1 Samuel 10–12

10Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “The Lord anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the Lord has chosen you^x to be the ruler of his people: ²when you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn’t worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, ‘What shall I do about my son?’ ³You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. ⁴They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept. ⁵Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. ⁶Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. ⁷When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. ⁸You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do.”

⁹When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. ¹⁰When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. ¹¹People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?” ^12*A man who lived there asked, “How about these other prophets—who do you think their fathers are?” This is how the saying originated, “Has even Saul become a prophet?” ¹³When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.

¹⁴Saul’s uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, “Where have you been?”

“Looking for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we couldn’t find them, we went to see Samuel.”

¹⁵“And what did he tell you?” Saul’s uncle asked.

¹⁶“He told us that the animals had been found,” Saul answered—but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.

Saul Is Acclaimed as King

¹⁷Samuel called the people together for a religious gathering at Mizpah ¹⁸and said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I brought you out of Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all the other peoples who were oppressing you. ¹⁹I am your God, the one who rescues you from all your troubles and difficulties, but today you have rejected me and have asked me to give you a king. Very well, then, gather yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by clans.’ ” ²⁰Then Samuel made each tribe come forward, and the Lord picked the tribe of Benjamin. ²¹Then Samuel made the families of the tribe of Benjamin come forward, and the family of Matri was picked out. Then the men of the family of Matri came forward,^y and Saul son of Kish was picked out. They looked for him, but when they could not find him, ²²they asked the Lord, “Is there still someone else?”

The Lord answered, “Saul is over there, hiding behind the supplies.”

²³So they ran and brought Saul out to the people, and they could see that he was a head taller than anyone else. ²⁴Samuel said to the people, “Here is the man the Lord has chosen! There is no one else among us like him.”

All the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book, which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent everyone home. ²⁶Saul also went back home to Gibeah. Some powerful men,^z whose hearts God had touched, went with him. ²⁷But some worthless people said, “How can this fellow do us any good?” They despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts.

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

11About a month later King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the town of Jabesh in the territory of Gilead and besieged it. The men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will accept you as our ruler.”

²Nahash answered, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition: I will put out everyone’s right eye and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”

³The leaders of Jabesh said, “Give us seven days to send messengers throughout the land of Israel. If no one will help us, then we will surrender to you.”

⁴The messengers arrived at Gibeah, where Saul lived, and when they told the news, the people started crying in despair. ⁵Saul was just coming in from the field with his oxen, and he asked, “What’s wrong? Why is everyone crying?” They told him what the messengers from Jabesh had reported. ⁶When Saul heard this, the spirit of God took control of him, and he became furious. ⁷He took two oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent messengers to carry the pieces throughout the land of Israel with this warning: “Whoever does not follow Saul and Samuel into battle will have this done to his oxen!”

The people of Israel were afraid of what the Lord might do, and all of them, without exception, came out together. ⁸Saul gathered them at Bezek: there were 300,000 from Israel and 30,000 from Judah. ⁹They said to the messengers from Jabesh, “Tell your people that before noon tomorrow they will be rescued.” When the people of Jabesh received the message, they were overjoyed ¹⁰and said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do with us whatever you wish.”

¹¹That night Saul divided his men into three groups, and at dawn they rushed into the enemy camp and attacked the Ammonites. By noon they had slaughtered them. The survivors scattered, each man running off by himself.

¹²Then the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Where are the people who said that Saul should not be our king? Hand them over to us, and we will kill them!”

¹³But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this is the day the Lord rescued Israel.” ¹⁴And Samuel said to them, “Let us all go to Gilgal and once more proclaim Saul as our king.” ¹⁵So they all went to Gilgal, and there at the holy place they proclaimed Saul king. They offered fellowship sacrifices, and Saul and all the people of Israel celebrated the event.

Samuel Addresses the People

12Then Samuel said to the people of Israel, “I have done what you asked me to do. I have given you a king to rule you, ²and now you have him to lead you. As for me, I am old and grey, and my sons are with you. I have been your leader from my youth until now. ³Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, accuse me now in the presence of the Lord and the king he has chosen. Have I taken anybody’s cow or anybody’s donkey? Have I cheated or oppressed anyone? Have I accepted a bribe from anyone? If I have done any of these things, I will pay back what I have taken.”

⁴The people answered, “No, you have not cheated us or oppressed us; you have not taken anything from anyone.”

⁵Samuel replied, “The Lord and the king he has chosen are witnesses today that you have found me to be completely innocent.”

“Yes, the Lord is our witness,” they answered.

^6*Samuel continued, “The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors out of Egypt. ⁷Now stand where you are, and I will accuse you before the Lord by reminding you^a of all the mighty actions the Lord did to save you and your ancestors. ^8*When Jacob and his family went to Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them,^b your ancestors cried to the Lord for help, and he sent Moses an Aaron, who brought them out of Egypt and settled them in this land. ^9*But the people forgot the Lord their God, and so he let the Philistines and the king of Moab and Sisera, commander of the army of the city of Hazor, fight against your ancestors and conquer them. ^10*Then they cried to the Lord for help and said, ‘We have sinned, because we turned away from you, Lord, and worshipped the idols of Baal and Astarte. Rescue us from our enemies, and we will worship you!’ ^11*And the Lord sent Gideon, Barak,^c Jephthah, and finally me. Each of us rescued you from your enemies, and you lived in safety. ^12*But when you saw that King Nahash of Ammon was about to attack you, you rejected the Lord as your king and said to me, ‘We want a king to rule us.’

¹³“Now here is the king you chose; you asked for him, and now the Lord has given him to you. ¹⁴All will go well with you if you honour the Lord your God, serve him, listen to him, and obey his commands, and if you and your king follow him. ¹⁵But if you do not listen to the Lord but disobey his commands, he will be against you and your king.^{d 16}So then, stand where you are, and you will see the great thing which the Lord is going to do. ¹⁷It’s the dry season, isn’t it? But I will pray, and the Lord will send thunder and rain. When this happens, you will realize that you committed a great sin against the Lord when you asked him for a king.”

¹⁸So Samuel prayed, and on that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. Then all the people became afraid of the Lord and of Samuel, ¹⁹and they said to Samuel, “Please, sir, pray to the Lord your God for us, so that we won’t die. We now realize that, besides all our other sins, we have sinned by asking for a king.”

²⁰“Don’t be afraid,” Samuel answered. “Even though you have done such an evil thing, do not turn away from the Lord, but serve him with all your heart. ²¹Don’t go after^e false gods; they cannot help you or save you, for they are not real. ²²The Lord has made a solemn promise, and he will not abandon you, for…