¹⁷Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I led Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control and from other kingdoms that were troubling you.’ ¹⁹But now you have rejected your God. He saves you from all your troubles and problems, but you said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us.’ Now come, stand before the Lord in your tribes and family groups.”

²⁰When Samuel gathered all the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin was picked. ²¹Samuel had them pass by in family groups, and Matri’s family was picked. Then he had each man of Matri’s family pass by, and Saul son of Kish was picked. But when they looked for Saul, they could not find him. ²²They asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?”

The Lord said, “Yes. He’s hiding behind the baggage.”

²³So they ran and brought him out. When Saul stood among the people, he was a head taller than anyone else. ²⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. There is no one like him among all the people.”

Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

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