Saul’s Search

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 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 servants, and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴ 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 When they came to the land of ^(G)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let us return, ^(H)or else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us.” ⁶ 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 set out.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “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 The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a 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 servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went 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 They answered them and said, “He is; ^[b]see, 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. Now therefore, 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 toward them to go up to the high place.

God’s Choice for King

¹⁵ Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^(S)the Lord had ^[c]revealed this to Samuel 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 prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ^(U)I have regarded My people, because their cry has come to Me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord ^[d]said to him, “^(V)Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall rule over My people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” ¹⁹ 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 mind. ^20 (W)As for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your mind 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 Saul replied, “^(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 ^[e]tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, “^[f]Bring the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said to you, ‘Set it ^[g]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, ^[h]since I said I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul ^(AB)on the ^[i]roof. ²⁶ And they arose early; and at daybreak 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 servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on, but you remain standing now, that I may proclaim the word of God to you.”

He.

Paul before the Council

23 Paul, looking intently at ^(A)the ^[a]Council, said, “^(B)Brethren, ^(C)I have ^[b]lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.” ² The high priest ^(D)Ananias commanded those standing beside him ^(E)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ^(F)you whitewashed wall! Do you ^(G)sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” ⁴ But the bystanders said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, “I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘^(H)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ But perceiving that one group were ^(I)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in ^(J)the ^[c]Council, “^(K)Brethren, ^(L)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^(M)the hope and resurrection of the dead!” ⁷ As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For ^(N)the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹ And there occurred a great uproar; and some of ^(O)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “^(P)We find nothing wrong with this man; ^(Q)suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰ And as a great dissension was developing, the ^[d]commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into ^(R)the barracks.

¹¹ But on ^(S)the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, “^(T)Take courage; for ^(U)as you have ^(V)solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”

A Conspiracy to Kill Paul

¹² When it was day, ^(W)the Jews formed a ^[e]conspiracy and ^(X)bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were more than forty who formed this plot. ¹⁴ They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have ^(Y)bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now therefore, you ^[f]and ^(Z)the ^[g]Council notify the ^[h]commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case by a more thorough investigation; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near the place.”

¹⁶ But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, ^[i]and he came and entered ^(AA)the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the ^[j]commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸ So he took him and led him to the ^[k]commander and *said, “Paul ^(AB)the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.” ¹⁹ The ^[l]commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” ²⁰ And he said, “^(AC)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ^(AD)the ^[m]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. ²¹ So do not ^[n]listen to them, for more than forty of them are ^(AE)lying in wait for him who have ^(AF)bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.” ²² So the ^[o]commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

Paul Moved to Caesarea

²³ And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by ^[p]the third hour of the night to proceed to ^(AG)Caesarea, ^[q]with seventy horsemen and two hundred ^[r]spearmen.” ²⁴ They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^(AH)Felix the governor. ²⁵ And he wrote a letter having this form:

³¹ So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² But the next day, leaving ^(AU)the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to ^(AV)the barracks. ³³ When these had come to ^(AW)Caesarea and delivered the letter to ^(AX)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴ When he had read it, he asked from what ^(AY)province he was, and when he learned that ^(AZ)he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will give you a hearing after your ^(BA)accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be ^(BB)kept in Herod’s ^[w]Praetorium.