7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the Lord’s Holy Box up the hill to the house of Abinadab the priest. They performed a special ceremony to prepare Abinadab’s son, Eleazar, to guard the Lord’s Holy Box. ² The Box stayed there at Kiriath Jearim for a long time.

The Lord Saves the Israelites

Twenty years passed while the Holy Box was in Kiriath Jearim, and the Israelites began to follow the Lord again. ³ Samuel told the Israelites, “If you are really coming back to the Lord with all your heart, you must throw away 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 threw away their statues of Baal and Ashtoreth. The Israelites served only the Lord.

⁵ Samuel said, “All Israel must meet at Mizpah. I will pray to the Lord for you.”

⁶ The Israelites met together at Mizpah. They got water and poured it out before the Lord. In this way they began a time of fasting. They did not eat any food that day, and they confessed their sins. They said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel served as a judge of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah, they went to fight them. The Israelites were frightened when they heard the Philistines were coming ⁸ and said to Samuel, “Don’t stop praying to the Lord our God for us. Ask him to save us from the Philistines.”

⁹ Samuel took a baby lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He prayed to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered his prayer. ¹⁰ The Philistines came closer and closer to fight the Israelites while Samuel offered the sacrifice. But then, the Lord caused a loud clap of thunder to hit near the Philistines. The thunder scared the Philistines, and they became confused, so the Israelites defeated them in battle. ¹¹ The men of Israel ran out of Mizpah and chased the Philistines all the way to Beth Car. They killed Philistine soldiers all along the way.

Peace Comes to Israel

¹² After this Samuel set up a special stone to help people remember what God did. Samuel put the stone between Mizpah and Shen^[a] and named the stone “Stone of Help.”^[b] Samuel said, “The Lord helped us all the way to this place.”

¹³ The Philistines were defeated and did not enter the land of Israel again. The Lord was against the Philistines during the rest of Samuel’s life. ¹⁴ The Philistines had taken some cities from Israel, but the Israelites won them back. They recovered those cities throughout the Philistine area, from Ekron to Gath.

There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ Samuel led Israel all his life. ¹⁶ He went from place to place judging the Israelites. Every year he traveled around the country. He went to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and he judged the Israelites in all these places. ¹⁷ But Samuel always went back to his home in Ramah. There he built an altar to the Lord and judged Israel.

Israel Asks for a King

8 When Samuel was old, he appointed his sons to be judges for Israel. ² Samuel’s first son was named Joel. His second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba. ³ But Samuel’s sons did not live the same way he did. Joel and Abijah accepted bribes. They took money secretly and changed their decisions in court. They cheated people in court. ⁴ So all the elders of Israel met together and went to Ramah to meet with Samuel. ⁵ The elders said to Samuel, “You’re old, and your sons don’t live right. They are not like you. Now, give us a king to rule us like all the other nations.”

⁶ So the elders asked for a king to lead them. Samuel thought this was a bad idea, so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ The Lord told Samuel, “Do what the people tell you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me. They don’t want me to be their king. ⁸ They are doing the same thing they have always done. I took them out of Egypt, but they left me and served other gods. They are doing the same to you. ⁹ So listen to the people and do what they say. But give them a warning. Tell the people what a king will do to them. Tell them how a king rules people.”

¹⁰ Those people asked for a king. So Samuel told them everything the Lord said. ¹¹ Samuel said, “If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take away your sons and force them to serve him. He will force them to be soldiers—they must fight from his chariots and become horse soldiers in his army. Your sons will become guards running in front of the king’s chariot.

¹² “A king will force your sons to become soldiers. He will choose which of your sons will be officers over 1000 men and which will be officers over 50 men.

“A king will force some of your sons to plow his fields and gather his harvest. He will force some of your sons to make weapons for war and to make things for his chariots.

¹³ “A king will take your daughters and force some of them to make perfume for him and some to cook and bake for him.

¹⁴ “A king will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves. He will take them from you and give them to his officers. ¹⁵ He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes, and he will give them to his officers and servants.

¹⁶ “A king will take your men and women servants. He will take your best cattle^[c] and your donkeys. He will use them all for his own work. ¹⁷ He will take one-tenth of your flocks.

“And you yourselves will become slaves of this king. ¹⁸ When that time comes, you will cry because of the king you chose. But the Lord won’t answer you at that time.”

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 lead us. He will go before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ Samuel listened to the people and then repeated their words to the Lord. ²² The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

Then Samuel told the Israelites, “You will have a king. Now go home.”

Saul Looks for His Father’s Donkeys

9 Kish was an important man from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel. Abiel was the son of Zeror. Zeror was the son of Becorath. Becorath was the son of Aphiah, a man from Benjamin. ² Kish had a son named Saul, who was a handsome young man. There was no one more handsome than Saul. He stood a head taller than any other man in Israel.

³ One day Kish’s donkeys got lost. So he said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ Saul went to look for the donkeys. He walked through the hills of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha. But Saul and the servant could not find Kish’s donkeys. So they went to the area around Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there either. Then Saul traveled through the land of Benjamin, but he and the servant still could not find the donkeys.

⁵ Finally, Saul and the servant came to the town named Zuph. Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go back. My father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

⁶ But the servant answered, “A man of God is in this town. People respect him. Everything he says comes true, so let’s go into town. Maybe the man of God will tell us where we should go next.”

⁷ Saul said to his servant, “Sure, we can go into town, but what can we give to him? We have no gift to give the man of God. Even the food in our bags is gone. What can we give him?”

⁸ Again the servant answered Saul. “Look, I have a little bit of money.^[d] Let’s give it to the man of God. Then he will tell us where we should go.”

^9-11 Saul said to his servant, “That is a good idea. Let’s go.” So they went to the town where the man of God was.

Saul and the servant were walking up the hill toward town when they met some young women on the road. The young women were coming out to get water. Saul and the servant asked the young women, “Is the seer here?” (In the past, people in Israel called a prophet a “seer.” So if they wanted to ask something from God, they would say, “Let’s go to the seer.”)

¹² The young women answered, “Yes, the seer is here. He is just up the road. He came to town today. Some people are meeting together today to share in a fellowship offering at the place for worship.^{[e] 13} So go into town and you will find him. If you hurry, you can catch him before he goes up to eat at the place for worship. The seer blesses the sacrifice, so the people won’t begin eating until he gets there. If you hurry, you can find him.”

¹⁴ Saul and the servant started walking up the hill to town. Just as they came into town, they saw Samuel coming out of town, walking toward them. He was on his way to the place for worship.

¹⁵ The day before, the Lord had told Samuel, ¹⁶ “At this time tomorrow I will send a man to you. He will be from the tribe of Benjamin. You must anoint him and make him the new leader over my people Israel. This man will save my people from the Philistines. I have seen my people suffering,^[f] and I have heard their cries for help.”

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

¹⁸ Saul went up to a man near the gate to ask directions. This man just happened to be Samuel. Saul said, “Excuse me. Could you tell me where the seer’s house is?”

¹⁹ Samuel answered, “I am the seer. Go on up ahead of me to the place for worship. You and your servant will eat with me today. I will let you go home tomorrow morning. I will answer all your questions. ²⁰ And don’t worry about the donkeys that you lost three days ago. They have been found. Now, there is something that everyone in Israel is looking for and that something is you and your family.”

²¹ Saul answered, “But I am a member of the tribe of Benjamin. It is the smallest tribe in Israel. And my family is the smallest in the tribe of Benjamin. Why do you say Israel wants me?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant to the eating area. About 30 people had been invited to eat together and share the sacrifice. Samuel gave Saul and his servant the most important place at the table. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the meat I gave you. It is the share I told you to save.”

²⁴ The cook brought out the thigh^[g] and put it on the table in front of Saul. Samuel said, “Eat the meat that was put in front of you. It was saved for you for this special time when I called the people together.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ After they finished eating, they came down from the place for worship and went back to town. Samuel made a bed for Saul on the roof, ²⁶ and Saul went to sleep.^[h]

Early the next morning, Samuel shouted to Saul on the roof and said, “Get up. I will send you on your way.” Saul got up and went out of the house with Samuel.

²⁷ Saul, his servant, and Samuel were walking together near the edge of town. Samuel said to Saul, “Tell your servant to go on ahead of us. I have a message for you from God.” So the servant walked ahead of them.