10 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

² When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

³ Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

⁴ And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.

⁵ After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

⁶ And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

⁷ And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

⁸ And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.

⁹ And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

¹⁰ And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹² And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹³ And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴ And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel.

¹⁵ And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.

¹⁶ And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

¹⁷ And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh;

¹⁸ And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you:

¹⁹ And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands.

²⁰ And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

²¹ When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.

²² Therefore they enquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, Behold he hath hid himself among the stuff.

²³ And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

²⁶ And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷ But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought no presents. But he held his peace.

19 Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

² And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

³ But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?

⁴ Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵ Then there went certain, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

⁶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.

⁷ So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.

⁸ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.

⁹ And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array before the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.

¹¹ And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.

¹² And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

¹³ Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.

¹⁴ So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.

¹⁵ And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.

¹⁷ And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

¹⁸ But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.

¹⁹ And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.

20 The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;

² Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;

³ Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.

⁴ Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.

⁵ We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.

⁶ Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

⁸ They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.

⁹ Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.