¹⁷ Then Samuel summoned the people to Yahweh at Mizpah, ¹⁸ and he said to the Israelites,^[a] “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 today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, ‘No, but you must appoint a king over us!’ So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans.”

²⁰ So Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. ²¹ Then he brought near the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, and the family of Matri was selected by lot. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, and they sought him, but he could not be found. ²² So they inquired again of Yahweh, “Did the man come here?” ^[b] And Yahweh said, “Look, he is hiding himself among the baggage.” ²³ So they ran and took him from there, and when he took his stand among the people, he was taller than all the people from his shoulders and up. ²⁴ Then Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people!” And all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people the custom of the kingship, and he wrote the rules down on a scroll and laid it before Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house. ²⁶ And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah, and the troops whose hearts^[c] God had touched went with him. ²⁷ However, some worthless men^[d] said, “How can this man deliver us?” So they despised him and brought no gift to him, but he kept silent.^[e]