1 Samuel 11 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

1Sa 11:1About a month later,[fn] King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead. But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. “Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.

1Sa 11:2

1Sa 11:2“All right,” Nahash said, “but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!”

1Sa 11:3

1Sa 11:3“Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!” replied the elders of Jabesh. “If no one comes to save us, we will agree to your terms.”

1Sa 11:4

1Sa 11:4When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the people about their plight, everyone broke into tears.

1Sa 11:5

1Sa 11:5Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen, and when he returned to town, he asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone crying?” So they told him about the message from Jabesh.

1Sa 11:6

1Sa 11:6Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry.

1Sa 11:7

1Sa 11:7He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent the messengers to carry them throughout Israel with this message: “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who refuses to follow Saul and Samuel into battle!” And the LORD made the people afraid of Saul’s anger, and all of them came out together as one.

1Sa 11:8

1Sa 11:8When Saul mobilized them at Bezek, he found that there were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000[fn] men from Judah.

1Sa 11:9

1Sa 11:9So Saul sent the messengers back to Jabesh-gilead to say, “We will rescue you by noontime tomorrow!” There was great joy throughout the town when that message arrived!

1Sa 11:10

1Sa 11:10The men of Jabesh then told their enemies, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you can do to us whatever you wish.”

1Sa 11:11

1Sa 11:11But before dawn the next morning, Saul arrived, having divided his army into three detachments. He launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and slaughtered them the whole morning. The remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together.

1Sa 11:12

1Sa 11:12Then the people exclaimed to Samuel, “Now where are those men who said, ‘Why should Saul rule over us?’ Bring them here, and we will kill them!”

1Sa 11:13

1Sa 11:13But Saul replied, “No one will be executed today, for today the LORD has rescued Israel!”

1Sa 11:14

1Sa 11:14Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us all go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom.”

1Sa 11:15

1Sa 11:15So they all went to Gilgal, and in a solemn ceremony before the LORD they made Saul king. Then they offered peace offerings to the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites were filled with joy.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(11:1)

As in Greek version; Hebrew lacks About a month later.

(11:8)

Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version read 70,000.

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1 Samuel Chapter 11 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

1 Samuel 11 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

1 Samuel Chapter 11 — Additional Translations:

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