1 Samuel 10

1 Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not that Jehovah has anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance?

2 When thou are departed from me today, then thou shall find two men by Rachel's sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. And they will say to thee, The donkeys which thou went to seek are found, and, lo, thy father has left off caring for the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

3 Then thou shall go on forward from there, and thou shall come to the oak of Tabor. And there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine.

4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread, which thou shall receive from their hand.

5 After that thou shall come to the hill of God where is the garrison of the Philistines. And it shall come to pass, when thou have come there to the city, that thou shall meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them, and they will be prophesying.

6 And the Spirit of Jehovah will come mightily upon thee, and thou shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.

7 And let it be, when these signs have come to thee, that thou do as occasion shall serve thee, for God is with thee.

8 And thou shall go down before me to Gilgal. And, behold, I will come down to thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. Thou shall tarry seven days till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shall do.

9 And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all those signs came to pass that day.

10 And when they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him. And the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them.

11 And it came to pass, when all who knew him formerly saw, that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

12 And a man from the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 And Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Where did ye go? And he said, To seek the donkeys, and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel.

15 And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said to you.

16 And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he did not tell him.

17 And Samuel called the people together to Jehovah to Mizpah.

18 And he said to the sons of Israel, Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you,

19 but ye have this day rejected your God who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses, and ye have said to him, No, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes, and by your thousands.

20 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

21 And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families, and the family of the Matrites was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken. But when they sought him, he could not be found.

22 Therefore they asked of Jehovah further, Is there yet a man to come here? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he has hid himself among the baggage.

23 And they ran and fetched him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Jehovah has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, Live, O king!

25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

26 And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah, and mighty men went with him, whose hearts God had touched.

27 But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.