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Saul Among the Prophets

10 Then (A)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, (B)kissed him, and said, “Has not (C)Yahweh anointed you a ruler over (D)His inheritance? When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to (E)Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘(F)The donkeys which you went to search for have been found. Now behold, your father has [a]ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the [b](G)oak of Tabor, and there three men going up (H)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; and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread. And you will take them from their hand. Afterward you will come to [c](I)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 (J)a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and (K)they will be prophesying. Then (L)the Spirit of Yahweh will [d]come upon you mightily, and (M)you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. Now it will be when these signs come to you, (N)do for yourself whatever your hand finds to do, for (O)God is with you. And (P)you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and (Q)sacrifice peace offerings. (R)You shall wait seven days until I come to you and make you know what you should do.”

Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God (S)changed [e]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10 (T)And they came to [f]the hill there, and behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God [g]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? (U)Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man there answered and said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “(V)Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 Then he finished prophesying and came to the high place.

14 Now (W)Saul’s uncle said to him and his young man, “Where did you go?” And he said, “(X)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, “(Y)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.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 10:2 Lit abandoned the matter of
  2. 1 Samuel 10:3 Or terebinth
  3. 1 Samuel 10:5 Or Gibeath-haelohim
  4. 1 Samuel 10:6 Lit succeeded, rushed upon
  5. 1 Samuel 10:9 Lit for him another heart
  6. 1 Samuel 10:10 Or Gibeath
  7. 1 Samuel 10:10 Lit succeeded, rushed upon

Samuel’s Instructions to Saul

10 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and told him this:

Hasn’t the Lord anointed you to be ruler over his inheritance?[a] When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you, “The donkeys that you have been looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and is worried about the two of you. He is asking, ‘What should I do about my son?’”

As you go on farther from there, you will come to the oak tree at Tabor. Three men going up to God’s house at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a container of wine. They will greet you, ask how you are doing, and give you two loaves of bread, which you are to accept from their hand.

After that, you will come to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine garrison. When you come to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place. Musicians with a harp, a hand drum, a flute, and a lyre will be going in front of them, and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you with power, and you will prophesy with them, and you will become a changed man. When you have received these signs, do whatever is appropriate for the occasion,[b] for God is with you.

Go down to Gilgal ahead of me. Watch for me. I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice fellowship offerings. Wait seven days, until I come to you. Then I will let you know what you are to do.

As Saul was turning away from Samuel to leave, God gave him a changed heart, and all those signs were fulfilled that day.

10 When they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets met Saul, and the Spirit of God came upon him with power, and he prophesied among them. 11 When everyone who had known him previously saw that Saul was prophesying along with the prophets, the people were surprised and said to each other, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets?”

12 Someone from that area responded, “Who is their father?” Therefore it became a saying: “Is even Saul among the prophets?”

13 When Saul had finished prophesying, he arrived at the high place.

14 Saul’s uncle asked Saul and his servant, “Where did you go?”

Saul said, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized that we were not succeeding, we went to Samuel.”

15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

16 Saul said to his uncle, “He made it clear to us that the donkeys had been found.”

But Saul did not tell his uncle anything about the matter of the kingship, about which Samuel had also spoken.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 10:1 The Greek text includes words not present in the Hebrew text. They are marked by half-brackets in the following: Hasn’t the Lord anointed you to be ruler over ⎣the Lord’s people, and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. And this is the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over.⎦ his inheritance. There may have been a skip of the Hebrew copyist’s eye from one occurrence of ruler over to the next occurrence.
  2. 1 Samuel 10:7 Literally whatever your hand finds to do