Study Desk

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."

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.

Now, stand there, and I will remind you of all the good things the Lord did for you and your ancestors.

"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.

Now here is the king you chose, the one you asked for. The Lord has put him over you.

It is now the time of the wheat harvest. 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."

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."

For his own sake, the Lord won't leave his people. Instead, he was pleased to make you his own people.

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.

You must honor the Lord and truly serve him with all your heart. Remember the wonderful things he did for you!

Then I thought, ‘The Philistines will come against me at Gilgal, and I haven't asked for the Lord 's approval.' So I forced myself to offer the whole burnt offering."

but now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has looked for the kind of man he wants. He has appointed him to rule his people, because you haven't obeyed his command."

The Philistine blacksmiths charged about one-fourth of an ounce of silver for sharpening plows and hoes. And they charged one-eighth of an ounce of silver for sharpening picks, axes, and the sticks used to guide oxen.

But if they say, ‘Come up to us,' we will climb up, and the Lord will let us defeat them. This will be the sign for us."

The men of Israel were miserable that day because Saul had made an oath for all of them. He had said, "No one should eat food before evening and before I finish defeating my enemies. If he does, he will be cursed!" So no Israelite soldier ate food.

Then one of the soldiers told Jonathan, "Your father made an oath for all the soldiers. He said any man who eats today will be cursed! That's why they are so weak."

Jonathan said, "My father has made trouble for the land! See how much better I feel after just tasting a little of this honey!

It would have been much better for the men to eat the food they took from their enemies today. We could have killed many more Philistines!"

But the soldiers said to Saul, "Must Jonathan die? Never! He is responsible for saving Israel today! As surely as the Lord lives, not even a hair of his head will fall to the ground! Today Jonathan fought against the Philistines with God's help!" So the army saved Jonathan, and he did not die.

And Samuel never saw Saul again the rest of his life, but he was sad for Saul. And the Lord was very sorry he had made Saul king of Israel.