¹⁶ “Tomorrow about this time ^(A)I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, ^(B)and you shall anoint him ^[a]commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have ^(C)looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”

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?

⁷ And the Lord said: ^(A)“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry ^(B)because of their taskmasters, ^(C)for I know their ^[a]sorrows. ⁸ So ^(D)I have come down to ^(E)deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land ^(F)to a good and large land, to a land ^(G)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(H)the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, behold, ^(I)the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the ^(J)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

Saul Spares King Agag

15 Samuel also said to Saul, ^(A)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.

²³ Now it happened ^(A)in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel ^(B)groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^(C)their cry came up to God because of the bondage. ²⁴ So God ^(D)heard their groaning, and God ^(E)remembered His ^(F)covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ And God ^(G)looked upon the children of Israel, and God ^(H)acknowledged them.

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

⁴ So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. ⁵ And when he arrived, there were the captains of the army sitting; and he said, “I have a message for you, Commander.”

Jehu said, “For which one of us?”

And he said, “For you, Commander.” ⁶ Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, ^(B)“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; ^(A)and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint ^(B)Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And ^(C)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.