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.

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