1 Samuel 10

1 And Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said to him, “Has the Lord not anointed you as ruler over his people, over Israel? You will rule among the people of the Lord, and you will save them out of the hand of their enemies all around. And this is the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you as ruler over his inheritance: [a] 2 as soon as you leave me today, you will find two men at the tombs of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin, leaping wildly; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went to look for have been found. And now your father has let the matter of the donkeys go, and he is worried about you, saying, What am I to do about my son?’ [b] 3 And you will go on from there, and beyond it you will come as far as the oak of Tabor, and you will find there three men going up to God at Bethel: one carrying three young goats, one carrying three containers of bread, and one carrying a skin of wine. [c] 4 And they will ask after your welfare and give you two of the firstfruits of bread, and you will take them from their hand. [d] 5 After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is — Nasib the Philistine is there. And when you come into the city there, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place, and in front of them a harp and a hand-drum and a pipe and a lyre, and they will be prophesying. [e] 6 And the Spirit of the Lord will leap on you, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be turned into another man. 7 And when these signs come upon you, do whatever your hand finds to do, because God is with you. 8 And you are to go down in front of Gilgal, and look — I am coming down to you to offer up a whole burnt offering and peaceable offerings. Seven days you are to wait until I come to you, and I will make known to you what you are to do.” [f]

9 And when he turned his shoulder to go away from Samuel, God turned another heart in him; and all the signs came about that day. 10 And he comes from there to the hill, and there was a band of prophets facing him; and the Spirit of God leaped on him, and he prophesied in the middle of them. 11 And all who had known him before came and saw, and there he was in the middle of the prophets. And the people said, each to his neighbor, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul among the prophets too?” 12 And one of them answered and said, “And who is his father?” That is why it became a saying: “Is Saul among the prophets too?” 13 And he finished prophesying and comes to the hill.

14 And his relative said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And they said, “To look for the donkeys. And when we saw that they were not to be found, we went in to Samuel.” [g] 15 And his relative said to Saul, “Tell me, please, what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his relative, “He told me plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But the matter of the kingdom he did not tell him.

17 And Samuel called all the people together before the Lord at Mizpah, 18 and he said to the children of Israel, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you out of the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and out of all the kingdoms that pressed you hard.’ 19 But you today have rejected God, who is himself the one who rescues you out of all your troubles and your afflictions, and you said, ‘No — you are to set a king over us.’ So now take your stand before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.” [h] 20 And Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 And he brings the tribe of Benjamin forward by clans, and the clan of Matri was taken by lot; and they bring the clan of Matri forward man by man, and Saul the son of Kish was taken. And he was looked for, and he could not be found. [i] 22 And Samuel inquired of the Lord again, “Is the man coming here?” And the Lord said, “Look, he is hidden among the baggage.” 23 And he ran and takes him from there and stood him in the middle of the people; and he was taller than all the people from his shoulders up. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Have you seen the man the Lord has chosen for himself — that there is no one like him among you all?” And all the people took it in, and they said, “Long live the king!” [j]

25 And Samuel told the people the rule of the king, and wrote it in a book and set it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, and each went to his own place. 26 And Saul went off to his house at Gibeah; and able men went with Saul, men whose hearts the Lord had touched. 27 But worthless men said, “How is this man going to save us?” And they treated him with contempt and brought him no gifts. [k]