1 Samuel 8–15

CHAPTER 8

Israel Tells Samuel to Appoint a King

¹And it happened when Samuel was old that ^ahe appointed his sons judges over Israel.

²The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^aBeersheba.

³But his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after greedy gain and ^atook bribes and caused justice to turn aside.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^aRamah;

⁵and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^aappoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶But the thing was ^aevil in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And ^bSamuel prayed to Yahweh.

⁷Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for ^athey have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

⁸“Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.

⁹“So now, listen to their voice; ^ahowever, you shall solemnly ¹testify to them and tell them of ^bthe ²custom of the king who will reign over them.”

The People Refuse Samuel’s Words

¹⁰So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to ^athe people who had asked of him a king.

¹¹And he said, “^aThis will be the ¹custom of the king who will reign over you: ^bhe will take your sons and appoint them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen, and ^cthey will run before his chariots.

¹²“^aAnd he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to ¹do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

¹³“He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers.

¹⁴“^aHe will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his ¹servants.

¹⁵“He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.

¹⁶“He will also take your male slaves and your female slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and ¹use them for his work.

¹⁷“He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.

¹⁸“Then ^ayou will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^bYahweh will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹Nevertheless, the people ^arefused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us,

^20athat we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹So Samuel heard all the words of the people, and ^ahe repeated them in the hearing of Yahweh.

²²Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “^aListen to their voice and ¹appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

CHAPTER 9

Saul to Be Anointed Over Israel

¹Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^aKish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of ¹valor.

²Now he had a son whose name was Saul, a ^achoice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; ^bfrom his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take now with you one of the young men, and arise, go search for the donkeys.”

⁴Thus he passed through ^athe hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^bShalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^cShaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵They came to the land of ^aZuph. And Saul said to his young man who was with him, “Come, and let us return, ^blest my father cease to be concerned about the donkeys and become anxious for us.”

⁶But he said to him, “Behold now, there is ^aa man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^ball that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, ^cperhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have gone.”

⁷Then Saul said to his young man, “But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack, and there is ^ano present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”

⁸And the young man answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a ¹shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, and he will ^atell us our way.”

⁹(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called ^aa seer.)

¹⁰Then Saul said to his young man, “Your word is good; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹As they were going up the slope to the city, ^athey found young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?”

¹²And they answered them and said, “He is! Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for ^athe people have a sacrifice on ^bthe high place today.

¹³“As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes because ^ahe must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. So now, go up for you will find him at once.”

¹⁴So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out to meet them to go up to the high place.

¹⁵Now a day before Saul’s coming, ^aYahweh had revealed this in Samuel’s hearing, saying,

¹⁶“About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and ^ayou shall anoint him to be ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For ^bI have regarded My people because their cry has come to Me.”

¹⁷Now Samuel saw Saul, and Yahweh answered him, “^aBehold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall restrict My people.”

¹⁸Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

¹⁹And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your heart.

²⁰“^aAs for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your heart on them, for they have been found. And ^bfor whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?”

²¹And Saul answered and said, “^aAm I not a Benjamite, of ^bthe smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the ¹tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?”

²²Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the chamber and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men.

²³And Samuel said to the cook, “¹Bring the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said to you, ‘Set it ²aside.’”

²⁴Then the cook ^atook up the leg with what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been reserved! Set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, ¹since I said I have invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵Then they came down from the high place into the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul ^aon the ¹roof.

²⁶And they arose early; and at the ¹breaking of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, that I may send you away.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

²⁷As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Say to the young man that he might pass before us and pass onwards, but you remain standing now, that I may cause you to hear the word of God.”

CHAPTER 10

Saul Among the Prophets

¹Then ^aSamuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, ^bkissed him, and said, “Has not ^cYahweh anointed you a ruler over ^dHis inheritance?

²“When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to ^aRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘^bThe donkeys which you went to search for have been found. Now behold, your father has ¹ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’

³“Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the ^1aoak of Tabor, and there three men going up ^bto God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine;

⁴and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread. And you will take them from their hand.

⁵“Afterward you will come to ^1athe hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet ^ba group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and ^cthey will be prophesying.

⁶“Then ^athe Spirit of Yahweh will ¹come upon you mightily, and ^byou shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.

⁷“Now it will be when these signs come to you, ^ado for yourself whatever your hand finds to do, for ^bGod is with you.

⁸“And ^ayou shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^bsacrifice peace offerings. ^cYou shall wait seven days until I come to you and make you know what you should do.”

⁹Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God ^achanged ¹his heart; and all those signs came about on that day.

^10aAnd they came to ¹the hill there, and behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God ²came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them.

¹¹Now it happened that all who knew him previously saw, and behold, he was prophesying with the prophets, so the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? ^aIs Saul also among the prophets?”

¹²And a man…