But if you continue to do evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

Saul replied, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me.

The Lord attacked ¹  the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of ²  both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. ³ 

“But they forgot the Lord their God, so he gave ¹  them into the hand of Sisera, the general in command of Hazor’s ²  army, ³  and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

The Lord sent you on a campaign ¹  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ²  have destroyed them.’

These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together ¹  in the field.

Riding on her donkey, she went down under cover of the mountain. David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she encountered them.

Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. ¹  Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you ²  from the hand of the Philistines.”

Just as they have done ¹  from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you.

If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him ¹  and not rebelling against what he says, ²  and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well. ³ 

Then Samuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed sinned. ¹  However, don’t turn aside from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart.

Then he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” The army replied to Saul, “Do whatever you think is best.”

He took his staff in his hand, picked out five smooth stones from the stream, placed them in the pouch ¹  of his shepherd’s bag, took his sling in hand, and approached the Philistine.

This failure on your part isn’t good! ¹  As surely as the Lord lives, you people who have not protected your lord, the Lord’s chosen one, are as good as dead! ²  Now look where the king’s spear and the jug of water that was by his head are!”

all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul’s corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went ¹  to Jabesh, where they burned them.