1 Samuel 10–11

10Samuel took the flask of oil,^l poured it out on Saul’s head,^m kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t the Lord anointed youⁿ ruler over his inheritance?^{Co 2}Today when you leave me, you’ll find two men at Rachel’s Grave^p at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went looking for have been found,^q and now your father has stopped being concerned about the donkeys and is worried about you, asking: What should I do about my son?’

³“You will proceed from there until you come to the oak of Tabor.^r Three men going up to God at Bethel^s will meet you there, one bringing three goats, one bringing three loaves of bread, and one bringing a clay jar of wine. ⁴They will ask how you are and give you two loaves^D of bread, which you will accept from them.

⁵“After that you will come to Gibeah of God^t where there are Philistine garrisons.^E When you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets^u coming down from the high place prophesying.^v They will be preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. ⁶The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully on you,^w you will prophesy with them,^x and you will be transformed.^{y 7}When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances require^Fz because God is with you. ⁸Afterward, go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice fellowship offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what to do.”

⁹When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed his heart,^G and all the signs came about that day. ¹⁰When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully on him, and he prophesied along with them.

¹¹Everyone who knew him previously and saw him prophesy with the prophets asked each other, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”^a

¹²Then a man who was from there asked, “And who is their father?”^b

As a result, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” became a popular saying. ¹³Then Saul finished prophesying and went to the high place.

¹⁴Saul’s uncle^c asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?”

“To look for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we saw they weren’t there, we went to Samuel.”^d

¹⁵“Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?”

¹⁶Saul told him, “He assured us the donkeys had been found.” However, Saul did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

SAUL RECEIVED AS KING

¹⁷Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah^{e 18}and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:^f ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹But today you have rejected your God,^g who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to him, ‘You^A must set a king over us.’^h Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”ⁱ

²⁰Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. ²¹Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected.^B Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected.^j But when they searched for him, they could not find him. ²²They again inquired of the Lord,^k “Has the man come here yet?”

The Lord replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.”

²³They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else.^{Cl 24}Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen?^m There is no one like him among the entire population.”

And all the people shouted,^D “Long live the king!”ⁿ

²⁵Samuel proclaimed to the people the rights of kingship.^o He wrote them on a scroll, which he placed in the presence of the Lord.^p Then Samuel sent all the people home.

²⁶Saul also went to his home in Gibeah,^q and brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him. ²⁷But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us?” They despised him and did not bring him a gift,^r but Saul said nothing.^EF

SAUL’S DELIVERANCE OF JABESH-GILEAD

11Nahash^As the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead.^t All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty^u with us, and we will serve you.”

²Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I’ll make one with you on this condition: that I gouge out everyone’s right eye^v and humiliate all Israel.”^w

³“Don’t do anything to us for seven days,” the elders of Jabesh said to him, “and let us send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If no one saves us, we will surrender to you.”

⁴When the messengers came to Gibeah,^x Saul’s hometown, and told the terms to the people, all wept aloud.^{y 5}Just then Saul was coming in from the field behind his oxen. “What’s the matter with the people? Why are they weeping?” Saul inquired, and they repeated to him the words of the men from Jabesh.

⁶When Saul heard these words, the Spirit of God suddenly came powerfully on him,^z and his anger burned furiously. ⁷He took a team of oxen, cut them in pieces,^aa and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by messengers who said, “This is what will be done to the ox of anyone who doesn’t march behind Saul and Samuel.”^ab As a result, the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out united.^ac

⁸Saul counted them at Bezek.^ad There were three hundred thousand^Bae Israelites and thirty thousand^C men from Judah. ⁹He told the messengers who had come, “Tell this to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’ ” So the messengers told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.

¹⁰Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want to us.”

¹¹The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions.^a During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

SAUL’S CONFIRMATION AS KING

¹²Afterward, the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not^D reign over us?^b Give us those men so we can kill them!”^c

¹³But Saul ordered, “No one will be executed this day, for today the Lord has provided deliverance in Israel.”^d

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal, so we can renew the kingship there.” ¹⁵So all the people went to Gilgal, and there in the Lord’s presence^e they made Saul king. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings^f in the Lord’s presence, and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.