¹⁶ “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, ^(A)and you shall anoint him to be prince^[a] over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. ^(B)For I have seen^[b] my people, because their cry has come to me.”

Saul Anointed King

10 ^(A)Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head ^(B)and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince^[a] over ^(C)his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince^[b] over his heritage.

The Lord Rejects Saul

15 And Samuel said to Saul, ^(A)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord.

⁷ Then the Lord said, ^(A)“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^(B)taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and ^(C)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^(D)to bring them up out of that land to a ^(E)good and broad land, a land ^(F)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(G)the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold, ^(H)the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the ^(I)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

³ Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(A)I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”

⁴ So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵ And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in council. And he said, “I have a word for you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “To which of us all?” And he said, “To you, O commander.” ⁶ So he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(B)I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.

God Hears Israel's Groaning

^23 (A)During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel ^(B)groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ^(C)Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴ And ^(D)God heard their groaning, and God ^(E)remembered his covenant with ^(F)Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God ^(G)saw the people of Israel—and God ^(H)knew.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. ^16 (A)And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and ^(B)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.