Study Desk

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against the Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel.

But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.

But the matter was displeasing to Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us," so Samuel prayed to Yahweh.

Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

So you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but Yahweh will not answer you on that day!"

However, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel and they said, "No, but there must be a king over us,

So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim; he passed through the land of Shalisha but they did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim but they were not there. He passed through the land of Benjamin but did not find them.

But he said to him, "Look, a man of God is in this town, and the man is honored. All that he says certainly comes true. So then let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about our journey on which we have gone."

So Saul said to his servant, "Look, we may go, but what should we bring to the man? For the bread is gone from our bags, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have with us?"

Then Saul said to his uncle, "He told us for certain that the female donkeys had been found." But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingship of which Samuel had spoken.

But you today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, ‘No, but you must appoint a king over us!' So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans."

Then he brought near the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, and the family of Matri was selected by lot. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, and they sought him, but he could not be found.

However, some worthless men said, "How can this man deliver us?" So they despised him and brought no gift to him, but he kept silent.

But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "On this condition I will make a treaty with you, by gouging out the right eye of each of you, so that I can make it a disgrace for all Israel."

But Saul said, "No one will be put to death on this day, because today Yahweh has provided deliverance in Israel."

And so then here is the king walking about before you. Now I am old and gray, but my sons (look at them!) are with you; and I have walked about before you from my youth until this day.

But they forgot Yahweh their God, so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the hosts of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

So they cried out to Yahweh and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hand of our enemies and we will serve you!'

But, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you rebel against what Yahweh says, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you as it was against your ancestors.

And Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear! You have done all this evil; only do not turn aside from following Yahweh. But you must serve Yahweh with all your heart.