Samuel told the people, I have done what you asked and put a king over you. So here is your king before you.

 

 

 

 

 

I am old and gray. Tell me now if I have done you any wrong or cheated any of you. I will make it right now.

 

 

 

 

 

They said, You have not done us wrong or cheated us.

Samuel said, Let me tell you all the good things God has done for your fathers. When your fathers cried to the Lord and he sent Moses and Aaron to lead them out of Egypt and brought them to this place to live.

When your fathers forgot the Lord your God, He sold them into the enemies hand who fought against them.

When they cried out to the Lord and said, We have sinned because we have turned our backs on the Lord and bowed down to other gods. But deliver us out of the hand of our enemies and we will bow down only to You.

Then the Lord sent saviors to deliver them out of the hand of their enemies so that they lived safe and happy.

But now when this enemy, Nahash, came, You said, Give us a king, when the Lord was your king. So look now, at this king you have chosen, the king you wanted.

 

 

 

Now fear the Lord and serve only Him, both you and the king who reigns over you.

 

 

 

 

 

If you do not obey the Lord, His hand will be against you.

 

 

 

Watch and see this great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. Today is the wheat harvest.

 

But I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain so that you will see what a great bad thing you have done in asking for a king.

 

 

 

 

So Samuel called to the Lord and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

 

The people said, Samuel, pray for us so that we don’t die because we added this sin to all the other bad things we have done.

Samuel said, Don’t be afraid, but stay close to the Lord your God and hold tight to Him. Do not turn away to empty nothings that can do nothing.

 

 

The Lord will not turn away from His people because it pleased Him to make you His own.

I will never stop praying for you but I will teach you the good and right way. Only think about how great and good God is and remember all the great things He has done for you.

 

 

 

 

If you do bad, it will eat you up, both you and your king.

 

King Saul ruled over the children of Israel for 1 year. After he reigned 2 years he kept 3000 soldiers and sent the rest back to their homes.

 

Saul’s son, Jonathan, attacked an enemy stronghold. When Israel’s enemies, the Philistines, heard about it, Saul gathered the soldiers again because the Philistines were coming to make war with Israel.

 

 

There were as many enemy soldiers as the sand at the seashore.

When Israel saw that they were in trouble they ran and hid in caves and rocks and bushes and pits and high places. Some even crossed the Jordan river.

 

Saul waited for Samuel for 7 days at the place they were supposed to meet.

 

 

 

 

Then when Samuel was late, Saul disobeyed God and made an offering himself, instead of waiting for Samuel and the priest to do it.

 

 

 

When Samuel got there he said to Saul, What have you done?

 

 

Saul answered, I was afraid the Philistines would come and attack us here and all the soldiers have left.

 

Samuel told him, You have done a very foolish thing. You did not keep to what the Lord said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord wanted to set up your kingdom forever, but now you will only be king for a while.

 

 

 

 

The Lord has found a man who will do everything in the Lord’s heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the Lord will make him ruler over His people because you did not do all that the Lord said.

 

 

 

 

Then Samuel went away from Saul.

Enemy soldiers came raiding and stealing from Israel and Israel’s people had no weapons because the Philistines wouldn’t let them.

 

 

They only had farm tools. Only Saul and his son, Jonathan had a sword and a spear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saul did another bad thing: Jonathan took the boy who carried his weapons and went to attack the enemies.

 

 

 

 

He said, God is so strong that He can win against their whole army with just the two of us or with our whole army.

 

 

God fought with them and they won a victory over the Philistines because they trusted God.

But Saul said, Cursed is anyone who eats anything today before I have victory over my enemies. He will be put to death.

 

The army fought hard and were really hungry but didn’t eat anything because of Saul’s curse.

 

 

When they came into the woods, there was honey flowing on the ground. The hungry men didn’t dare eat any.

But Jonathan had been busy fighting the enemies when Saul made the curse, and he didn’t know about it. So he ate some.

 

 

 

When God didn’t answer Saul’s questions, Saul did a test to show who had sinned. And it showed Jonathan.

 

 

So Saul was going to kill his own son, Jonathan, when the people stopped him.They said, Shall we kill the one who worked this great victory today? He worked with God today. So they saved Jonathan from being killed.