1 Samuel 11

¹And Nahash the Ammonite went up and encamped against Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, 'Cut a covenant with us, and we will serve you.'

²And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, 'On this condition I will cut a covenant with you: by gouging out every right eye among you, and I will make it a reproach upon all Israel.'

³And the elders of Jabesh said to him, 'Grant us seven days' respite, and let us send messengers throughout all the territory of Israel; and if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.'

⁴And the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke the words in the hearing of the people, and all the people lifted their voices and wept.

⁵Now behold, Saul was coming after the cattle from the field, and Saul said, 'What is the matter with the people, that they weep?' And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

⁶And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger burned greatly.

⁷And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, 'Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, thus shall be done to his oxen.' And the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.

⁸And he mustered them at Bezek, and the men of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

⁹And they said to the messengers who had come, 'Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: Tomorrow there will be deliverance for you all when the sun grows hot.' And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.

¹⁰And the men of Jabesh said, 'Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us according to all that is good in your eyes.'

¹¹And it came to pass on the next day that Saul arranged the people into three companies, and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹²And the people said to Samuel, 'Who is the one who said, "Shall Saul reign over us?" Give the men over, and we will put them to death.'

¹³But Saul said, 'No man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked deliverance in Israel.'

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, 'Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.'

¹⁵And all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord at Gilgal, and there they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord; and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly there.