The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then Nachash the 'Amoni came up and set up camp to fight Yavesh-Gil'ad. All the men of Yavesh said to Nachash, "If you will make a treaty with us, we will be your subjects."
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Then about a month after this, Nahash the Ammonite came up and put his forces in position for attacking Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make an agreement with us and we will be your servants.
2 Nachash the 'Amoni replied, "I'll do it on this condition: that all your right eyes be gouged out and thus bring disgrace on all of Isra'el."
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And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make an agreement with you on this condition, that all your right eyes are put out; so that I may make it a cause of shame to all Israel.
3 The leaders of Yavesh answered him, "Give us seven days' grace to send messengers throughout Isra'el's territory; then, if no one will rescue us, we will surrender to you."
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Then the responsible men of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, so that we may send men to every part of Israel: and then, if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you.
4 The messengers came to Giv'ah, where Sha'ul lived, and said these words in the hearing of the people; and all the people cried out and wept.
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So they sent representatives to Saul's town Gibeah, and these gave the news to the people: and all the people gave themselves to weeping.
5 As this was going on, Sha'ul came, following the oxen out of the field. Sha'ul asked, "What's wrong with the people to make them cry like that?"They told him what the men from Yavesh had said.
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Now Saul came from the field, driving the oxen before him; and he said, Why are the people weeping? And they gave him word of what the men of Jabesh had said.
6 The Spirit of God fell on Sha'ul when he heard this; blazing furiously with anger,
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And at their words, the spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he became very angry.
7 he seized a pair of oxen and cut them in pieces; then he sent them throughout the territory of Isra'el with messengers saying, "Anyone who doesn't come and follow Sha'ul and Sh'mu'el, this is what will be done to his oxen!"The fear of ADONAI fell on the people, and they came out with united hearts.
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And he took two oxen and, cutting them up, sent them through all the land of Israel by the hand of runners, saying, If any man does not come out after Saul and Samuel, this will be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord came on the people and they came out like one man.
8 He reviewed them in Bezek; there were 300,000 from the people of Isra'el; the men of Y'hudah numbered 30,000.
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And he had them numbered in Bezek: the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 To the messengers that had come they said, "Tell the men of Yavesh-Gil'ad, 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have been rescued.'"The messengers returned and told the men of Yavesh; they were overjoyed.
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Then he said to the representatives who had come, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is high, you will be made safe. And the representatives came and gave the news to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
10 Then the men of Yavesh said [to Nachash], "Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do with us whatever you like."
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So the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.
11 The next day Sha'ul divided the people into three companies. Then they entered the camp of the 'Amoni during the morning watch and kept attacking until the heat of the day, until those who remained were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
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Now on the day after, Saul put the people into three bands, and in the morning watch they came to the tents of the Ammonites, and they went on attacking them till the heat of the day: and those who were not put to death were put to flight in every direction, so that no two of them were together.
12 The people said to Sh'mu'el, "Who are the men who said, 'Is Sha'ul to rule over us?' Hand them over to us, so we can put them to death."
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And the people said to Samuel, Who was it who said, Is Saul to be our king? give the men up, so that we may put them to death.
13 But Sha'ul said, "No one will be put to death today, because today ADONAI has rescued Isra'el."
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And Saul said, Not a man is to be put to death today: for today the Lord has made Israel safe.
14 Then Sh'mu'el said to the people, "Come, let's go to Gilgal and inaugurate the kingship there.
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Then Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there make the kingdom strong in the hands of Saul.
15 So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal, before ADONAI, they made Sha'ul king. They presented sacrifices as peace offerings before ADONAI there, and there Sha'ul and all the people of Isra'el celebrated with great joy.
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So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal they made Saul king before the Lord; and peace-offerings were offered before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.