1 Samuel 8–15

Israel’s Demand for a King

8When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. ^q2His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. ^r3However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. ^s

⁴So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. ^t5They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not follow your example. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” ^u

⁶When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king. ^v8They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to Me, ^wsince the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning Me and worshiping other gods. ⁹Listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them ^xand tell them about the rights of the king who will rule over them.”

¹⁰Samuel told all the Lord’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹He said, “These are the rights of the king who will rule over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. ¹²He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, ^yto plow his ground or reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war or the equipment for his chariots. ¹³He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ^z15He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. ¹⁶He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, ^aand your donkeys and use them for his work. ¹⁷He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, ^bbut the Lord won’t answer you on that day.” ^c

¹⁹The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. ²⁰Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, ^dand fight our battles.”

²¹Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the Lord. ^e22“Listen to them,” the Lord told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” ^f

Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”

Saul Anointed King

9There was an influential man of Benjamin named Kish ^gson of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite. ²He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. ^hThere was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else. ^ij

³One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the attendants with you and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴Saul and his attendant went through the hill country of Ephraim ^kand then through the region of Shalishah, ^lbut they didn’t find them. They went through the region of Shaalim ^m—nothing. Then they went through the Benjaminite region but still didn’t find them.

⁵When they came to the land of Zuph, ⁿSaul said to the attendant who was with him, “Come on, let’s go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” ^o

⁶“Look,” the attendant said, “there’s a man of God ^pin this city who is highly respected; everything he says is sure to come true. ^qLet’s go there now. Maybe he’ll tell us which way we should go.” ^r

⁷“Suppose we do go,” Saul said to his attendant, “what do we take the man? The food from our packs is gone, and there’s no gift to take to the man of God. ^sWhat do we have?”

⁸The attendant answered Saul: “Here, I have a piece ^tof silver. I’ll give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.”

⁹Formerly in Israel, a man who was going to inquire of God would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer,” for the prophet of today was formerly called the seer. ^u

¹⁰“Good,” Saul replied to his attendant. “Come on, let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. ¹¹As they were climbing the hill to the city, they found some young women coming out to draw water ^vand asked, “Is the seer here?”

¹²The women answered, “Yes, he is ahead of you. Hurry, he just now came to the city, because there’s a sacrifice ^wfor the people at the high place ^xtoday. ¹³If you go quickly, you can catch up with him before he goes to the high place to eat. The people won’t eat until he comes because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests can eat. Go up immediately—you can find him now.” ¹⁴So they went up toward the city.

Saul and his attendant were entering the city when they saw Samuel coming toward them on his way to the high place. ¹⁵Now the day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had informed Samuel, ^yz16“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel. ^aHe will save them from the hand of the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of My people, ^bfor their cry has come to Me.” ¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about; ^che will rule over My people.”

¹⁸Saul approached Samuel in the gate area and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

¹⁹“I am the seer,” Samuel answered. ^d“Go up ahead of me to the high place and eat with me today. When I send you off in the morning, I’ll tell you everything that’s in your heart. ²⁰As for the donkeys that wandered away from you three days ago, ^edon’t worry about them because they’ve been found. And who does all Israel desire ^fbut you and all your father’s family?”

²¹Saul responded, “Am I not a Benjaminite ^gfrom the smallest of Israel’s tribes and isn’t my clan the least important of all the clans of the Benjaminite tribe? ^hSo why have you said something like this to me?”

²²Samuel took Saul and his attendant, brought them to the banquet hall, and gave them a place at the head of the 30 ⁱor so men who had been invited. ²³Then Samuel said to the cook, “Get the portion of meat that I gave you and told you to set aside.”

²⁴The cook picked up the thigh ^jand what was attached to it and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said, “Notice that the reserved piece is set before you. Eat it because it was saved for you for this solemn event at the time I said, ‘I’ve invited the people.’ ” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵Afterward, they went down from the high place to the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. ^kl

²⁶They got up early, and just before dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up, and I’ll send you on your way!” Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went outside. ²⁷As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the attendant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I’ll reveal the word of God to you.” So the attendant went on.

10Samuel took the flask of oil, ^mpoured it out on Saul’s head, ⁿkissed him, and said, “Hasn’t the Lord anointed you ^oruler over His inheritance? ^pq2Today when you leave me, you’ll find two men at Rachel’s Grave ^rat Zelzah in the land of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went looking for have been found, ^sand 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. ^tThree men going up to God at Bethel ^uwill meet you there, one bringing three goats, one bringing three loaves of bread, and one bringing a skin of wine. ⁴They will ask how you are and give you two loaves ^vof bread, which you will accept from them.

⁵“After that you will come to the Hill of God ^wxwhere there are Philistine garrisons. ^yWhen you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets ^zcoming down from the high place prophesying. ^aThey will be preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. ⁶The Spirit of the Lord will control you, ^byou will prophesy with them, ^cand you will be transformed into a different person. ^d7When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances require ^efbecause 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 around ^gto leave Samuel, God changed his heart, ^hand all the signs came about that day. ¹⁰When Saul and his attendant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God took control of 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?” ⁱ

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

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 ^kasked him and his attendant, “Where did you go?”

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

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 ^m18and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ⁿ‘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, ^owho saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to Him, ‘You ^pmust set a king over us.’ ^qNow…