Saul Chosen as King

¹Now there was a Benjamite, a powerful man, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.

²And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the people.

³One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.”

⁴So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find the donkeys. He and the servant went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they went through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them.

⁵When they reached the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, “Come, let us go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

⁶“Look,” said the servant, “in this city there is a man of God who is highly respected; everything he says surely comes to pass. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.”

⁷“If we do go,” Saul replied, “what can we give the man? For the bread in our packs is gone, and there is no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

⁸The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have here in my hand a quarter shekel of silver.I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.”

⁹(Formerly in Israel, a man on his way to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.)

¹⁰“Good,” said Saul to his servant. “Come, let us go.” So they set out for the city where the man of God was.

¹¹And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”

¹²“Yes, he is ahead of you,” they answered. “Hurry now, for today he has come to the city because the people have a sacrifice on the high place.

¹³As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will eat. Go up at once; you will find him.”

¹⁴So Saul and his servant went up toward the city, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

¹⁵Now on the day before Saul’s arrival, the LORD had revealed to Samuel,

¹⁶“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him ruler over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”

¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke; he shall rule over My people.”

¹⁸Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

¹⁹“I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. And when I send you off in the morning, I will tell you all that is in your heart.

²⁰As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them, for they have been found. And upon whom is all the desire of Israel, if not upon you and all your father’s house?”

²¹Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing to me?”

²²Then Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them into the hall, and seated them in the place of honor among those who were invited—about thirty in all.

²³And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you and told you to set aside.”

²⁴So the cook picked up the leg and what was attached to it and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said, “Here is what was kept back. It was set apart for you. Eat, for it has been kept for you for this occasion, from the time I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul dined with Samuel that day.

²⁵And after they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof of his house.

²⁶They got up early in the morning, and just before dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way!” So Saul got ready, and both he and Samuel went outside together.

²⁷As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I will reveal to you the word of God.” So the servant went on.

The Song at the Sea

¹Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:“I will sing to the LORD,for He is highly exalted.The horse and riderHe has thrown into the sea.

²The LORD is my strength and my song,and He has become my salvation.He is my God, and I will praise Him,my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

³The LORD is a warrior,the LORD is His name.

⁴Pharaoh’s chariots and armyHe has cast into the sea;the finest of his officersare drowned in the Red Sea.

⁵The depths have covered them;they sank there like a stone.

⁶Your right hand, O LORD,is majestic in power;Your right hand, O LORD,has shattered the enemy.

⁷You overthrew Your adversariesby Your great majesty.You unleashed Your burning wrath;it consumed them like stubble.

⁸At the blast of Your nostrilsthe waters piled up;like a wall the currents stood firm;the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹The enemy declared,‘I will pursue, I will overtake.I will divide the spoils;I will gorge myself on them.I will draw my sword;my hand will destroy them.’

¹⁰But You blew with Your breath,and the sea covered them.They sank like leadin the mighty waters.

¹¹Who among the gods is like You, O LORD?Who is like You—majestic in holiness,revered with praises,performing wonders?

¹²You stretched out Your right hand,and the earth swallowed them up.

¹³With loving devotionYou will leadthe people You have redeemed;with Your strength You will guide themto Your holy dwelling.

¹⁴The nations will hear and tremble;anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.

¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed;trembling will seize the leaders of Moab;those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,

¹⁶and terror and dread will fall on them.By the power of Your armthey will be as still as a stoneuntil Your people pass by, O LORD,until the people You have bought pass by.

¹⁷You will bring them in and plant themon the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling,the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.

¹⁸The LORD will reign forever and ever!”

¹⁹For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

²⁰Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

²¹And Miriam sang back to them:“Sing to the LORD,for He is highly exalted;the horse and riderHe has thrown into the sea.”

The Waters of Marah

²²Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water.

²³And when they came to Marah,they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)

²⁴So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

²⁵And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened.There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,

²⁶saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

²⁷Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.

Shemaiah’s Prophecy

¹When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

²But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God:

³“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin

⁴that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’”So they listened to the words of the LORD and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies Judah

⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built up cities for defense in Judah.

⁶He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,

⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.

¹¹He strengthened their fortifications and put officers in them, with supplies of food, oil, and wine.

¹²He also put shields and spears in all the cities and strengthened them greatly. So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

Jeroboam Forsakes the Priests and Levites

¹³Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam.

¹⁴For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.

¹⁵And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.

¹⁶Those from every tribe of Israel who had set their hearts to seek the LORD their God followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸And Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.

¹⁹She bore sons to him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²²Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king.

²³Rehoboam also acted wisely by dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and sought many wives for them.

The Perils of the Pilgrim

¹Why, O LORD, do You stand far off?Why do You hide in times of trouble?

²In pride the wicked pursue the needy;let them be caught in the schemes they devise.

³For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart;he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

⁴In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him;in all his schemes there is no God.

⁵He is secure in his ways at all times;Your lofty judgments are far from him;he sneers at all his foes.

⁶He says to himself, “I will not be moved;from age to age I am free of distress.”

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit,and violence;trouble and malice are under his tongue.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages;in ambush he slays the innocent;his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.

⁹He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket;he lurks to seize the oppressed;he catches the lowly in his net.

¹⁰They are crushed and beaten down;the helpless fall prey to his strength.

¹¹He says to himself, “God has forgotten;He hides His face and never sees.”

¹²Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God!Do not forget the helpless.

¹³Why has the wicked man renounced God?He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”

¹⁴But You have regarded trouble and grief;You see to repay it by Your hand.The victim entrusts himself to You;You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;call him to account for his wickednessuntil none is left to be found.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever;the nations perish from His land.

¹⁷You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble;You will strengthen their hearts.You will incline Your ear,

¹⁸to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed,that the men of the earthmay strike terror no more.