1 Samuel 10

1 And Samuel took a little vial of oil and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said: Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance, and thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their enemies, that are round about them. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that God hath anointed thee to be prince.

Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

2 When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt find two men by the sepulchre of Rachel in the borders of Benjamin to the south, and they shall say to thee: The asses are found which thou wentest to seek: and thy father thinking no more of the asses is concerned for you, and saith: What shall I do for my son?

When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

3 And when thou shalt depart from thence, and go farther on, and shalt come to the oak of Thabor, there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine.

Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

4 And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and thou shalt take them at their hand.

They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands.

5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is: and when thou shalt be come there into the city, thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they shall be prophesying.

After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

6 And the spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man.

Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

7 When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.

When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.

8 And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come down to thee, ) that thou mayest offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt thou wait, O till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to do.

And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”

9 So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto him another heart, and all these things came to pass that day.

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day.

10 And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a company of prophets met him: and the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them.

When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them.

11 And all that had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was with the prophets, and prophesied, said to each other: What is this that hath happened to the son of Cis? Is Saul also among the prophets?

All those who had formerly known Saul and saw him prophesying with the prophets asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

12 And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?

Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying 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.

And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.

14 And Saul’s uncle said to him, and to his servant: Whither went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not finding them we went to Samuel.

Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” “To look for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

15 And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.

“Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?”

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

And Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

17 And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:

After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah

18 And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.

and said to the Israelites, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

19 But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you out of all your evils and your tribulations: and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your families.

But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

20 And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.

Thus Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected.

21 And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof, and the lot fell Upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul the son of Cis. They sought him therefore and he was not found.

Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him.

22 And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.

So again they inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward.

So they ran and brought Saul, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others.

24 And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king.

Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

25 And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house.

Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.

26 Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.

Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.

27 But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents, but he dissembled as though he heard not.

But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.