Samuel’s Address at Saul’s Coronation

12 Now Samuel said to all Israel: “Indeed I have ^[a]heeded ^(A)your voice in all that you said to me, and ^(B)have made a king over you.

²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(A)whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?”

So all the people shouted and said, ^(B)“Long^[a] live the king!”

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go ^(A)to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(B)before the Lord in Gilgal. ^(C)There they made sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Samuel Anoints Saul

10 Then ^(A)Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, ^(B)and kissed him and said: “Is it not because ^(C)the Lord has anointed you commander over ^(D)His ^[a]inheritance?

¹⁹ Nevertheless the people ^(A)refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, ²⁰ that we also may be ^(B)like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. ²² So the Lord said to Samuel, ^(C)“Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

⁵ and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(A)make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶ But the thing ^(B)displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel ^(C)prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for ^(D)they have not rejected you, but ^(E)they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.