The Living Bible (89 page)

1 Samuel
7

So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the Ark to the hillside home of Abinadab and installed his son Eleazar to be in charge of it.
²
 The Ark remained there for twenty years, and during that time all Israel was in sorrow because the Lord had seemingly abandoned them.

    
³
 At that time Samuel said to them, “If you are really serious about wanting to return to the Lord, get rid of your foreign gods and your Ashtaroth idols. Determine to obey only the Lord; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”

    
⁴
 So they destroyed their idols of Baal and Ashtaroth and worshiped only the Lord.

    
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 Then Samuel told them, “Come to Mizpah, all of you, and I will pray to the Lord for you.”

    
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 So they gathered there and, in a great ceremony, drew water from the well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day as a sign of sorrow for their sins. So it was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.

    
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 When the Philistine leaders heard about the great crowds at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelis were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching.

    
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 “Plead with God to save us!” they begged Samuel.

    
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 So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering and pleaded with him to help Israel. And the Lord responded.
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 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived for battle, but the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven, and they were thrown into confusion, and the Israelis routed them
¹¹
 and chased them from Mizpah to Beth-car, killing them all along the way.
¹²
 Samuel then took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Jeshanah and named it Ebenezer (meaning, “the Stone of Help”), for he said, “The Lord has certainly helped us!”
¹³
 So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again at that time because the Lord was against them throughout the remainder of Samuel’s lifetime.
¹⁴
 The Israeli cities between Ekron and Gath, which had been conquered by the Philistines, were now returned to Israel, for the Israeli army rescued them from their Philistine captors. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days.

    
¹⁵
 Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the remainder of his life.
¹⁶
 He rode circuit annually, setting up his court first at Bethel, then Gilgal, and then Mizpah, and cases of dispute were brought to him in each of those three cities from all the surrounding territory.
¹⁷
 Then he would come back to Ramah, for his home was there, and he would hear cases there too. And he built an altar to the Lord at Ramah.

1 Samuel
8

In his old age, Samuel retired and appointed his sons as judges in his place.
²
 Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba;
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 but they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and were very corrupt in the administration of justice.
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 Finally the leaders of Israel met in Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel.
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 They told him that since his retirement things hadn’t been the same, for his sons were not good men.

    
“Give us a king like all the other nations have,” they pleaded.
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 Samuel was terribly upset and went to the Lord for advice.

    
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 “Do as they say,” the Lord replied, “for I am the one they are rejecting, not you—they don’t want me to be their king any longer.
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 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment.
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 Do as they ask, but warn them about what it will be like to have a king!”

    
¹⁰
 So Samuel told the people what the Lord had said:

    
¹¹
 “If you insist on having a king, he will conscript your sons and make them run before his chariots;
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 some will be made to lead his troops into battle, while others will be slave laborers; they will be forced to plow in the royal fields and harvest his crops without pay, and make his weapons and chariot equipment.
¹³
 He will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him.
¹⁴
 He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his friends.
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 He will take a tenth of your harvest and distribute it to his favorites.
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 He will demand your slaves and the finest of your youth and will use your animals for his personal gain.
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 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
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 You will shed bitter tears because of this king you are demanding, but the Lord will not help you.”

    
¹⁹
 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning.

    
“Even so, we still want a king,” they said,
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 “for we want to be like the nations around us. He will govern us and lead us to battle.”

    
²¹
 So Samuel told the Lord what the people had said,
²²
 and the Lord replied again, “Then do as they say and give them a king.”

    
So Samuel agreed and sent the men home again.

1 Samuel
9

Kish was a rich, influential man from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, grandson of Zeror, great-grandson of Becorath, and great-great-grandson of Aphiah.
²
 His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel. And he was head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land!

    
³
 One day Kish’s donkeys strayed away, so he sent Saul and a servant to look for them.
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 They traveled all through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalisha, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but couldn’t find them anywhere.
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 Finally, after searching in the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant, “Let’s go home; by now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!”

    
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 But the servant said, “I’ve just thought of something! There is a prophet who lives here in this city; he is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true; let’s go and find him, and perhaps he can tell us where the donkeys are.”

    
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 “But we don’t have anything to pay him with,” Saul replied. “Even our food is gone, and we don’t have a thing to give him.”

    
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 “Well,” the servant said, “I have a dollar! We can at least offer it to him and see what happens!”

    
^9-11
 “All right,” Saul agreed, “let’s try it!”

    
So they started into the city where the prophet lived. As they were climbing a hill toward the city, they saw some young girls going out to draw water and asked them if they knew whether the seer was in town. (In those days prophets were called seers. “Let’s go and ask the seer,” people would say, rather than, “Let’s go and ask the prophet,” as we would say now.)

    
^12-13
 “Yes,” they replied, “stay right on this road. He lives just inside the city gates. He has just arrived back from a trip to take part in a public sacrifice up on the hill. So hurry, because he’ll probably be leaving about the time you get there; the guests can’t eat until he arrives and blesses the food.”

    
¹⁴
 So they went into the city, and as they were entering the gates they saw Samuel coming out toward them to go up the hill.
¹⁵
 The Lord had told Samuel the previous day,
¹⁶
 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. You are to anoint him as the leader of my people. He will save them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on them in mercy and have heard their cry.”

    
¹⁷
 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, “That’s the man I told you about! He will rule my people.”

    
¹⁸
 Just then Saul approached Samuel and asked, “Can you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

    
¹⁹
 “I am the seer!” Samuel replied. “Go on up the hill ahead of me and we’ll eat together; in the morning I will tell you what you want to know and send you on your way.
²⁰
 And don’t worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And anyway, you own all the wealth of Israel now!”

    
²¹
 “Pardon me, sir,” Saul replied. “I’m from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of the tribe! You must have the wrong man!”

    
²²
 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into the great hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests.
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 Samuel then instructed the chef to bring Saul the choicest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor.
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 So the chef brought it in and placed it before Saul.

    
“Go ahead and eat it,” Samuel said, “for I was saving it for you, even before I invited these others!”

    
So Saul ate with Samuel.
²⁵
 After the feast, when they had returned to the city, Samuel took Saul up to the porch on the roof and talked with him there.
^26-27
 At daybreak the next morning, Samuel called up to him, “Get up; it’s time you were on your way!”

    
So Saul got up, and Samuel accompanied him to the edge of the city. When they reached the city walls, Samuel told Saul to send the servant on ahead. Then he told him, “I have received a special message for you from the Lord.”