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.
Saul Liberta a Cidade de Jabes
1O amonita Naás avançou contra a cidade de Jabes-Gileade e a cercou. E os homens de Jabes lhe disseram: “Faça um tratado conosco, e nos sujeitaremos a você”.
2Contudo, Naás, o amonita, respondeu: “Só farei um tratado com vocês sob a condição de que eu arranque o olho direito de cada um de vocês e assim humilhe todo o Israel”.
3As autoridades de Jabes lhe disseram: “Dê-nos sete dias para que possamos enviar mensageiros a todo o Israel; se ninguém vier nos socorrer, nós nos renderemos”.
4Quando os mensageiros chegaram a Gibeá, cidade de Saul, e relataram essas coisas ao povo, todos choraram em alta voz. 5Naquele momento, Saul estava trazendo o gado do campo e perguntou: “O que há com o povo? Por que estão chorando?” Então lhe contaram o que os homens de Jabes tinham dito.
6Quando Saul ouviu isso, o Espírito de Deus apoderou-se dele, e ele ficou furioso. 7Apanhou dois bois, cortou-os em pedaços e, por meio dos mensageiros, enviou os pedaços a todo o Israel, proclamando: “Isto é o que acontecerá aos bois de quem não seguir Saul e Samuel”. Então o temor do Senhor caiu sobre o povo, e eles vieram unânimes. 8Quando Saul os reuniu em Bezeque, havia trezentos mil homens de Israel e trinta mil de Judá.
9E disseram aos mensageiros de Jabes: “Digam aos homens de Jabes-Gileade: ‘Amanhã, na hora mais quente do dia, haverá libertação para vocês’ ”. Quando relataram isso aos habitantes de Jabes, eles se alegraram. 10Então, os homens de Jabes disseram aos amonitas: “Amanhã nós nos renderemos a vocês, e poderão fazer conosco o que quiserem”.
11No dia seguinte, Saul dividiu seus soldados em três grupos; entraram no acampamento amonita na alta madrugada e os mataram até a hora mais quente do dia. Aqueles que sobreviveram se dispersaram de tal modo que não ficaram dois juntos.
Saul Confirmado como Rei
12Então o povo disse a Samuel: “Quem foi que perguntou: ‘Será que Saul vai reinar sobre nós?’ Traze-nos esses homens, e nós os mataremos”.
13Saul, porém, disse: “Hoje ninguém será morto, pois neste dia o Senhor trouxe libertação a Israel”.
14Então Samuel disse ao povo: “Venham, vamos a Gilgal e reafirmemos ali o reino”. 15Assim, todo o povo foi a Gilgal e proclamou Saul como rei na presença do Senhor. Ali ofereceram sacrifícios de comunhão11.15 Ou de paz ao Senhor, e Saul e todos os israelitas tiveram momentos de grande alegria.
