The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified.<n id="1" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The Philistines assembled all their troops<n id="1" /> at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel.

David retrieved everything the Amalekites had taken; he<n id="1" /> also rescued his two wives.

They placed Saul&#8217;s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths<n id="1" /> and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.p>

<p class="bodytext">When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh; then they fasted for seven days.p>

<p class="bodytext">So her husband Elkanah said to her, &#8220;Do what you think best.<n id="1" /> Stay until you have weaned him. May the <sc>Lordsc> fulfill his promise.&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="bodytext">So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

<p class="bodytext">Now Eli was very old when he heard about everything that his sons used to do to all the people of Israel<n id="1" /> and how they used to have sex with<n id="2" /> the women who were stationed at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

<p class="bodytext">When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli<n id="1" /> fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he<n id="2" /> was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.p>

<p class="bodytext">So they assembled<n id="1" /> all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, &#8220;What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?&#8221; They replied, &#8220;The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.&#8221; So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.p>

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.p> <p class="bodytext">But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying, &#8220;They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here<n id="1" /> to kill our<n id="2" /> people!&#8221;

So they assembled<n id="1" /> all the leaders of the Philistines and said, &#8220;Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won&#8217;t kill us<n id="2" /> and our<n id="3" /> people!&#8221; The terror<n id="4" /> of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.<n id="5" />

You should make images of the sores and images of the mice<n id="1" /> that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the people<n id="1" /> of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark of the <sc>Lord;sc> they brought it to the house of Abinadab located on the hill. They consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="bodytext">The donkeys of Saul&#8217;s father Kish wandered off,<n id="1" /> so Kish said to his son Saul, &#8220;Take one of the servants with you and go<n id="2" /> look for the donkeys.&#8221;<n id="3" />

The servant went on to answer Saul, &#8220;Look, I happen to have in my hand a quarter shekel<n id="1" /> of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us where we should go.&#8221;<n id="2" />

&#8220;At this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. You must consecrate<n id="1" /> him as a leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked with favor on my people. Their cry has reached me!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work.<n id="1" /> He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the <sc>Lordsc>. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.

<p class="bodytext">The next day Saul placed the people in three groups. They went to the Ammonite camp during the morning watch and struck them<n id="1" /> down until the hottest part of the day. The survivors scattered; no two of them remained together.p>