13. "Don’t be afraid!" the king said to her. "What do you see?"The woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up from the ground."
14. "What does he look like?" Saul asked her."An old man is coming up," she said. "He’s wrapped in a robe." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed low out of respect, nose to the ground.
15. "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" Samuel asked Saul."I’m in deep trouble!" Saul replied. "The Philistines are at war with me, and God has turned away from me and no longer answers me by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do."
16. "Why do you ask me," Samuel said, "since the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy?
17. The Lord has done to you exactly what he spoke through me: The Lord has ripped the kingdom out of your hands and has given it to your friend David.
18. The Lord has done this very thing to you today because you didn’t listen to the Lord’s voice and didn’t carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites.
19. The Lord will now hand over both you and Israel to the Philistines. And come tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me! The Lord will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines."
20. Saul immediately fell full length on the ground, utterly terrified at what Samuel had said. He was weak because he hadn’t eaten anything all day or night.
21. The woman approached Saul, and after seeing how scared he was, she said, "Listen, your servant has obeyed you. I risked my life and did what you told me to do.
22. Now it’s your turn to listen to me, your servant. Let me give you a bit of food. Eat it, then you’ll have the strength to go on your way."
23. But Saul refused. "I can’t eat!" he said. But his servants and the woman urged him to do so, and so he did. He got up off the ground and sat on a couch.
24. The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly butchered it. She took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.
25. She served this to Saul and his servants, and they ate. They got up and left that very night.