1 Samuel 10

1 Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you:

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

2 When you have gone away from me today, you will see two men by the resting-place of Rachel's body, in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went in search of have come back, and now your father, caring no longer for the asses, is troubled about you, saying, What am I to do about my son?

When thou goest from me to-day, thou shalt meet two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to thee, The asses are found which thou wentest to seek, and behold, thy father has dismissed the matter of the asses, and is anxious about you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

3 Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full of wine:

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

4 They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them.

And they will ask after thy welfare, and give thee two loaves, which thou shalt receive of their hands.

5 After that you will come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where an armed force of the Philistines is stationed: and when you come to the town, you will see a band of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments of music before them; and they will be acting like prophets:

After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.

6 And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man.

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

7 And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you.

And it shall be, when these signs shall come to thee, thou shalt do as thy hand shall find; for God is with thee.

8 Then you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to do.

And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to thee, to offer up burnt-offerings, [and] to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou wait, until I come to thee and inform thee what thou shalt do.

9 And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place that day.

And it was [so] that when he turned his back to go away from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.

10 And when they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets came face to face with him; and the spirit of God came on him with power and he took his place among them as a prophet.

And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

11 Now when Saul's old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets?

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

12 And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?

And a man of that place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

13 Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house.

And when he had ended prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel.

And Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that they were nowhere, we went to Samuel.

15 Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you?

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

16 And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom.

And Saul said to his uncle, He told us for certain that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he told him not.

17 Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah;

And Samuel called the people together to Jehovah to Mizpah.

18 And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down:

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

19 But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.

but ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your troubles, and have said unto him, [Nay, ] but a king shalt thou set over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes, and by your thousands.

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

And Samuel caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

21 Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen.

And he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, and the family of Matri was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken. And they sought him, but he was not to be found.

22 So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods.

Therefore they inquired of Jehovah further, Will the man yet come hither? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the baggage.

23 So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people.

And they ran and fetched him thence; 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, Do you see the man of the Lord's selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king!

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, May the king live.

25 Then Samuel gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

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

26 And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God.

And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and with him went the band, whose hearts God had touched.

27 But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.

But the children of Belial said, How should this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no gifts. But he was as one deaf.