Psalm 146

10 Then Samuel took a flask^(A) of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed^(B) you ruler over his inheritance?^{[a](C) 2} When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb,^(D) at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys^(E) you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried^(F) about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”’

³ “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel^(G) will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread,^(H) which you will accept from them.

⁵ “After that you will go to Gibeah^(I) of God, where there is a Philistine outpost.^(J) As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets^(K) coming down from the high place^(L) with lyres, timbrels,^(M) pipes^(N) and harps^(O) being played before them, and they will be prophesying.^{(P) 6} The Spirit^(Q) of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed^(R) into a different person. ⁷ Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever^(S) your hand^(T) finds to do, for God is with^(U) you.

⁸ “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal.^(V) I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven^(W) days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”

Saul Made King

⁹ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed^(X) Saul’s heart, and all these signs^(Y) were fulfilled^(Z) that day. ¹⁰ When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit^(AA) of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.^{(AB) 11} When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this^(AC) that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”^(AD)

¹² A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”^{(AE) 13} After Saul stopped prophesying,^(AF) he went to the high place.

¹⁴ Now Saul’s uncle^(AG) asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”

“Looking for the donkeys,^(AH)” he said. “But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

¹⁵ Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”

¹⁶ Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys^(AI) had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹ When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:^{(A) 32} ‘I am the God of your fathers,^(B) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’^[a] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.^(C)

³³ “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^{(D) 34} I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’^[b](E)

³⁵ “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’^(F) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ He led them out of Egypt^(G) and performed wonders and signs^(H) in Egypt, at the Red Sea^(I) and for forty years in the wilderness.^(J)

³⁷ “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’^{[c](K) 38} He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel^(L) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;^(M) and he received living words^(N) to pass on to us.^(O)

³⁹ “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^{(P) 40} They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’^{[d](Q) 41} That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.^{(R) 42} But God turned away from them^(S) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.^(T) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: