1 Samuel 8–15

Israel Demands a King

8Now it came to pass when Samuel was ^aold that he ^bmade his ^csons judges over Israel. ²The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³But his sons ^ddid not walk in his ways; they turned aside ^eafter dishonest gain, ^ftook bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^gmake us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶But the thing ^hdispleased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel ⁱprayed to the Lord. ⁷And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for ^jthey have not rejected you, but ^kthey have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and ^lshow them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. ¹¹And he said, ^m“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your ⁿsons and appoint them for his own ^ochariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹²He will ^pappoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴And ^qhe will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ¹young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. ¹⁸And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord ^rwill not hear you in that day.”

¹⁹Nevertheless the people ^srefused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, ²⁰that we also may be ^tlike all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. ²²So the Lord said to Samuel, ^u“Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

Saul Chosen to Be King

9There was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^aKish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of ¹power. ²And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. ^bFrom his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

³Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, “Please take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴So he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of ^cShalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵When they had come to the land of ^dZuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let ^eus return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.”

⁶And he said to him, “Look now, there is in this city ^fa man of God, and he is an honorable man; ^gall that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.”

⁷Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, ^hwhat shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”

⁸And the servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have here at hand one-fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” ⁹(Formerly in Israel, when a man ⁱwent ²to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called ^ja seer.)

¹⁰Then Saul said to his servant, ³“Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹As they went up the hill to the city, ^kthey met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?”

¹²And they answered them and said, “Yes, there he is, just ahead of you. Hurry now; for today he came to this city, because ^lthere is a sacrifice of the people today ^mon the high place. ¹³As soon as you come into the city, you will surely find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up, for about this time you will find him.” ¹⁴So they went up to the city. As they were coming into the city, there was Samuel, coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

¹⁵ⁿNow the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, ¹⁶“Tomorrow about this time ^oI will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, ^pand you shall anoint him ⁴commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have ^qlooked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”

¹⁷So when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, ^r“There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people.” ¹⁸Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, “Please tell me, where is the seer’s house?”

¹⁹Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and tomorrow I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. ²⁰But as for ^syour donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be anxious about them, for they have been found. And ⁵on whom ^tis all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and on all your father’s house?”

²¹And Saul answered and said, ^u“Am I not a Benjamite, of the ^vsmallest of the tribes of Israel, and ^wmy family the least of all the families of the ⁶tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?”

²²Now Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and had them sit in the place of honor among those who were invited; there were about thirty persons. ²³And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Set it apart.’ ” ²⁴So the cook took up ^xthe thigh with its upper part and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “Here it is, what was kept back. It was set apart for you. Eat; for until this time it has been kept for you, since I said I invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵When they had come down from the high place into the city, ⁷Samuel spoke with Saul on ^ythe top of the house. ²⁶They arose early; and it was about the dawning of the day that Samuel called to Saul on the top of the house, saying, “Get up, that I may send you on your way.” And Saul arose, and both of them went outside, he and Samuel.

Saul Anointed King

²⁷As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” And he went on. “But you stand here ⁸awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God.”

10Then ^aSamuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, ^band kissed him and said: “Is it not because ^cthe Lord has anointed you commander over ^dHis ¹inheritance? ²When you have departed from me today, you will find two men by ^eRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin ^fat Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. And now your father has ceased caring about the donkeys and is worrying about ^gyou, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ ³Then you shall go on forward from there and come to the terebinth tree of Tabor. There three men going up ^hto God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. ⁴And they will ²greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands. ⁵After that you shall come to the hill of God ⁱwhere the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down ^jfrom the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; ^kand they will be prophesying. ⁶Then ^lthe Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and ^myou will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. ⁷And let it be, when these ⁿsigns come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for ^oGod is with you. ⁸You shall go down before me ^pto Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. ^qSeven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”

⁹So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God ³gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. ^10rWhen they came there to the hill, there was ^sa group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? ^tIs Saul also among the prophets?” ¹²Then a man from there answered and said, “But ^uwho is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³And when he had finished prophesying, he…