1 Samuel 11:4-11 ▼

4 Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news to the people; and all the people raised their voices and wept aloud.

5 Now Saul was coming out of the field behind the oxen, and he said, “What is the matter with the people that they are weeping?” So they told him about the report of the men of Jabesh.

6 The Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became extremely angry.

7 He took a team of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out to follow Saul and Samuel, the same shall be done to his oxen.” Then fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out [united] as one man [with one purpose].

8 He assembled and counted them at Bezek; and the sons of Israel numbered 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000.

9 They said to the messengers who had come, “You shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have help [against the Ammonites].’” So the messengers came and reported this to the men of Jabesh; and they were overjoyed.

10 So the men of Jabesh said [to Nahash the Ammonite], “Tomorrow we will come out to you [to surrender], and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”

11 The next morning Saul put the men into three companies; and they entered the [Ammonites’] camp during the [darkness of the early] morning watch and killed the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and the survivors were scattered, and no two of them were left together.