Chapter 9

Saul’s Search

1 Now 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.

2 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.

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

4 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.

5 When they came to the land of aZuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let us return, bor else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us.”

6 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 set out.”

7 Then Saul said to his servant, “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?”

8 The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel 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.)

10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

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

12 They answered them and said, “He is; 1see, 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. Now therefore, go up for you will find him at once.”

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

God’s Choice for King

15 Now a day before Saul’s coming, athe Lord had 1revealed this to Samuel saying,

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

17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord 1said to him, “aBehold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall rule over My people.”

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

19 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 mind.

20 “aAs for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your mind 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?”

21 Saul replied, “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?”

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

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

24 Then 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.

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

26 And they arose early; and at daybreak 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.

27 As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Say to the servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on, but you remain standing now, that I may proclaim the word of God to you.”

Chapter 10

Saul among Prophets

1 Then aSamuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, bkissed him and said, “Has not cthe Lord 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 look 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;

4 and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept 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 the Lord will come upon you mightily, and byou shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.

7 “It shall be when these signs come to you, ado for yourself what 1the occasion requires, 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 show you what you should do.”

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

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

11 It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? aIs Saul also among the prophets?”

12 A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “aIs Saul also among the prophets?”

13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 Now aSaul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “bTo look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.”

15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

16 So Saul said to his uncle, “aHe told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

Saul Publicly Chosen King

17 Thereafter Samuel called the apeople together to the Lord at Mizpah;

18 and he said to the sons of Israel, “aThus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the 1power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’

19 “But you ahave today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have 1said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ Now therefore, bpresent yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”

20 Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.

21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found.

22 Therefore athey inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” So the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.”

23 So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, ahe was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.

24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him awhom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “1bLong live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people athe ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and bplaced it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house.

26 Saul also went ato his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him.

27 But certain 1aworthless men said, “How can this one deliver us?” And they despised him and bdid not bring him any present. But he kept silent.

Chapter 11

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

1 Now aNahash the Ammonite came up and 1besieged bJabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make ca covenant with us and we will serve you.”

2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make it with you on this condition, athat I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it ba reproach on all Israel.”

3 aThe elders of Jabesh said to him, “Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.”

4 Then the messengers came ato Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the …