Saul to Be Anointed Over Israel

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of ^[a]valor. ² Now he had a son whose name was Saul, a ^(B)choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; ^(C)from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take now with you one of the young men, and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴ Thus he passed through ^(D)the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^(E)Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^(F)Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵ They came to the land of ^(G)Zuph. And Saul said to his young man who was with him, “Come, and let us return, ^(H)lest my father cease to be concerned about the donkeys and become anxious for us.” ⁶ But he said to him, “Behold now, there is ^(I)a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^(J)all that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, ^(K)perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have gone.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his young man, “But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack, and there is ^(L)no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ And the young man answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a ^[b]shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, and he will ^(M)tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called ^(N)a seer.) ¹⁰ Then Saul said to his young man, “Your word is good; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

²¹ Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but they looked for him, and he could not be found.