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 olive oil and poured it over Saul's head, and kissed him, saying, “The Lord has anointed you as ruler of his chosen people.
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 meet two men near Rachel's tomb in Zelzah, on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you went to look for have been found. Now your father isn't concerned about them but is worried about you. He's wondering, ‘What 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.
You will leave there and go on to the oak at Tabor where you will meet three men on their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be carrying three young goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be 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 should take.
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.
Next you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have a garrison. As you come into town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place led 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.
The Spirit of the Lord will come on you with power. You will prophesy with them, and you will become a different man.
7 When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.
After these signs have happened, do what you need to do, 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.
Then go ahead of me to Gilgal. I assure you I will come and join you to present burnt offerings and friendship offerings. Wait there seven days until I come to you, and let you know what you should 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.
The moment Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a different way of thinking, and all the signs were fulfilled 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 in Gibeah, there was a procession of prophets coming out to meet them, the Spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he also started to prophesy 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?
Everyone who had used to know Saul and saw him prophesying with the prophets said to each other, “What's going on with the son of Kish? Is Saul one of the prophets too?”
12 And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?
A man living there responded, “But who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul one of the prophets too?”
13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
After Saul had finished prophesying, he went 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.
Saul's uncle asked Saul and his servant, “Where have you been?” “We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we couldn't find them we went to Samuel.”
15 And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.
“Please tell me what he said to you,” Saul's uncle asked.
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.
“He promised us the donkeys had been found,” Saul replied. But Saul didn't tell his uncle what Samuel had said about him becoming king.
17 And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:
Samuel called the people of Israel to come before 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.
He told the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I led Israel out of Egypt, and I saved you from the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms that were oppressing 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 now you have rejected your God, the one who saves you from all your troubles and disasters. You told him, ‘You must appoint a king to rule us.’ So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and family groups.”
20 And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.
Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.
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 family groups, and the family group of Matri was chosen. Lastly, Saul, son of Kish, was chosen. But when they looked for him, he couldn't be found.
22 And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.
So they asked the Lord, “Has he arrived here yet?” The Lord replied, “Go and look—he's hiding 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.
They ran and brought Saul over. When he stood among the people, he was head and shoulders taller than anyone else.
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 everyone, “Can you see the one the Lord has chosen? There's no one like him anywhere!” 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 all that a king would do. He wrote it down on a scroll and placed it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent everyone 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 returned to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by warriors who God had encouraged to help 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 obnoxious men asked, “How could this man save us?” They hated him and didn't bring him any gifts; but Saul did not retaliate.
