1 Samuel 5-12

New Century Version

Trouble for the Philistines

5 After the Philistines had captured the Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ² They carried it into Dagon’s temple and put it next to Dagon. ³ When the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, they found that Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. So they put Dagon back in his place. ⁴ The next morning when they rose, they again found Dagon fallen on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. His head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only his body was still in one piece. ⁵ So, even today, Dagon’s priests and others who enter his temple at Ashdod refuse to step on the doorsill.

⁶ The Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and their neighbors. He caused them to suffer and gave them growths on their skin. ⁷ When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The Ark of the God of Israel can’t stay with us. God is punishing us and Dagon our god.” ⁸ The people of Ashdod called all five Philistine kings together and asked them, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”

The rulers answered, “Move the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath.” So the Philistines moved it to Gath.

⁹ But after they moved it to Gath, there was a great panic. The Lord was hard on that city also, and he gave both old and young people in Gath growths on their skin. ¹⁰ Then the Philistines sent the Ark of God to Ekron.

But when it came into Ekron, the people of Ekron yelled, “Why are you bringing the Ark of the God of Israel to our city? Do you want to kill us and our people?” ¹¹ So they called all the kings of the Philistines together and said, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its place before it kills us and our people!” All the people in the city were struck with terror because God was so hard on them there. ¹² The people who did not die were troubled with growths on their skin. So the people of Ekron cried loudly to heaven.

The Ark of God Is Sent Home

6 The Philistines kept the Ark of God in their land seven months. ² Then they called for their priests and magicians and said, “What should we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to send it back home!”

³ The priests and magicians answered, “If you send back the Ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it back empty. You must give a penalty offering. If you are then healed, you will know that it was because of the Ark that you had such trouble.”

⁴ The Philistines asked, “What kind of penalty offering should we send to Israel’s God?”

They answered, “Make five gold models of the growths on your skin and five gold models of rats. The number of models must match the number of Philistine kings, because the same sickness has come on you and your kings. ⁵ Make models of the growths and the rats that are ruining the country, and give honor to Israel’s God. Then maybe he will stop being so hard on you, your gods, and your land. ⁶ Don’t be stubborn like the king of Egypt and the Egyptians. After God punished them terribly, they let the Israelites leave Egypt.

⁷ “You must build a new cart and get two cows that have just had calves. These must be cows that have never had yokes on their necks. Hitch the cows to the cart, and take the calves home, away from their mothers. ⁸ Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart and the gold models for the penalty offering in a box beside the Ark. Then send the cart straight on its way. ⁹ Watch the cart. If it goes toward Beth Shemesh in Israel’s own land, the Lord has given us this great sickness. But if it doesn’t, we will know that Israel’s God has not punished us. Our sickness just happened by chance.”

¹⁰ The Philistines did what the priests and magicians said. They took two cows that had just had calves and hitched them to the cart, but they kept their calves at home. ¹¹ They put the Ark of the Lord and the box with the gold rats and models of growths on the cart. ¹² Then the cows went straight toward Beth Shemesh. They stayed on the road, mooing all the way, and did not turn right or left. The Philistine kings followed the cows as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the Ark of the Lord, they were very happy. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field belonging to Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped near a large rock. The people of Beth Shemesh chopped up the wood of the cart. Then they sacrificed the cows as burnt offerings to the Lord. ¹⁵ The Levites took down the Ark of the Lord and the box that had the gold models, and they put both on the large rock. That day the people of Beth Shemesh offered whole burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. ¹⁶ After the five Philistine kings saw this, they went back to Ekron the same day.

¹⁷ The Philistines had sent these gold models of the growths as penalty offerings to the Lord. They sent one model for each Philistine town: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸ And the Philistines also sent gold models of rats. The number of rats matched the number of towns belonging to the Philistine kings, including both strong, walled cities and country villages. The large rock on which they put the Ark of the Lord is still there in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

¹⁹ But some of the men of Beth Shemesh looked into the Ark of the Lord. So God killed seventy of them. The people of Beth Shemesh cried because the Lord had struck them down. ²⁰ They said, “Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? Whom will he strike next?”

²¹ Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the Ark of the Lord. Come down and take it to your city.”

7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the Ark of the Lord to Abinadab’s house on a hill. There they made Abinadab’s son Eleazar holy for the Lord so he could guard the Ark of the Lord.

The Lord Saves the Israelites

² The Ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all. And the people of Israel began to follow the Lord again. ³ Samuel spoke to the whole group of Israel, saying, “If you’re turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must remove your foreign gods and your idols of Ashtoreth. You must give yourselves fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will save you from the Philistines.”

⁴ So the Israelites put away their idols of Baal and Ashtoreth, and they served only the Lord.

⁵ Samuel said, “All Israel must meet at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So the Israelites met together at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel served as judge of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ The Philistines heard the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah, so the Philistine kings came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard they were coming, they were afraid. ⁸ They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop praying to the Lord our God for us! Ask him to save us from the Philistines!” ⁹ Then Samuel took a baby lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He called to the Lord for Israel’s sake, and the Lord answered him.

¹⁰ While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistines came near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered against them with loud thunder. They were so frightened they became confused. So the Israelites defeated the Philistines in battle. ¹¹ The men of Israel ran out of Mizpah and chased the Philistines almost to Beth Car, killing the Philistines along the way.

Peace Comes to Israel

¹² After this happened Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named the stone Ebenezer,^[a] saying, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” ¹³ So the Philistines were defeated and did not enter the Israelites’ land again.

The Lord was against the Philistines all Samuel’s life. ¹⁴ Earlier the Philistines had taken towns from the Israelites, but the Israelites won them back, from Ekron to Gath. They also took back from the Philistines the lands near these towns. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ Samuel continued as judge of Israel all his life. ¹⁶ Every year he went from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah and judged the Israelites in all these towns. ¹⁷ But Samuel always went back to Ramah, where his home was. There he judged Israel and built an altar to the Lord.

Israel Asks for a King

8 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges for Israel. ² His first son was named Joel, and his second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba. ³ But Samuel’s sons did not live as he did. They tried to get money dishonestly, and they accepted money secretly to make wrong judgments.

⁴ So all the elders came together and met Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You’re old, and your sons don’t live as you do. Give us a king to rule over us like all the other nations.”

⁶ When the elders said that, Samuel was not pleased. He prayed to the Lord, ⁷ and the Lord told Samuel, “Listen to whatever the people say to you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me from being their king. ⁸ They are doing as they have always done. When I took them out of Egypt, they left me and served other gods. They are doing the same to you. ⁹ Now listen to the people, but warn them what the king who rules over them will do.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told those who had asked him for a king what the Lord had said. ¹¹ Samuel said, “If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and his horses, and they will run in front of the king’s chariot. ¹² The king will make some of your sons commanders over thousands or over fifties. He will make some of your other sons plow his ground and reap his harvest. He will take others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to make perfume and cook and bake for him. ¹⁴ He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them all for his own work. ¹⁷ He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that time comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose. But the Lord will not answer you then.”

¹⁹ But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, “No! We want a king to rule over us. ²⁰ Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will judge for us and go with us and fight our battles.”

²¹ After Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated their words to the Lord. ²² The Lord answered, “You must listen to them. Give them a king.”

Then Samuel told the people of Israel, “Go back to your towns.”

Saul Looks for His Father’s Donkeys

9 Kish, son of Abiel from the tribe of Benjamin, was an important man. (Abiel was the son of Zeror, who was the son of Becorath, who was the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.) ² Kish had a son named Saul, who was a fine young man. There was no Israelite better than he. Saul stood a head taller than any other man in Israel.

³ Now the donkeys of Saul’s father, Kish, were lost. So Kish said to Saul, his son, “Take one of the servants, and go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ Saul went through the mountains of Ephraim and the land of Shalisha, but he and the servant could not find the donkeys. They went into the land of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. They went through the land of Benjamin, but they still did not find them. ⁵ When they arrived in the area of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go back or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and will start worrying about us.”

⁶ But the servant answered, “A man of God is in this town. People respect him because everything he says comes true. Let’s go into the town now. Maybe he can tell us something about the journey we have taken.”

⁷ Saul said to his servant, “If we go into the town, what can we give him? The food in our bags is gone. We have no gift to give him. Do we have anything?”

⁸ Again the servant answered Saul. “Look, I have one-tenth of an ounce of silver. Give it to the man of God. Then he will tell us about our journey.” ⁹ (In the past, if someone in Israel wanted to ask something from God, he would say, “Let’s go to the seer.” We call the person a prophet today, but in the past he was called a seer.)

¹⁰ Saul said to his servant, “That’s a good idea. Come, let’s go.” So they went toward the town where the man of God was.

¹¹ As Saul and the servant were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to get water. Saul and the servant asked them, “Is the seer here?”

¹² The young women answered, “Yes, he’s here. He’s ahead of you. Hurry now. He has just come to our town today, because the people will offer a sacrifice at the place of worship. ¹³ As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the place of worship to eat. The people will not begin eating until the seer comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. After that, the guests will eat. Go now, and you should find him.”

Saul Meets Samuel

¹⁴ Saul and the servant went up to the town. Just as they entered it, they saw Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the place of worship.

¹⁵ The day before Saul came, the Lord had told Samuel: ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Appoint him to lead my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines. I have seen the suffering of my people, and I have listened to their cry.”

¹⁷ When Samuel first saw Saul, the Lord said to Samuel, “This is the man I told you about. He will organize my people.”

¹⁸ Saul approached Samuel at the gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

¹⁹ Samuel answered, “I am the seer. Go with me to the place of worship. Today you and your servant are to eat with me. Tomorrow morning I will answer all your questions and send you home. ²⁰ Don’t worry about the donkeys you lost three days ago, because they have been found. Soon all the wealth of Israel will belong to you and your family.”

²¹ Saul answered, “But I am from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel. And my family group is the smallest in the tribe of Benjamin. Why are you saying such things?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into a large room and gave them a choice place at the table. About thirty guests were there. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the meat I gave you, the portion I told you to set aside.”

²⁴ So the cook took the thigh and put it on the table in front of Saul. Samuel said, “This is the meat saved for you. Eat it, because it was set aside for you for this special time. As I said, ‘I had invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ After they finished eating, they came down from the place of worship and went to the town. Then Samuel talked with Saul on the roof^[b] of his house. ²⁶ At dawn they got up, and Samuel called to Saul on the roof. He said, “Get up, and I will send you on your way.” So Saul got up and went out of the house with Samuel. ²⁷ As Saul, his servant, and Samuel were getting near the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay, because I have a message from God for you.”

Samuel Appoints Saul

10 Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has appointed you to lead his people. ² After you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you were looking for have been found. But now your father has stopped thinking about his donkeys and is worrying about you. He is asking, “What will I do about my son?”’

³ “Then you will go on until you reach the big tree at Tabor. Three men on their way to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One man will be carrying three goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. And the third will have a leather bag full of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you must accept. ⁵ Then you will go to Gibeah of God, where a Philistine camp is. When you approach this town, a group of prophets will come down from the place of worship. They will be playing harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you with power. You will prophesy with these prophets, and you will be changed into a different man. ⁷ After these signs happen, do whatever you find to do, because God will help you.

⁸ “Go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come down to you to offer whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. But you must wait seven days. Then I will come and tell you what to do.”

Saul Made King

⁹ When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart. All these signs came true that day. ¹⁰ When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, Saul met a group of prophets. The Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied with the prophets. ¹¹ When people who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What has happened to Kish’s son? Is even Saul one of the prophets?”

¹² A man who lived there said, “Who is the father of these prophets?” So this became a famous saying: “Is even Saul one of the prophets?” ¹³ When Saul finished prophesying, he entered the place of worship.

¹⁴ Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”

Saul said, “We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we went to talk to Samuel.”

¹⁵ Saul’s uncle asked, “Please tell me. What did Samuel say to you?”

¹⁶ Saul answered, “He told us the donkeys had already been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.

¹⁷ Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸ He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I led Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control and from other kingdoms that were troubling you.’ ¹⁹ But now you have rejected your God. He saves you from all your troubles and problems, but you said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us.’ Now come, stand before the Lord in your tribes and family groups.”

²⁰ When Samuel gathered all the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin was picked. ²¹ Samuel had them pass by in family groups, and Matri’s family was picked. Then he had each man of Matri’s family pass by, and Saul son of Kish was picked. But when they looked for Saul, they could not find him. ²² They asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?”

The Lord said, “Yes. He’s hiding behind the baggage.”

²³ So they ran and brought him out. When Saul stood among the people, he was a head taller than anyone else. ²⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. There is no one like him among all the people.”

Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵ Samuel explained the rights and duties of the king and then wrote them in a book and put it before the Lord. Then he told the people to go to their homes.

²⁶ Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. God touched the hearts of certain brave men who went along with him. ²⁷ But some troublemakers said, “How can this man save us?” They disapproved of Saul and refused to bring gifts to him. But Saul kept quiet.

Nahash Troubles Jabesh Gilead

11 About a month later Nahash the Ammonite and his army surrounded the city of Jabesh in Gilead. All the people of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

² But he answered, “I will make a treaty with you only if I’m allowed to poke out the right eye of each of you. Then all Israel will be ashamed!”

³ The elders of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Give us seven days to send messengers through all Israel. If no one comes to help us, we will give ourselves up to you.”

⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah where Saul lived and told the people the news, they cried loudly. ⁵ Saul was coming home from plowing the fields with his oxen when he heard the people crying. He asked, “What’s wrong with the people that they are crying?” Then they told Saul what the messengers from Jabesh had said. ⁶ When Saul heard their words, God’s Spirit rushed upon him with power, and he became very angry. ⁷ So he took a pair of oxen and cut them into pieces. Then he gave the pieces of the oxen to messengers and ordered them to carry them through all the land of Israel.

The messengers said, “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” So the people became very afraid of the Lord. They all came together as if they were one person. ⁸ Saul gathered the people together at Bezek. There were three hundred thousand men from Israel and thirty thousand men from Judah.

⁹ They said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the people at Jabesh Gilead this: ‘Before the day warms up tomorrow, you will be saved.’” So the messengers went and reported this to the people at Jabesh, and they were very happy. ¹⁰ The people said to Nahash the Ammonite, “Tomorrow we will come out to meet you. Then you can do anything you want to us.”

¹¹ The next morning Saul divided his soldiers into three groups. At dawn they entered the Ammonite camp and defeated them before the heat of the day. The Ammonites who escaped were scattered; no two of them were still together.

¹² Then the people said to Samuel, “Who didn’t want Saul as king? Bring them here and we will kill them!”

¹³ But Saul said, “No! No one will be put to death today. Today the Lord has saved Israel!”

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal. There we will again promise to obey the king.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there, before the Lord, the people made Saul king. They offered fellowship offerings to the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites had a great celebration.

Samuel’s Farewell Speech

12 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done everything you wanted me to do and have put a king over you. ² Now you have a king to lead you. I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader since I was young. ³ Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, you must testify against me before the Lord and his appointed king. Did I steal anyone’s ox or donkey? Did I hurt or cheat anyone? Did I ever secretly accept money to pretend not to see something wrong? If I did any of these things, I will make it right.”

⁴ The Israelites answered, “You have not cheated us, or hurt us, or taken anything unfairly from anyone.”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness to what you have said. His appointed king is also a witness today that you did not find anything wrong in me.”

“He is our witness,” they said.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who chose Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. ⁷ Now, stand there, and I will remind you of all the good things the Lord did for you and your ancestors.

⁸ “After Jacob entered Egypt, his descendants cried to the Lord for help. So the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your ancestors out of Egypt and brought them to live in this place.

⁹ “But they forgot the Lord their God. So he handed them over as slaves to Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and as slaves to the Philistines and the king of Moab. They all fought against your ancestors. ¹⁰ Then your ancestors cried to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned. We have left the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now save us from our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹ So the Lord sent Gideon,^[c] Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. He saved you from your enemies around you, and you lived in safety. ¹² But when you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites coming against you, you said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us!’—even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ Now here is the king you chose, the one you asked for. The Lord has put him over you. ¹⁴ You must honor the Lord and serve him. You must obey his word and not turn against his commands. Both you and the king ruling over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, it will be well with you. ¹⁵ But if you don’t obey the Lord, and if you turn against his commands, he will be against you. He will do to you what he did to your ancestors.

¹⁶ “Now stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷ It is now the time of the wheat harvest.^[d] I will pray for the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will know what an evil thing you did against the Lord when you asked for a king.”

¹⁸ Then Samuel prayed to the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So the people were very afraid of the Lord and Samuel. ¹⁹ They said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants! Don’t let us die! We’ve added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”

²⁰ Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. It’s true that you did wrong, but don’t turn away from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ Idols are of no use, so don’t worship them. They can’t help you or save you. They are useless! ²² For his own sake, the Lord won’t leave his people. Instead, he was pleased to make you his own people. ²³ I will surely not stop praying for you, because that would be sinning against the Lord. I will teach you what is good and right. ²⁴ You must honor the Lord and truly serve him with all your heart. Remember the wonderful things he did for you! ²⁵ But if you are stubborn and do evil, he will sweep you and your king away.”