he says proves true. Let’s go to him; maybe he can tell us something about where we should go.” ⁷ “But look,” Sha’ul said to his servant, “if we go to the man, what can we bring him? We’ve used up all the bread in our packs, and there’s nothing for us to give the man of God — what do we have left?” ⁸ The servant replied again to Sha’ul: “See, I have here in my hand a silver quarter-shekel [one-tenth of an ounce]. I will give it to the man of God to tell us which way to go.” ⁹ (In Isra’el, back in the old days, when someone went to consult God, he would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer”; because a person now called a prophet used to be called a seer.) ¹⁰ “Well said,” Sha’ul answered his servant. “Come on, let’s go.”

So they went to the city where the man of God was. ¹¹ Ascending the slope to the town they found girls going out to draw water and asked them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² The girls answered them, “He’s here, he’s right ahead of you. Hurry now, he just came into the city today, because the people are sacrificing today at the high place. ¹³ Find him as soon as you enter the city, before he goes up to the high place to eat; because the people won’t eat until he comes and blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards, the ones invited will eat. So go on up, because this is when you will find him.”

¹⁴ They went up to the city; and as they entered the city, there was Sh’mu’el coming out toward them to go up to the high place. ¹⁵ The day before Sha’ul arrived, Adonai had given Sh’mu’el a revelation: ¹⁶ “Tomorrow at about this time I will send you a man from the territory of Binyamin. You are to anoint him prince over my people Isra’el. He will save my people from the power of the P’lishtim, because I have seen my people’s situation, and their cry of distress has come to me.” ¹⁷ When Sh’mu’el saw Sha’ul, Adonai said to him, “Here is the man I told you about, the one who is going to govern my people.”

¹⁸ Sha’ul approached Sh’mu’el in the gateway and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” ¹⁹ Sh’mu’el answered Sha’ul, “I’m the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, because you are going to dine with me today. In the morning, I will let you leave; and I will tell you everything that is on your heart. ²⁰ As for your donkeys that got lost three days ago, don’t worry about them; they’ve been found. Now, who is it that all Isra’el wants? Isn’t it you, and all your father’s household?” ²¹ Sha’ul replied, “I’m only a man from Binyamin, the smallest tribe in Isra’el; and my family is the least important of all the families in the tribe of Binyamin! Why are you saying such a thing to me?”

²² Sh’mu’el took Sha’ul and his servant, brought them into the room and had them sit in the place reserved for the most important of the invited guests, who numbered about thirty persons. ²³ Sh’mu’el instructed the cook, “Serve the portion I gave you and told you to set aside.” ²⁴ The cook took the thigh and the adjoining meat and served it to Sha’ul. Sh’mu’el said, “Here, this is what remains! Put it in front of you and eat — it was kept especially for you until the right time; because I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Sha’ul dined with Sh’mu’el that day. ²⁵ On coming down from the high place to the city, he spoke with Sha’ul on the roof.

²⁶ They got up early. About daybreak, Sh’mu’el called out to Sha’ul on the roof, “Get up, so I can send you on your way.” Sha’ul got up, and both of them — he and Sh’mu’el — went out. ²⁷ As they were going down, at the edge of the city, Sh’mu’el said to Sha’ul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead”; so the servant went on. “But you, stand still now, because I want you to hear what God has said.”

¹⁸ Once when Yeshua was praying in private, his talmidim were with him; and he asked them, “Who are the crowds saying I am?” ¹⁹ They answered, “Yochanan the Immerser; but others say Eliyahu, and others that some prophet of long ago has risen.” ²⁰ “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say I am?” Kefa answered, “The Mashiach of God!” ²¹ However, he, warning them, ordered them to tell this to no one, ²² adding, “The Son of Man has to endure much suffering and be rejected by the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and he has to be put to death; but on the third day, he has to be raised to life.”

²³ Then to everyone he said, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake daily and keep following me. ²⁴ For whoever tries to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life on my account will save it. ²⁵ What will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but destroys or forfeits his own life? ²⁶ For if someone is ashamed of me and of what I say, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ I tell you the truth, there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Kingdom of God.”

²⁸ About a week after Yeshua said these things, he took Kefa, Yochanan and Ya‘akov with him and went up to the hill country to pray. ²⁹ As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed; and his clothing became gleaming white. ³⁰ Suddenly there were two men talking with him — Moshe and Eliyahu! ³¹ They appeared in glorious splendor and spoke of his exodus, which he was soon to accomplish in Yerushalayim. ³² Kefa and those with him had been sound asleep; but on becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³ As the men were leaving Yeshua, Kefa said to him, not knowing what he was saying, “It’s good that we’re here, Rabbi! Let’s put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” ³⁴ As he spoke, a cloud came and enveloped them. They were frightened as they entered the cloud; ³⁵ and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to him!” ³⁶ When the voice spoke, Yeshua was alone once more. They kept quiet — at that time they told no one anything of what they had seen.