1 Samuel 10:17-27

Christian Standard Bible

Saul Received as King

¹⁷Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah^(A) ¹⁸and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:^(B) ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹But today you have rejected your God,^(C) who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to him, ‘You^[a] must set a king over us.’^(D) Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”^(E)

²⁰Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. ²¹Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected.^[b] Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected.^(F) But when they searched for him, they could not find him. ²²They again inquired of the Lord,^(G) “Has the man come here yet?”

The Lord replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.”

²³They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else.^[c]^(H) ²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen?^(I) There is no one like him among the entire population.”

And all the people shouted,^[d] “Long live the king!” ^(J)

²⁵Samuel proclaimed to the people the rights of kingship.^(K) He wrote them on a scroll, which he placed in the presence of the Lord.^(L) Then Samuel sent all the people home.

²⁶Saul also went to his home in Gibeah,^(M) and brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him. ²⁷But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us?” They despised him and did not bring him a gift,^(N) but Saul said nothing.^[e]^[f]

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Footnotes

10:19 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg read You said, ‘No, you
10:21 LXX adds And he had the Matrite clan come forward, man by man.
10:23 Lit people, and he was higher than any of the people from his shoulder and up
10:24 LXX reads acknowledged and said
10:27 DSS add Nahash king of the Ammonites had been severely oppressing the Gadites and Reubenites. He gouged out the right eye of each of them and brought fear and trembling on Israel. Of the Israelites beyond the Jordan none remained whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and entered Jabesh-gilead.
10:27 Lit gift, and he was like a mute person

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