Beginning
Saul Is Anointed as King
9 From the tribe of Benjamin there was a man whose name was Kish. He was the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah, a descendant of Benjamin. Kish was a strong warrior and influential person.[a] 2 He had a son named Saul, who was an impressive young man. Among the men of Israel there was not a better man than Saul. He was a head taller than all the people.
3 The donkeys of Saul’s father Kish were lost, so Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of our young men with you, and go look for the donkeys.” 4 So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find the donkeys. Then they traveled through the land of Sha’alim[b] but found nothing. Then he traveled through the land of the Benjaminites, but they did not find the donkeys.
5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the young man who was with him, “Come on. Let’s go back. If we don’t, my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and will start worrying about us.”
6 But the young man said to him, “Wait! In this city there is a man of God, who is highly regarded. Everything he says actually comes true. So let’s go there. Maybe he can tell us which way we should go.”
7 Then Saul said to his young man, “If we go, what should we bring for the man? Look, the bread in our bags is used up, and we do not have a gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have with us?”
8 The young man responded to Saul, “Look here. I have a quarter of a shekel[c] of silver in my hand. I will give that to the man of God to tell us which way we should go.”
9 (In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer,” because the man who is now called a prophet used to be called a seer.)
10 So Saul said to his servant, “Good advice. Come on! Let’s go!” So they went to the city where the man of God was. 11 As they went up the ascent to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer here?”
12 They answered them, “Yes, he is. He is there just ahead of you. Hurry! He has just come into the city today, because the people are presenting a sacrifice today at the high place. 13 As soon as you come into the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, since the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. After that, those who have been invited will eat. So go up, right now, for this is the time for you to find him.”
14 So they went up to the city. Just as they were coming into the city, there was Samuel coming toward them on his way to the high place.
15 Now the Lord had revealed this to Samuel the day before Saul came. He had told him, 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him to be leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I am looking out for my people, because their cry for help has come to me.”
17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “There, that is the man I was talking about! He will exercise authority over my people.”
18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
19 Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up to the high place ahead of me, because you and your men are to eat with me today. In the morning I will let you go, and I will tell you everything that is on your heart. 20 As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be concerned about them, because they have been found. For who is it that all Israel desires? Isn’t it you and your father’s entire house?”
21 Saul answered, “But I am just a Benjaminite from the smallest of the tribes of Israel. And my family is the least important of all the families in the tribe of Benjamin. So why do you speak to me like this?”
22 Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the dining hall. He seated them at the head of those who had been invited. There were about thirty men.
23 Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, the one I told you to set aside.” 24 So the cook picked up the thigh and all the meat that was on it and placed it before Saul. Samuel said, “Look here, this has been reserved for you! Set it before you and eat, because ever since I said, ‘I have invited the people,’ it has been kept for you for the appointed time.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25 When they had come down from the high place and gone into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the flat roof of the house. 26 They got up early, about daybreak, and Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, “Get up, so that I may send you on your way.” Saul got up, and the two of them, Saul and Samuel, went outside together. 27 As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the young man to go on ahead of us.” So the young man went on ahead. Then Samuel said, “You stay here, so that I can tell you God’s message.”
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?[d] 2 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?’”
3 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. 4 They will greet you, ask how you are doing, and give you two loaves of bread, which you are to accept from their hand.
5 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. 6 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. 7 When you have received these signs, do whatever is appropriate for the occasion,[e] for God is with you.
8 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.
9 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.
17 Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. 18 He said to the people of Israel, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. 19 But today you have rejected your God, the one who saves you out of all your disasters and your distress, and you have said to him, ‘You must set a king over us.’ Now line up in the presence of the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”
20 So Samuel brought forward all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.[f] 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was chosen.[g] Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore they asked the Lord again, “Has the man arrived here yet?”
The Lord answered, “He has. Look, he is is hiding among the baggage.”
23 So they ran and brought him from there. When he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the people. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”
All the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel told the people the regulations concerning the kingship, and he wrote them on a scroll, which was placed before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each man to his own house. 26 Saul went home to Gibeah, and the army went with him, those men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But certain worthless good-for-nothings said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and brought him no gift, but Saul said nothing.
Saul Saves Jabesh Gilead
11 Nahash[h] the Ammonite went and set up camp against Jabesh Gilead. So all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2 Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you: I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you in order to dishonor all Israel.”
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, so that we can send messengers throughout all the borders of Israel. Then, if there is no one to rescue us, we will come out to you.” 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, all the people cried out and wept loudly.
5 Just then Saul came in from the field, following the oxen. Saul asked, “What has upset the people? Why are they weeping?” So they told him about the words of the men of Jabesh.
6 When Saul heard those words, the Spirit of God rushed upon him with power, and his anger burned intensely. 7 He took a yoke of oxen and cut them to pieces and sent the pieces throughout all the borders of Israel in the hands of messengers who said, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not turn out to follow Saul and Samuel.” The dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they turned out as one man. 8 Saul counted them in Bezek. The men of Israel totaled three hundred thousand and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 They said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be rescued.’”
The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, and they were very happy. 10 So the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you can do with us whatever seems good to you.”
11 On the next day, Saul split the army into three divisions. They broke into the middle of the Ammonite camp during the last watch before morning and struck them down until the heat of the day. Those who survived were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who was it who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Hand those men over to us, so we can put them to death!”
13 But Saul said, “No one shall be put to death today, because today the Lord has rescued Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come! Let’s go to Gilgal and confirm the kingship there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and they made Saul king in the presence of the Lord there at Gilgal. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the men of Israel held a great celebration there.
Samuel’s Farewell
12 Samuel said to all Israel, “You see that I have listened to your voice and to everything that you said to me. I have appointed a king over you. 2 Now, there he is. The king is walking before you. I am old and gray, but my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth till this very day.
3 “Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Have I defrauded anyone? Have I oppressed anyone? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to turn a blind eye to anything? If so, I will restore it for you.”
4 They replied, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
5 So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today that you have not found anything in my hand.”
They said, “He is witness.”
6 So this is what Samuel said to the people:
It was the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now then, stand here, so that I may present the case against you before the Lord on the basis of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did for you and for your fathers.
8 When Jacob had gone down into Egypt,[i] your fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 But they forgot the Lord their God, so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10 They cried to the Lord and said, “We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord. We have served the Baals and the Ashtartes, but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.” 11 So the Lord sent Jerubbaal,[j] Bedan,[k] Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.
12 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, even though the Lord your God was your king, you said to me, “No, we want a king to reign over us.”
13 Now look, here is the king you have chosen, the king you asked for. You see, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you fear the Lord and serve him and listen to his voice and do not rebel against the mouth of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will be following the Lord your God. 15 But if you do not listen to the Lord’s voice but rebel against the mouth of the Lord, then the Lord’s hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16 Now then, take your positions here, and see this great thing that the Lord is about to do right in front of your eyes. 17 Isn’t today the time of wheat harvest? I will call to the Lord, and he will send thunder and rain,[l] so that you may know and see that your wickedness is great, that wickedness which you have done in the Lord’s sight by asking for a king.
18 Then Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people were very afraid of the Lord and of Samuel.
19 So all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we do not die, for we have added to all our sins also this evil, that we asked for a king for ourselves.”
20 Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil. Nevertheless, do not turn away from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away to pursue empty things that cannot help you or save you, because they are empty. 22 For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not forsake his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own people for himself. 23 As for me, it is unthinkable[m] that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. Instead I will instruct you in the way that is good and right. 24 Above all, fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, with all your heart, considering the great things he has done for you. 25 But if you keep doing evil, you will be swept away, both you and your king.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.