1 Samuel 10–12

10Then Samuel took a bottle of olive oil. He poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him. He said, “The Lord has anointed you to be the leader of his people. ²When you leave me today, you will meet two men. They will be near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They’ll say to you, ‘The donkeys you have been looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped thinking about them. Instead, he’s worried about you. He’s asking, “What can I do to find my son?” ’

³“You will go on from Zelzah until you come to the large tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They’ll be on their way up to Bethel to worship God. One of them will be carrying three young goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. A third will be carrying a bottle of wine. It will be a bottle that is made out of animal skin. ⁴The men will greet you. They’ll offer you two loaves of bread. You will accept the loaves from them.

⁵“After that, you will go to Gibeah of God. Some Philistine soldiers are stationed there. As you approach the town, you will meet a group of prophets. They’ll be coming down from the high place where they worship. People will be playing lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps at the head of the group. The prophets will be prophesying. ⁶The Spirit of the Lord will come on you with power. Then you will prophesy along with them. You will become a different person.

⁷“All of those things will happen. Then do what you want to do. God is with you.

⁸“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. You can be sure that I’ll come down to you there. I’ll come and sacrifice burnt offerings and friendship offerings. But you must wait there for seven days until I come to you. Then I’ll tell you what to do.”

Saul Is Made King of Israel

⁹As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart. All of those things happened that day. ¹⁰When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met Saul. Then the Spirit of God came on him with power. He prophesied along with them. ¹¹Those who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets. They asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also one of the prophets?”

¹²A man who lived in Gibeah answered, “Yes, he is. In fact, he’s their leader.” That’s why people say, “Is Saul also one of the prophets?”

¹³After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place to worship.

¹⁴Later, Saul’s uncle spoke to him and his servant. He asked, “Where have you been?”

“Looking for the donkeys,” he said. “But we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel.”

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

¹⁶Saul replied, “He told us the donkeys had been found.” But Saul didn’t tell his uncle that Samuel had said he would become king.

¹⁷Samuel sent a message to the people of Israel. He told them to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸He said to them, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Israel, I brought you up out of Egypt. I saved you from their powerful hand. I also saved you from the powerful hand of all of the kingdoms that had beaten you down.’

¹⁹“But now you have turned your backs on your God. He saves you out of all of your trouble and suffering. In spite of that, you have said, ‘We refuse to listen. Place a king over us.’

“So now gather together to meet with the Lord. Do it tribe by tribe and family group by family group.”

²⁰Then Samuel had each tribe of Israel come forward. The tribe of Benjamin was chosen. ²¹Next he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward, family group by family group. Matri’s group was chosen. Finally Saul, the son of Kish, was chosen. But when people looked for him, they realized he wasn’t there. ²²They needed more help from the Lord. So they asked him, “Has the man come here yet?”

The Lord said, “Yes. He has hidden himself among the supplies.”

²³So they ran over there and brought him out. When he stood up, the people saw that he was a head taller than any of them.

²⁴Samuel spoke to all of the people. He said, “Look at the man the Lord has chosen! There isn’t anyone like him among all of the people.”

Then the people shouted, “May the king live a long time!”

²⁵Samuel explained to the people what the king who ruled over them should do. He wrote it down on a scroll. He placed it in front of the Lord in the holy tent. Then he sent the people away. He sent each of them to their own homes.

²⁶Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. Some brave men whose hearts God had touched went with Saul.

²⁷But some evil people who wanted to stir up trouble said, “How can this fellow save us?” They looked down on him. They didn’t bring him any gifts. But Saul kept quiet about it.

Saul Saves the City of Jabesh Gilead

11Nahash was the king of Ammon. He and his army went up to Jabesh Gilead. They surrounded it and got ready to attack it. All of the men of Jabesh spoke to Nahash. They said, “Make a peace treaty with us. Then we’ll be under your control.”

²Nahash, the king of Ammon, replied, “I will make a peace treaty with you. But I’ll do it only on one condition. You must let me put out the right eye of every one of you. I want to bring shame on the whole nation of Israel.”

³The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days to report back to you. We’ll send messengers all through Israel. If no one comes to save us, we’ll hand ourselves over to you.”

⁴The messengers came to Gibeah of Saul. They reported to the people the terms Nahash had required. Then all of the people sobbed out loud.

⁵Just then Saul was coming in from the fields. He was walking behind his oxen. He asked, “What’s wrong with the people? Why are they sobbing?” He was told what the men of Jabesh had said.

⁶When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came on him with power. He burned with anger. ⁷He got a pair of oxen and cut them into pieces. He sent the pieces by messengers all through Israel. They announced, “You must follow Saul and Samuel. If you don’t, this is what will happen to your oxen.”

The terror of the Lord fell on the people. So all of them came together with one purpose in mind.

⁸Saul brought his army together at Bezek. There were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 from Judah.

⁹The messengers who had come were told, “Go back and report to the men of Jabesh Gilead. Tell them, ‘By the hottest time of the day tomorrow, you will be saved.’ ”

The messengers went and reported it to the men of Jabesh. It made those men very happy. ¹⁰They said to the people of Ammon, “Tomorrow we’ll hand ourselves over to you. Then you can do to us what seems best to you.”

¹¹The next day Saul separated his men into three groups. While it was still dark, they broke into the camp of the Ammonite army. They kept killing the men of Ammon until the hottest time of the day. Those who got away alive were scattered. There weren’t two of them left together anywhere.

The People Agree to Have Saul as King

¹²The people said to Samuel, “Who asked, ‘Is Saul going to rule over us?’ Bring those people to us. We’ll put them to death.”

¹³But Saul said, “We won’t put anyone to death today! After all, this is the day the Lord has saved Israel.”

¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “Come on. Let’s go to Gilgal. There we’ll agree to have Saul as our king.”

¹⁵So all of the people went to Gilgal. There, with the Lord as witness, they agreed to have Saul as their king. There they sacrificed friendship offerings to the Lord. And there Saul and all of the people of Israel celebrated with great joy.

Samuel Tells Israel to Serve the Lord

12Samuel spoke to all of the people of Israel. He said, “I’ve done everything you asked me to do. I’ve placed a king over you. ²Now you have a king as your leader. But I’m old. My hair is gray. My sons are here with you. I’ve been your leader from the time I was young until this very day.

³“Here I stand. Bring charges against me if you can. The Lord is a witness. And so is his anointed king. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Have I cheated anyone? Have I beaten anyone down? Have I accepted money from anyone who wanted special favors? If I’ve done any of those things, I’ll make it right.”

⁴“You haven’t cheated us,” they replied. “You haven’t beaten us down. You haven’t taken anything from anyone.”

⁵Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you this very day. And so is his anointed king. They are witnesses that I haven’t taken anything from any of you.”

“The Lord is a witness,” they said.

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord appointed Moses and Aaron. He brought up out of Egypt your people who lived long ago. ⁷Now then, stand here. I’m going to remind you of all of the good things the Lord has done for you and your people. He is a witness.

⁸“After Jacob’s family entered Egypt, they cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron. They brought your people out of Egypt. They settled them in this land.

⁹“But the people forgot the Lord their God. So he gave them over to the powerful hand of Sisera. Sisera was the commander of the army of Hazor. The Lord also gave the people of Israel over to the powerful hand of the Philistines and the king of Moab. All of those nations fought against Israel.

¹⁰“So the people cried out to the Lord. They said, ‘We have sinned. We’ve deserted the Lord. We’ve served the gods that are named after Baal. We’ve served the goddesses that are named after Ashtoreth. But save us now from the powerful hands of our enemies. Then we will serve you.’

¹¹“The Lord sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah and me. He saved you from the hands of your enemies, who were all around you. So you lived in safety.

¹²“But then you saw that Nahash, the king of Ammon, was about to attack you. So you said to me, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us.’ You said it even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³Now here is the king you have chosen. He’s the one you asked for. The Lord has placed a king over you.

¹⁴“But you must have respect for the Lord. You must serve him and obey him. You must not say no to his commands. Both you and the king who rules over you…