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Day 88: 1 Samuel 11 - 14

Bible in a year reading for day 88.

1 Samuel 11

  1. 11 The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
  2. 12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Bring those men here so we can kill them!”
  3. 13 But Saul ordered, “No one shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.”
  4. 14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”
  5. 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.

1 Samuel 12

  1. 1 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king.
  2. 2 Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.
  3. 3 Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
  4. 4 “You have not wronged us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”
  5. 5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied.
  6. 6 Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
  7. 7 Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.
  8. 8 When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
  9. 9 But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
  10. 10 Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’
  11. 11 So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.
  12. 12 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.
  13. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.
  14. 14 If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well.
  15. 15 But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers.
  16. 16 Now, therefore, stand and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.
  17. 17 Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.”
  18. 18 So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
  19. 19 They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
  20. 20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
  21. 21 Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.
  22. 22 Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
  23. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
  24. 24 Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
  25. 25 But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

1 Samuel 13

  1. 1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.
  2. 2 He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
  3. 3 Then Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”
  4. 4 And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
  5. 5 Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
  6. 6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
  7. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, remained at Gilgal, and all his troops were quaking in fear.
  8. 8 And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul.
  9. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered up the burnt offering.
  10. 10 Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
  11. 11 “What have you done?” Samuel asked. And Saul replied, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me, and that you did not come at the appointed time and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash,
  12. 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will descend upon me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
  13. 13 “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
  14. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.”
  15. 15 Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. And Saul numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.
  16. 16 Now Saul and Jonathan his son and the troops with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash.
  17. 17 And raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three divisions. One headed toward Ophrah in the land of Shual,
  18. 18 another toward Beth-horon, and the third down the border road overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the wilderness.
  19. 19 And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.”
  20. 20 Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles.
  21. 21 The charge was a pim for sharpening a plowshare or mattock, a third of a shekel for sharpening a pitchfork or an axe, and a third of a shekel for repointing an oxgoad.
  22. 22 So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hands of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.
  23. 23 And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.

1 Samuel 14

  1. 1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But Jonathan did not tell his father.
  2. 2 Meanwhile, Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. And the troops who were with him numbered about six hundred men,
  3. 3 including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.
  4. 4 Now there were cliffs on both sides of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh.
  5. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Michmash, and the other to the south toward Geba.
  6. 6 Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
  7. 7 His armor-bearer replied, “Do all that is in your heart. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
  8. 8 “Very well,” said Jonathan, “we will cross over toward these men and show ourselves to them.
  9. 9 If they say, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stay where we are and will not go up to them.
  10. 10 But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we will go up, because this will be our sign that the LORD has delivered them into our hands.”
  11. 11 So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!”
  12. 12 So the men of the outpost called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come on up, and we will teach you a lesson!” “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
  13. 13 So Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. And the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off.
  14. 14 In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men over half an acre of land.
  15. 15 Then terror struck the Philistines in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even those in the outposts and raiding parties trembled. Indeed, the earth quaked and panic spread from God.
  16. 16 Now when Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin looked and saw the troops melting away and scattering in every direction,
  17. 17 Saul said to the troops who were with him, “Call the roll and see who has left us.” And when they had called the roll, they saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.
  18. 18 Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (For at that time it was with the Israelites.)
  19. 19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
  20. 20 Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor.
  21. 21 And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps of the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
  22. 22 When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle.
  23. 23 So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth-aven.
  24. 24 Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food.
  25. 25 Then all the troops entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.
  26. 26 And when they entered the forest and saw the flowing honey, not one of them put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.
  27. 27 Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had charged the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened.
  28. 28 Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.”
  29. 29 “My father has brought trouble to the land,” Jonathan replied. “Just look at how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.
  30. 30 How much better it would have been if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been much greater?”
  31. 31 That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were very faint.
  32. 32 So they rushed greedily to the plunder, taking sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them on the ground and ate meat with the blood still in it.

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