1 Samuel 10:17–24

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