Beginning

Saul looks for his father's donkeys

9 Kish was an important man from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel. Abiel was the son of Zeror. Zeror was the son of Becorath. Becorath was the son of Aphiah. Aphiah was a descendant of Benjamin. ² Kish had a son whose name was Saul. Saul was a handsome young man. No other Israelite was more handsome than he was. When Saul stood with other people, you could see his head above everyone else.

³ Some of Kish's donkeys had run away. Kish said to Saul, ‘Go and look for my donkeys. Take one of the servants with you.’ ⁴ So Saul and the servant travelled through the hill country of Ephraim. They went across Shalisha region. But they did not find the donkeys there. Then they went to Shaalim region. The donkeys were not there either. They travelled through all the tribe of Benjamin's land. They still did not find the donkeys anywhere.

⁵ They reached the land of Zuph's clan. Saul said to his servant, ‘We must return home now. We have been away for a long time. My father will start to think that we have become lost. He will not be thinking about the donkeys any more.’

⁶ The servant replied, ‘There is a servant of God who lives in this town. Everything that he says will happen really happens. So people respect him very much. We should go to meet him. Perhaps he will tell us which way we should go from here.’

⁷ Saul said to his servant, ‘That is good, but what will we give to him? We have eaten all the food that we brought with us in our bags. What else do we have? We must give him something.’

⁸ The servant answered, ‘I still have one small silver coin. I will give that to the servant of God. Then he will tell us which way we should go.’ ⁹ (That was the custom in Israel. If someone needed to hear a message from God, he would say, ‘We should go and talk with the seer.’^[a] The man that we now call a prophet was called a ‘seer’ at that time.)

¹⁰ Saul said to his servant, ‘That is a good idea. We should go now and see him.’ So they went to the town where the servant of God lived.

¹¹ They went up the hill to the town. Some young women came out of the town to get some water at a well. Saul and his servant asked them, ‘Is the seer here?’

¹² They said, ‘Yes, he is here. Go straight along this road. You must hurry. The seer came to the town today because the people will offer a sacrifice. He will go with them to the altar on the hill. ¹³ When you go into the town, you will find him before he goes up there. The people will not start to eat until he comes. First, he must bless the sacrifice. Then he will eat with the people who are there. Go up into the town now and you will find him.’

Saul meets Samuel

¹⁴ Saul and his servant went up towards the town. When they arrived there, Samuel came towards them. He was going up to the altar on the hill. ¹⁵ The day before Saul arrived, the Lord had already spoken to Samuel. He had said, ¹⁶ ‘Tomorrow I will send a man to you who comes from the land of Benjamin. He will arrive at about this time of day. Anoint him to be the ruler over my people, Israel. He will save my people from the power of the Philistines. My people have called out to me for help. Now I have decided to help them.’

¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, ‘Here is the man that I told you about. He will rule over my people.’

¹⁸ Saul met Samuel at the gate of the town. Saul said to him, ‘Please tell me where the seer's house is.’

¹⁹ Samuel said to him, ‘I am the seer! Go in front of me now to the altar on the hill. You and your servant will eat a meal with me there. Tomorrow morning I will send you back to your home. Before that, I will tell you what you want to know. ²⁰ Someone has already found the donkeys that you lost three days ago. Do not think any more about them. The only thing that the Israelite people want now is you! They want you and all your father's family.’

²¹ Saul answered, ‘I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. It is the smallest tribe in the nation of Israel. And my family belongs to the smallest clan in that tribe. So why do you speak like this to me?’

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into the room where they would eat the meal. He made them sit in the most important seats in front of all the other people. About 30 people had come to eat the meal. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, ‘Please bring me the special piece of meat that I gave to you. I told you to keep that piece separate.’

²⁴ So the cook brought the leg of meat and he put it down in front of Saul. Samuel said to Saul, ‘I kept this special piece of meat for you to eat. Eat it now. I kept it separate for this time when we would eat together. I chose it for you when I asked the people to come and eat this special meal.’

So Saul ate the meal with Samuel that day.

²⁵ They came down from the hill and they went into the town. Samuel took Saul onto the roof of his house and they talked together.^{[b] 26} They got up at dawn the next day. Saul had been sleeping on the roof. Samuel shouted up to him, ‘Get up and prepare to leave. I will send you on your journey.’

Saul got ready to leave to go home. Saul and Samuel went out into the street together. ²⁷ They walked to the edge of the town. Samuel said to Saul, ‘Tell your servant to go on in front of us.’ So he did that.

Then Samuel said, ‘Stay here for a moment. I need to tell you God's message.’

Samuel anoints Saul

10 Then Samuel took a jar of oil and he poured the oil on Saul's head. He kissed Saul. He said:

‘The Lord has anointed you as the leader of his people.^[c] You will rule over them and you will rescue them from the power of their enemies. This is how you will know that the Lord has chosen you to be the leader of the Israelite people:

² After you leave me today, you will meet two men at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin's land. They will be near the grave where Rachel is buried. The men will say to you, “Someone has found the donkeys that you were looking for. Your father is no longer thinking about his donkeys. Now he is upset because he does not know where you are. He continues to ask, ‘What can I do about my son?’ ”

³ After you leave there, you will reach the big tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They are going to Bethel to worship God there. One of the men will have three young goats with him. One of them will have three loaves of bread. The third man will have a bag full of wine. ⁴ They will say “hello” to you and they will offer you two loaves of bread. You must accept the bread. ⁵ Then you must go to God's special hill at Gibeah. Some Philistine soldiers have their camp there. When you reach the town, you will meet a group of prophets. They will be coming down from the hill where people worship God. They will be making music with their harps, tambourines, flutes and lyres. They will be prophesying as they go along. ⁶ Then the Lord's Spirit will come to you with power. You will start to prophesy too. You will change to become like a different person. ⁷ After you see these things happen, you must do whatever seems right to you. God will be with you.

⁸ You must go to Gilgal and then I will come there. I will join with you there to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. You must wait for seven days until I come. When I arrive at Gilgal, I will tell you what you should do.’

⁹ Saul turned away to leave Samuel. At that moment, God gave Saul a new nature. Everything that Samuel had said to Saul happened that day. ¹⁰ When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met them. God's Spirit came on Saul with power. He started to prophesy as the prophets were doing. ¹¹ People who already knew Saul could not understand what was happening. When they saw him prophesying along with the prophets, they asked each other, ‘What has happened to this son of Kish? Has Saul himself become a prophet?’

¹² A man who lived in Gibeah asked, ‘Do you know who is the father of all these prophets?’ Because of what happened, it became a proverb to say, ‘Has Saul himself become a prophet?’ ¹³ When Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the hill where people worship God.

¹⁴ When Saul's uncle saw Saul and his servant, he asked them, ‘Where have you been?’ Saul said, ‘We went to look for the donkeys. We could not find them so we went to visit Samuel.’

¹⁵ Saul's uncle said, ‘What did Samuel say to you?’

¹⁶ Saul replied, ‘He told us that someone had found the donkeys.’ But Saul did not tell his uncle that Samuel had said that he would become the king.

Saul becomes the first king of Israel

¹⁷ Samuel sent a message to all Israel's people. He told them to come to Mizpah to meet with the Lord. ¹⁸ He said to them, ‘This is a message from the Lord, Israel's God: “I led you Israelites out from Egypt. I saved you from the power of the Egyptians. I also saved you from other kingdoms that were cruel to you. ¹⁹ I am the one who saves you from all your pain and troubles. But now you have turned against me, your God. You have said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us instead.’ So now come and stand in front of the Lord. Stand together in your tribes and in your clans.” ’

²⁰ So each tribe came forward to Samuel, tribe by tribe. God chose Benjamin's tribe. ²¹ Then each family from Benjamin's tribe went forward. God chose the family of Matri. Then God chose Kish's son Saul from the family of Matri. They looked for Saul but nobody could find him. ²² So they asked the Lord, ‘Has Saul arrived here yet?’ The Lord said, ‘Yes, but he is hiding among the luggage.’

²³ So they ran to find Saul. They brought him out from there. When Saul stood among the people, you could see his head above everyone else. ²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, ‘Look! Here is the man that the Lord has chosen. There is nobody like him among all the people.’ Then the people shouted, ‘May the king live for a long time!’

²⁵ Then Samuel explained to the people all the rules about a king. He wrote everything in a book. He put the book in a special place where they worshipped the Lord. Then Samuel told all the people to go to back to their homes. ²⁶ Saul himself went back to his home at Gibeah. A group of brave men went with him. God had caused them to want to do that. ²⁷ But some wicked men were complaining. They said, ‘This man will never be able to save us.’ They did not respect Saul. They did not bring him any gifts. But Saul did not say anything against them.

Saul saves Jabesh town

11 One month later, Nahash went with his army to attack Jabesh, a town in Gilead region. Nahash was an Ammonite.^[d] The people in Jabesh said to him, ‘Make an agreement with us so that we will serve you.’ ² Nahash said, ‘I will make an agreement with you only if you let me do this. I must cut out the right eye of every person in your town. I want to bring shame on all Israel's people.’

³ The leaders of Jabesh said to him, ‘Wait for seven more days. We will send a message to all the people in Israel. We will ask them to rescue us. If nobody comes to save us, we will agree to whatever you say.’

⁴ Men took the message to Gibeah, the town where Saul lived. When they told the news to the people there, the people started to weep loudly. ⁵ Saul had been out on his farm. As he was returning home with his cows, he asked, ‘What has happened here? Why are the people weeping?’ They told Saul what the men from Jabesh had said.

⁶ When Saul heard the news, God's Spirit came on him with power. He became very angry. ⁷ He killed two of his oxen. He cut their bodies into pieces. He sent men with the pieces to all the towns in Israel. In each town, the men said, ‘Everyone must join Saul and Samuel to fight in their army. If you do not agree to join them, they will cut up your oxen just like this!’ The people became very afraid of what the Lord would do. So they all came together as one army. ⁸ They met together at Bezek. Saul counted 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 men from Judah.^[e]

⁹ Saul said to the men who had brought the news from Jabesh, ‘Return to Jabesh. Tell the people, “We will come to rescue you tomorrow, before midday.” ’

So the men took the message to the people in Jabesh. The people were very happy. ¹⁰ The men there said to Nahash, ‘Tomorrow we will come out of the town to you. Then you can do anything that you want to us.’

¹¹ Early the next day, Saul put his soldiers into three groups. At dawn, they attacked the camp of the Ammonite soldiers. The Israelite soldiers continued to kill the Ammonites until midday. The Ammonite soldiers who were still alive ran away in different directions. Each man ran off by himself.

¹² The Israelite people said to Samuel, ‘Bring to us those men who said, “We do not want Saul to rule over us.” We must kill them!’

¹³ Saul said, ‘No, you must not kill anyone today. It is the day when the Lord has rescued Israel's people.’

¹⁴ Samuel said to the people, ‘Now we will all go to Gilgal. We must all agree that Saul will continue to be our king.’ ¹⁵ So everyone went to Gilgal. They went to the place where they worshipped the Lord. They all agreed that Saul would be their king. They offered peace offerings to the Lord. Saul and all the Israelites were very happy.

Samuel speaks for the last time

12 Samuel said to all the Israelites, ‘I have done everything that you asked me to do. I have given you a king to rule over you. ² Listen! You now have a king to be your leader, instead of me. I am old and my hair is grey. My sons are here with you. I have been your leader from the time when I was young until now. ³ Look at me. I stand here where the Lord and his chosen king can see me. Speak now if I have done any wrong thing against you. Have I taken anyone's cow or anyone's donkey? Have I cheated anyone? Have I been cruel to anyone? Have I received bribes from anyone to say that they are not guilty? If I have done any of those things, tell me! Then I will pay back my debt.’

⁴ The Israelites answered, ‘You have not cheated us. You have not been cruel to us. You have not robbed any of us.’

⁵ Samuel said to them, ‘The Lord and his chosen king have heard what you have said today. They know that I have not done a wrong thing against any of you.’

The people replied, ‘Yes, the Lord knows what we have said.’

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, ‘The Lord chose Moses and Aaron to lead his people. He brought your ancestors out from Egypt. ⁷ You must stand up now for the Lord to judge you. You need to remember all the great things that the Lord has done to help you and your ancestors. ⁸ After Jacob and his family went to Egypt, your ancestors called to the Lord for help. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron to help them. They led your ancestors out of Egypt. They brought them to live here in this land. ⁹ But your ancestors forgot about the Lord their God. So he let their enemies win against them. Sisera led an army from Hazor to attack the Israelites. The Philistines and the king of Moab also attacked them. ¹⁰ Then the Israelites called out to the Lord for help. They said, “We have done bad things. We have turned away from the Lord and we have worshipped idols of Baal and images of Ashtoreth.^[f] Please save us from our enemies and we will worship you.” ¹¹ So the Lord sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel to help you. The Lord saved you from all your enemies so that you could live safely.

¹² But then you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, was coming to attack you. So you said to me, “Now we want a king to rule over us.” You forgot that the Lord your God is your king. ¹³ Look! Here is the king that you chose. He is the man that you asked to have. The Lord has made him your king. ¹⁴ You must respect the Lord with fear. You must obey what he commands you to do. You and the king who rules over you must serve only the Lord your God. If you do that, everything will go well for you. ¹⁵ But the Lord will punish you and your king if you do not obey him. You must not turn against him again.

¹⁶ Now stand where you are and watch! The Lord will do a great thing and you will see it. ¹⁷ This is the time of the wheat harvest.^[g] I will ask the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will understand that you have done an evil thing against the Lord. You asked for a king to rule over you.’

¹⁸ Samuel prayed to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. All the people became afraid of the Lord and of Samuel. ¹⁹ They said to Samuel, ‘Please pray to the Lord your God for us. We do not want to die! We realize that we have done many bad things in past times. Now we have added to those sins when we asked to have a king.’

²⁰ Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. It is true that you have done an evil thing. But do not turn away from the Lord. Instead, serve him with all your strength. ²¹ Do not worship idols. They are useless things. They cannot help you. They will never save you. ²² The Lord was pleased to choose you to be his own people. He will show that he is faithful and he will not leave you alone. ²³ As for me, I will not stop praying for you. That would be a sin against the Lord. I will teach you how to live in the right way. ²⁴ But you must respect and obey the Lord. You must serve him faithfully with all your strength. Remember the great things that he has done for you. ²⁵ If you continue to do evil things, that will be the end of you and your king.’