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.