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.

⁵ When they came to the land of ^(G)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let’s return, ^(H)or else my father will stop being concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious about 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)everything that he says definitely comes true. Now let’s go there, ^(K)perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sacks and there is ^(L)no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will ^(M)tell us our way.” ⁹ (Previously in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let’s go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was previously called ^(N)a seer.) ¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, “^[b]Good idea; come, let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the slope to the city, ^(O)they found young women going out to draw water, and they said to them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² They answered them and said, “He is; ^[c]see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, because ^(P)the people have a sacrifice on ^(Q)the high place today. ¹³ As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, because ^(R)he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now then, go up, for you will find him about this time.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

God’s Choice for King

¹⁵ Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^(S)the Lord had ^[d]revealed this to Samuel, saying, ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and ^(T)you shall anoint him as ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ^(U)I have considered My people, because their outcry has come to Me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord ^[e]said to him, “^(V)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 (W)And as for your donkeys that wandered off three days ago, do not be concerned about them, for they have been found. And ^(X)for whom is everything that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?” ²¹ Saul replied, “^(Y)Am I not a Benjaminite, of ^(Z)the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the ^[f]tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men. ²³ And Samuel said to the cook, “^[g]Serve the portion that I gave you about which I said to you, ‘Set it ^[h]aside.’” ²⁴ Then the cook ^(AA)took up the leg with what was on it and placed it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been reserved! Place it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, ^[i]since I said I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ When they came down from the high place into the city, ^[j]Samuel spoke with Saul ^(AB)on the roof. ²⁶ And they got up early; and at daybreak Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, so that I may send you on your way.” So Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. ²⁷ As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Speak to the servant and have him go on ahead of us and pass by; but you stand here now, so that I may proclaim the word of God to you.”

Saul among the Prophets

10 Then ^(AC)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on ^[k]Saul’s head, ^(AD)kissed him, and said, “Has ^(AE)the Lord not anointed you as ruler over ^(AF)His inheritance? ² When you leave me today, then you will find two men close to ^(AG)Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘^(AH)The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has stopped talking about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What am I to do about my son?”’ ³ Then you will go on farther from there, and you will come as far as the ^[l](AI)oak of Tabor, and there three men going up ^(AJ)to God at Bethel will meet you: one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine. ⁴ And they will ^[m]greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. ⁵ Afterward you will come to ^[n](AK)the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet ^(AL)a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre in front of them, and ^(AM)they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then ^(AN)the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and ^(AO)you will prophesy with them and be changed into a different man. ⁷ And it shall be when these signs come to you, ^(AP)do for yourself what ^[o]the occasion requires, because ^(AQ)God is with you. ⁸ And ^(AR)you shall go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will be coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^(AS)sacrifice peace offerings. ^(AT)You shall wait seven days until I come to you and inform you of what you should do.”

⁹ Then it happened, when he turned his back to leave Samuel, that God ^(AU)changed ^[p]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. ^10 (AV)When they came there to ^[q]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? ^(AW)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: “^(AX)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴ Now ^(AY)Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^(AZ)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, “^(BA)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 ^(BB)people together to the Lord at Mizpah; ¹⁸ and he said to the sons of Israel, “^(BC)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 ^[r]power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹ But today you ^(BD)have rejected your God, who saves you from all your catastrophes and your distresses; yet you have ^[s]said, ‘No, but put a king over us!’ Now then, ^(BE)present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your ^[t]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 ^(BF)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, ^(BG)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(BH)whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “^[u](BI)Long live the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people ^(BJ)the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book, and ^(BK)placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. ²⁶ Saul also went ^(BL)to his house in Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. ²⁷ But certain ^[v](BM)useless men said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and ^(BN)did not bring him a gift. But ^[w]he kept silent about it.

Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(A)Now Saul approved of putting ^[a]Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^[b]began against ^(B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(D)Samaria, except for the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. ³ But ^(E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(F)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(G)who had been scattered went through places ^[c](H)preaching the word. ^5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^[d]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[e]signs which he was performing. ⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(K)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(L)much rejoicing in that city.

⁹ Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing ^(M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^(N)claiming to be someone great; ¹⁰ and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “^(O)This man is the Power of God that is called Great.” ¹¹ And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his ^(P)magic arts. ¹² But when they believed Philip ^(Q)as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being ^(R)baptized. ¹³ Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^(S)signs and ^(T)great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(U)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^(V)Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(W)that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had ^(X)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(Y)baptized ^[f]in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they ^(Z)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(AA)receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could ^(AB)acquire the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(AC)no part or share in this ^[g]matter, for your heart is not ^(AD)right before God. ²² Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AE)if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^[h]in the gall of bitterness and in ^(AF)the ^[i]bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “^(AG)Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly ^(AH)testified and spoken ^(AI)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(AJ)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(AK)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(AL)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(AM)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[j]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(AN)Gaza.” (^[k]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[l](AO)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[m]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(AP)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[n]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(AQ)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[o]chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip ^(AT)opened his mouth, and ^(AU)beginning from this Scripture he ^(AV)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(AW)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[r] 38} And he ordered that the ^[s]chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, ^(AX)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[t]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[u]found himself at ^[v](AY)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AZ)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(BA)Caesarea.