1 Samuel 9–10

Saul, the Requested King, Introduced

9Now there was a man from Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjaminite, a very wealthy man.^{a 2}He had a son whose name was Saul,^b a young and handsome man. There was not a man from the Israelites^c more handsome than he was; from his shoulders up, he was taller than all the people.

³Now the female donkeys of Kish the father of Saul got lost, and Kish said to Saul his son, “Please take one of the servants with you and get up; go and seek the female donkeys.” ⁴So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim; he passed through the land of Shalisha but they did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim but they were not there. He passed through the land of Benjamin but did not find them.

⁵When they entered the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the female donkeys and worry about us!” ⁶But he^d said to him, “Look, a man of God is in this town, and the man is honored. All that he says certainly comes true. So then let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about our journey on which we have gone.” ⁷So Saul said to his servant, “Look, we may go, but what should we bring to the man? For the bread is gone from our bags, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have with us?” ⁸The servant again answered Saul and said, “Look, I have^e in my hand a quarter shekel of silver! I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us our way.” ⁹(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: “Come, let us go up to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called a seer.) ¹⁰So Saul said to his servant, “Your suggestion is a good one.^f Come, let us go.” And they went to the town where the man of God was.

¹¹They were going up the ascent of the town when they found young women going out to draw water. They said to them, “Is there the seer here?” ¹²They answered them and said, “There is. Look, he is just in front of you! Hurry now, because he has come to the town today, because there is a sacrifice for the people today at the high place. ¹³As soon as you enter the town, you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. Then afterward the invited guests will eat. So then, go up, because you will find him today!” ¹⁴So they went up to the town. As they were entering into the middle of the town, Samuel was coming forth to meet them, to go up to the high place.

¹⁵Now Yahweh had revealed this to^g Samuel the day before Saul arrived, saying, ¹⁶“This time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you must anoint him as leader over my people Israel. He will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen the suffering of my people, because their cry of distress has come to me.” ¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh answered him, “Here is the man about whom I told you! This is the one who will govern my people.”

¹⁸Then Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate and said, “Please tell me, where is the house of the seer?” ¹⁹Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me^h to the high place, and you will eat with me today; then I will send you away in the morning. I will tell you all that is on your mind.^{i 20}And as for your female donkeys that were lost three days ago,^j do not be concerned about them,^k because they have been found. For whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not for you and for all the house of your father?”

²¹Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the humblest of all the families of the tribes of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me in this way?”^{l 22}So Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them to a room in the building and gave them a place at the head of the invited guests.^m There were about thirty men. ²³Then Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion that I gave to you, about which I said to you, ‘Keep it with you.’ ” ²⁴So the cook took up the shank and what was on it and put it before Saul, and heⁿ said, “Look, the saved portion^o is placed before you^p—eat, because it has been kept for you for the appointed time,” and he said,^q “I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵When they came down from the high place to the town, he spoke with Saul on the roof. ²⁶They got up early, and as dawn was breaking,^r Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, so that I can send you away.” So Saul got up and the two of them, he and Samuel, went outside. ²⁷As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us. When he has passed, you stand here a while,^s so that I can make known to you the word of God.”

Saul Is Anointed as King

10Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, “Has not^a Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance? ²As you go from with me today,^b you will find two men near the burial site of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The female donkeys that you went to search for have been found.’ Now look, your father is no longer concerned about^c the female donkeys and has begun worrying about you,^d saying, ‘What should I do about my son?’ ³Then you will go on from there and further you will come to the oak of Tabor. There three men will meet you, who are going up to God at Bethel. One will be carrying three male kid goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a skin of wine. ⁴They will ask how you are doing^e and will give you two loaves, which you will take from their hand. ⁵After this, you will come to the Gibeah of God,^f where there are sentries^g of the Philistines. Just as you enter^h the town there, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place, with harp, tambourine, flute, and zither before them, and they will be prophesying. ⁶Then the Spirit of Yahweh will rush upon you,ⁱ and you will prophesy with them; and you will turn into a different person.^{j 7}When these signs come to you, do for yourself what your hand finds to do, for God will be with you. ⁸Then you will go down before me to Gilgal. Look, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to make^k fellowship offerings. You must wait seven days until I come to you. Then I will let you know what you should do.” ⁹Just as he turned^l his shoulder to depart from Samuel, God changed his^m heart. And all these signs were fulfilled on that day.

¹⁰When they went from there to Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him,ⁿ and he prophesied among them. ¹¹And when^o all who knew him formerly^p saw that he prophesied with prophets, the people said to one another, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹²And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³When he finished prophesying, he went to the high place. ¹⁴Then Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To search for the female donkeys; and when we saw none, we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵So Saul’s uncle said to him, “Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?” ¹⁶Then Saul said to his uncle, “He told us for certain that the female donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingship of which Samuel had spoken.

¹⁷Then Samuel summoned the people to Yahweh at Mizpah, ¹⁸and he said to the Israelites,^q “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹But you today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, ‘No, but you must appoint a king over us!’ So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans.”

²⁰So Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. ²¹Then he brought near the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, and the family of Matri was selected by lot. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, and they sought him, but he could not be found. ²²So they inquired again of Yahweh, “Did the man come here?” ^r And Yahweh said, “Look, he is hiding himself among the baggage.” ²³So they ran and took him from there, and when he took his stand among the people, he was taller than all the people from his shoulders and up. ²⁴Then Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people!” And all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”

²⁵Then Samuel told the people the custom of the kingship, and he wrote the rules down on a scroll and laid it before Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house. ²⁶And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah, and the troops whose hearts^s God had touched went with him. ²⁷However, some worthless men^t said, “How can this man deliver us?” So they despised him and brought no gift to him, but he kept silent.^u