Saul’s Search

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite, a ^[a]valiant mighty man. ² He had a son whose name was Saul, a ^(B)young and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome man 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, had wandered off. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Now take with you one of the servants and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴ So 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 Benjaminites, but they did not find them.

God’s Choice for King

¹⁵ Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^(A)the Lord had ^[a]revealed this to Samuel, saying, ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and ^(B)you shall anoint him as ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ^(C)I have considered My people, because their outcry has come to Me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord ^[b]said to him, “^(D)Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall rule over My people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” ¹⁹ And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you everything that is on your mind. ^20 (E)And as for your donkeys that wandered off three days ago, do not be concerned about them, for they have been found. And ^(F)for whom is everything that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?” ²¹ Saul replied, “^(G)Am I not a Benjaminite, of ^(H)the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the ^[c]tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

Saul among the Prophets

10 Then ^(A)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on ^[a]Saul’s head, ^(B)kissed him, and said, “Has ^(C)the Lord not anointed you as ruler over ^(D)His inheritance?

⁹ Then it happened, when he turned his back to leave Samuel, that God ^(A)changed ^[a]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. ^10 (B)When they came there to ^[b]the hill, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, so that he prophesied among them. ¹¹ And it came about, when all who previously knew him saw that he was indeed prophesying with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? ^(C)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹² And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a saying: “^(D)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴ Now ^(E)Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^(F)To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵ Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” ¹⁶ So Saul said to his uncle, “^(G)He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

Saul Publicly Chosen King

¹⁷ Now Samuel called the ^(H)people together to the Lord at Mizpah; ¹⁸ and he said to the sons of Israel, “^(I)This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the ^[c]power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹ But today you ^(J)have rejected your God, who saves you from all your catastrophes and your distresses; yet you have ^[d]said, ‘No, but put a king over us!’ Now then, ^(K)present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your ^[e]groups of thousands.”

²⁰ So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel forward; and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. ²¹ Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin forward by its families, and the Matrite family was selected by lot. And Saul the son of Kish was selected by lot; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. ²² Therefore ^(L)they inquired further of the Lord: “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself among the baggage.” ²³ So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, ^(M)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(N)whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “^[f](O)Long live the king!”