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, and kissed him. He said, “Has not Yahweh anointed you to be a 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 near Rachel's tomb, in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, 'The donkeys that you were looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped caring about the donkeys and is worried about you, saying, “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 further from there, and you will come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going 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 take 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 the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. When you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre before them; 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 Yahweh will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into a different man.

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

Now, when these signs come to you, do whatever your hand finds 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.

Go down before me to Gilgal. Then I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you must 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.

When Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. Then all these 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 they came to the hill, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him so that he prophesied 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?

When everyone who knew him before saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people said to each other, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul one of the prophets now?”

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

A man who was from that same place answered, “Then who is their father?” Because of this, it became a saying, “Is Saul also one of the prophets?”

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

When he finished prophesying, he came 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.

Then Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” He replied, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that we could not find them, we went to Samuel.”

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

Saul's uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said 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.

Saul replied 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, of which Samuel had spoken.

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

Now Samuel called the people together before Yahweh 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 said to the people of Israel, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel says: 'I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand 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 of your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, 'Set a king over us.' Now present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans.”

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

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

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 brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their clans; and the clan of the Matrites was chosen; and Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they went looking for him, he could not 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.

Then the people wanted to ask God more questions, “Is there still another man to come?” Yahweh answered, “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.

Then they ran and retrieved Saul from there. When he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.

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.

Then Samuel said to the people, “Do you see the man whom Yahweh has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people!” 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 told the people the customs and rules of kingship, wrote them down in a book, and placed it before Yahweh. Samuel then sent all the people away, each man to his own house.

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 at Gibeah, and with him went some strong men, whose hearts God had touched.

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?” These people despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts. But Saul kept silent.