Jabesh-gilead

1 Chronicles

The Fall of a King

Israel's first king meets his end on Mount Gilboa, and the Chronicler doesn't soften it. Saul's death isn't just a military defeat — it's the closing of a chapter that had to close before David's could begin.

1 Samuel

The Day Saul Became King for Real

An Ammonite king threatens to gouge out the eyes of an entire city. The news reaches Saul, who goes from plowing a field to rallying an army in one afternoon. What follows is a decisive victory, a surprising act of mercy, and the moment Israel finally gets behind their king.

1 Samuel

The Fall of the First King

Israel's first king meets his end on Mount Gilboa — and the aftermath is as brutal as you'd expect. But in the middle of the wreckage, a group of men from a town Saul once saved risk everything to honor him one last time.

2 Samuel

A Kingdom Divided Before It Even Starts

David finally gets his crown — but only over half the nation. Saul's old general installs a puppet king over the rest of Israel, and what starts as a "friendly competition" between soldiers turns into a brutal civil war that costs one young man everything.

2 Samuel

Old Debts and Giant Killers

A three-year famine exposes an old national sin, and the cost of making it right is staggering. A grieving mother refuses to leave her sons' bodies. And David's warriors take on the last of the Philistine giants — including one with twenty-four fingers and toes.

Judges

Right in Their Own Eyes

The civil war against Benjamin is over, but the fallout is just beginning. Trapped by their own rash oaths, the Israelites come up with two increasingly horrifying plans to keep a tribe from vanishing — and the final verse of the entire book tells you exactly how they got here.