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.

¹¹ As they were going up the slope to the city, ^(O)they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² And they answered them and said, “He is! Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for ^(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. So now, go up for you will find him at once.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out to meet them to go up to the high place.

¹⁵ Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^(S)Yahweh had revealed this in Samuel’s hearing, saying, ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and ^(T)you shall anoint him to be ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ^(U)I have regarded My people because their cry has come to Me.” ¹⁷ Now Samuel saw Saul, and Yahweh answered him, “^(V)Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall restrict My people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” ¹⁹ And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before 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 all that is on your heart. ^20 (W)As for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your heart on them, for they have been found. And ^(X)for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?” ²¹ And Saul answered and said, “^(Y)Am I not a Benjamite, of ^(Z)the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the ^[c]tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the chamber 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, “^[d]Bring the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said to you, ‘Set it ^[e]aside.’” ²⁴ Then the cook ^(AA)took up the leg with what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been reserved! Set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, ^[f]since I said I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ Then they came down from the high place into the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul ^(AB)on the ^[g]roof. ²⁶ And they arose early; and at the ^[h]breaking of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, that I may send you away.” So Saul arose, 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, “Say to the young man that he might pass before us and pass onwards, but you remain standing now, that I may cause you to hear the word of God.”

Saul Among the Prophets

10 Then ^(AC)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, ^(AD)kissed him, and said, “Has not ^(AE)Yahweh anointed you a ruler over ^(AF)His inheritance? ² When you go from 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 search for have been found. Now behold, your father has ^[i]ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ ³ Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the ^[j](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 greet you and give you two loaves of bread. And you will take them from their hand. ⁵ Afterward you will come to ^[k](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 before them, and ^(AM)they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then ^(AN)the Spirit of Yahweh will ^[l]come upon you mightily, and ^(AO)you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. ⁷ Now it will be when these signs come to you, ^(AP)do for yourself whatever your hand finds to do, for ^(AQ)God is with you. ⁸ And ^(AR)you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^(AS)sacrifice peace offerings. ^(AT)You shall wait seven days until I come to you and make you know what you should do.”

⁹ Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God ^(AU)changed ^[m]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. ^10 (AV)And they came to ^[n]the hill there, and behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God ^[o]came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. ¹¹ Now it happened that all who knew him previously saw, and behold, he was prophesying with the prophets, so the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? ^(AW)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹² And a man there answered and said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “^(AX)Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ Then he finished prophesying and came to the high place.

¹⁴ Now ^(AY)Saul’s uncle said to him and his young man, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^(AZ)To look for the donkeys. And we saw that they were not anywhere, so we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵ And 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 said.

Saul the King

¹⁷ Then Samuel called the ^(BB)people together to Yahweh at Mizpah; ¹⁸ and he said to the sons of Israel, “^(BC)Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹ But you ^(BD)have today rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have ^[p]said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ So now, ^(BE)take your stand before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans.”

²⁰ Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 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. ²² Therefore ^(BF)they inquired further of Yahweh, “Has the man come here yet?” So Yahweh said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.” ²³ So they ran and took him from there, and he stood among the people. And ^(BG)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(BH)whom Yahweh has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “^[q](BI)Long live the king!”

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