^21 (A)And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them ^(B)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

Samuel Anoints Saul

10 Then ^(A)Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, ^(B)and kissed him and said: “Is it not because ^(C)the Lord has anointed you commander over ^(D)His ^[a]inheritance?

Saul Spares King Agag

15 Samuel also said to Saul, ^(A)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.

¹² And when you saw that ^(A)Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, ^(B)you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when ^(C)the Lord your God was your king.

¹³ “Now therefore, ^(D)here is the king ^(E)whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, ^(F)the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you ^(G)fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. ¹⁵ However, if you do ^(H)not obey the voice of the Lord, but ^(I)rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶ “Now therefore, ^(J)stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes: ¹⁷ Is today not the ^(K)wheat harvest? ^(L)I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and ^(M)rain, that you may perceive and see that ^(N)your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king for yourselves.”

¹⁸ So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and ^(O)all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, ^(P)“Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.”

¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(A)before the Lord in Gilgal. ^(B)There they made sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

²¹ When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was chosen. And Saul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they sought him, he could not be found. ²² Therefore they ^(A)inquired of the Lord further, “Has the man come here yet?”

And the Lord answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.”

²³ So they ran and brought him from there; and when he stood among the people, ^(B)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(C)whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?”

So all the people shouted and said, ^(D)“Long^[a] live the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel explained to the people ^(E)the behavior of royalty, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. ²⁶ And Saul also went home ^(F)to Gibeah; and valiant men went with him, whose hearts God had touched.

⁵ and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(A)make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶ But the thing ^(B)displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel ^(C)prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for ^(D)they have not rejected you, but ^(E)they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹ Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and ^(F)show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. ¹¹ And he said, ^(G)“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your ^(H)sons and appoint them for his own ^(I)chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² He will ^(J)appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴ And ^(K)he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ^[a]young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. ¹⁸ And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord ^(L)will not hear you in that day.”

¹⁹ Nevertheless the people ^(M)refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, ²⁰ that we also may be ^(N)like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. ²² So the Lord said to Samuel, ^(O)“Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

Saul Chosen to Be King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(P)Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of ^[b]power. ² And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. ^(Q)From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.