8. Saul counted them at Bezek. There were 300,000 Israelites and 30,000 men from Judah.
9. He told the messengers who had come, “Tell this to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’ ” So the messengers told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.
10. Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want to us.”
11. The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions. During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
12. Afterward, the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Give us those men so we can kill them! ”
13. But Saul ordered, “No one will be executed this day, for today the Lord has provided deliverance in Israel.”
14. Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal, so we can renew the kingship there.”
15. So all the people went to Gilgal, and there in the Lord’s presence they made Saul king. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence, and Saul and all the men of Israel greatly rejoiced.