⁹ When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. ¹⁰ When they came to ^(A)Gibeah,^[a] behold, a group of prophets met him, ^(B)and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹ And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? ^(C)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹² And a man of the place answered, ^(D)“And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, ^(E)“Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

^14 (F)Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, ^(G)“To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵ And Saul's uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” ¹⁶ And Saul said to his uncle, ^(H)“He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

Saul Proclaimed King

¹⁷ Now Samuel called the people together ^(I)to the Lord ^(J)at Mizpah. ¹⁸ And he said to the people of Israel, ^(K)“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ^19 (L)But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore ^(M)present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”

²⁰ Then Samuel ^(N)brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot;^[b] and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. ^22 (O)So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” ²³ Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, ^(P)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(Q)whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, ^(R)“Long live the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people ^(S)the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. ²⁶ Saul also went to his home ^(T)at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷ But some ^(U)worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.