Saul besejrer ammonitterne
1Engang rykkede ammonitterkongen Nahash ud og belejrede den israelitiske by Jabesh i Gilead. Byens indbyggere bad om fred. „Slå os ikke ihjel, så vil vi underkaste os,” bad de.
2„På én betingelse,” svarede Nahash. „Jeg vil stikke højre øje ud på samtlige indbyggere i byen som en hån mod Israel.”
3„Giv os syv dages betænkningstid,” bad Jabesh’ ledere, „så vi kan sende bud til de øvrige stammer. Hvis ingen kommer os til undsætning, går vi ind på dine betingelser.”
4Da sendebudene fra Jabesh nåede frem til Sauls hjemby, Gibea, og fortalte den frygtelige nyhed, brast hele byen i gråd.
5Saul havde været ude at pløje sin mark, men var nu på vej tilbage til byen med sine okser. Da han hørte postyret, spurgte han: „Hvad er der sket? Hvorfor græder I alle sammen?” Så fortalte de ham, hvad sendebudene fra Jabesh havde sagt. 6Da kom Guds Ånd over Saul, og han blev rasende. 7Han tog to okser og skar dem i småstykker, hvorefter han gav budbringerne besked på at bære stykkerne rundt i hele landet med følgende besked: „Sådan vil det gå med jeres okser, hvis I nægter at følge Saul og Samuel i krigen mod ammonitterne.” Og Herren sørgede for, at israelitterne blev bange for Sauls vrede, så de alle som en sluttede op om ham. 8I Bezek holdt han mandtal over sin hær. Der var 30.000 fra Juda og 300.000 fra de øvrige stammer.
9Sendebudene vendte derefter tilbage til Jabesh i Gilead med følgende besked fra Saul: „I morgen når solen står højest på himlen, kommer vi og redder jer.” Indbyggerne jublede, da de fik det at vide, 10og de sagde til ammonitterne: „I morgen overgiver vi os. Så kan I gøre med os, hvad I vil.”
11Men Saul ankom, allerede før det blev lyst næste morgen. Han havde delt sin hær i tre afdelinger og foretog et lynangreb på ammonitterne. Hele formiddagen huggede de ammonitterne ned. De, som overlevede, blev spredt til alle sider. Man fandt ikke to af dem sammen.
12Efter slaget sagde folket til Samuel: „Hvem var det, der sagde, at Saul ikke skulle være konge over os? Kom med dem, så vi kan slå dem ihjel.”
13Men Saul sagde: „Ingen henrettelser i dag, for nu skal vi fejre, at Herren har befriet Israel.”
14Samuel tog nu ordet og sagde til hele folket: „Kom, lad os gå op til Gilgal og alle sammen bekræfte, at Saul skal være Israels konge.”
15Så gik de op til Gilgal, og under en højtidelig ceremoni for Guds ansigt indsatte de officielt Saul som konge over Israel. Ved den lejlighed bragte de takofre til Herren, og Saul og hele folket glædede sig.
Saul Rescues the City of Jabesh Gilead
1Nahash was the king of Ammon. He and his army went up to Jabesh Gilead. They surrounded it and got ready to attack it. All the men of Jabesh spoke to Nahash. They said, “Make a peace treaty with us. Then we’ll be under your control.”
2Nahash, the king of Ammon, replied, “I will make a peace treaty with you. But I’ll do it only on one condition. You must let me put out the right eye of every one of you. I want to bring shame on the whole nation of Israel.”
3The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days to report back to you. We’ll send messengers all through Israel. If no one comes to save us, we’ll hand ourselves over to you.”
4The messengers came to Gibeah of Saul. They reported to the people the terms Nahash had required. Then all the people wept out loud. 5Just then Saul was coming in from the fields. He was walking behind his oxen. He asked, “What’s wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” He was told what the men of Jabesh had said.
6When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully on him. He became very angry. 7He got a pair of oxen and cut them into pieces. He sent the pieces by messengers all through Israel. They announced, “You must follow Saul and Samuel. If you don’t, this is what will happen to your oxen.” The terror of the Lord fell on the people. So all of them came together with one purpose in mind. 8Saul brought his army together at Bezek. There were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 from Judah.
9The messengers who had come were told, “Go back and report to the men of Jabesh Gilead. Tell them, ‘By the hottest time of the day tomorrow, you will be rescued.’ ” The messengers went and reported it to the men of Jabesh. It made those men very happy. 10They said to the people of Ammon, “Tomorrow we’ll hand ourselves over to you. Then you can do to us whatever you like.”
11The next day Saul separated his men into three groups. While it was still dark, they broke into the camp of the Ammonite army. They kept killing the men of Ammon until the hottest time of the day. Those who got away were scattered. There weren’t two of them left together anywhere.
The People Agree to Have Saul as King
12The people said to Samuel, “Who asked, ‘Is Saul going to rule over us?’ Turn these men over to us. We’ll put them to death.”
13But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today! After all, this is the day the Lord has rescued Israel.”
14Then Samuel said to the people, “Come on. Let’s go to Gilgal. There we’ll agree again to have Saul as our king.” 15So all the people went to Gilgal. There, with the Lord as witness, they made Saul their king. There they sacrificed friendship offerings to the Lord. And there Saul and all the Israelites celebrated with great joy.
