Saul Is Acclaimed as King

¹⁷ Samuel called the people together for a religious gathering at Mizpah ¹⁸ and said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I brought you out of Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all the other peoples who were oppressing you. ¹⁹ I am your God, the one who rescues you from all your troubles and difficulties, but today you have rejected me and have asked me to give you a king. Very well, then, gather yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by clans.’”

²⁰ Then Samuel had each tribe come forward, and the Lord picked the tribe of Benjamin. ²¹ Then Samuel had the families of the tribe of Benjamin come forward, and the family of Matri was picked out. Then the men of the family of Matri came forward,^[a] and Saul son of Kish was picked out. They looked for him, but when they could not find him, ²² they asked the Lord, “Is there still someone else?”

The Lord answered, “Saul is over there, hiding behind the supplies.”

²³ So they ran and brought Saul out to the people, and they could see that he was a foot taller than anyone else. ²⁴ Samuel said to the people, “Here is the man the Lord has chosen! There is no one else among us like him.”

All the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵ Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book, which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent everyone home. ²⁶ Saul also went back home to Gibeah. Some powerful men,^[b] whose hearts God had touched, went with him. ²⁷ But some worthless people said, “How can this fellow do us any good?” They despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts.