1. Samuel 11
- 1Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash: `Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.'
- 2And Nahash the Ammonite said unto them: 'On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.'
- 3And the elders of Jabesh said unto him: 'Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to deliver us, we will come out to thee.'
- 4Then came the messengers to Gibeath-shaul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people; and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
- 5And, behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said: 'What aileth the people that they weep?' And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.
- 6And the spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly.
- 7And he took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying: 'Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen.' And the dread of the LO(in der Quelle möglicherweise unvollständig)
- 8And he numbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
- 9And they said unto the messengers that came: 'Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead: To-morrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have deliverance.' And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
- 10And the men of Jabesh said: 'To-morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.'
- 11And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and smote the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and it came to pass, that they that remained were scattered, so th(in der Quelle möglicherweise unvollständig)
- 12And the people said unto Samuel: 'Who is he that said: Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.'
- 13And Saul said: 'There shall not a man be put to death this day; for to-day the LORD hath wrought deliverance in Israel.'
- 14Then said Samuel to the people: 'Come and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.'
- 15And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
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