Saul Among the Prophets

1Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him, and said, “Has not Yahweh anointed you a ruler over His inheritance? 2When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to search for have been found. Now behold, your father has [†]ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the [†]oak of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine; 4and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread. And you will take them from their hand. 5Afterward you will come to [†]the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. 6Then the Spirit of Yahweh will [†]come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. 7Now it will be when these signs come to you, do for yourself whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and make you know what you should do.”

9Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed [†]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10And they came to [†]the hill there, and behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God [†]came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. 11Now it happened that all who knew him previously saw, and behold, he was prophesying with the prophets, so the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12And a man there answered and said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13Then he finished prophesying and came to the high place.

14Now Saul’s uncle said to him and his young man, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To look for the donkeys. And we saw that they were not anywhere, so we went to Samuel.” 15And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16So Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had said.

Saul the King

17Then Samuel called the people together to Yahweh at Mizpah; 18and he said to the sons of Israel, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19But you have today rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have [†]said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ So now, take your stand before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans.”

20Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but they looked for him, and he could not be found. 22Therefore they inquired further of Yahweh, “Has the man come here yet?” So Yahweh said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.” 23So they ran and took him from there, and he stood among the people. And he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “[†]Long live the king!”

25Then Samuel spoke with the people about the legal judgments of the kingdom and wrote them in the book and placed it before Yahweh. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. 26Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27But certain [†]vile men said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and did not bring him any present. But he kept silent.