1 Samuel 9:1-6

New American Standard Bible

Saul’s Search

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite, a ^[a]valiant mighty man. ² He had a son whose name was Saul, a ^(B)young and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome man than he among the sons of Israel; ^(C)from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had wandered off. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Now take with you one of the servants and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴ So he passed through ^(D)the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^(E)Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^(F)Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjaminites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of ^(G)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let’s return, ^(H)or else my father will stop being concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious about us.” ⁶ But he said to him, “Behold now, there is ^(I)a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^(J)everything that he says definitely comes true. Now let’s go there, ^(K)perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out.”