1 Samuel 10
1 And Samuel takes the vial of the oil, and pours [it] on his head, and kisses him, and says, “Is it not because YHWH has appointed you over His inheritance for leader?
Then Samuel took a small jar of olive oil and poured [some of] it on Saul’s head. Then he kissed Saul [on the cheek], and told him, “I am doing this because Yahweh has chosen you to be the leader of his Israeli people.
2 In your going from me today—then you have found two men by the grave of Rachel, in the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah, and they have said to you, The donkeys have been found which you have gone to seek; and behold, your father has left the matter of the donkeys, and has sorrowed for you, saying, What do I do for my son?
[And this will prove it to you]: When you leave me today, when you arrive near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah, in the area where the descendants of Benjamin live, you will meet two men. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys have been found, but now your father is worrying about you, and he is asking people, “Have you seen my son?’”
3 And you have passed on there, and beyond, and have come to the oak of Tabor, and three men going up to God to Beth-El have found you there, one carrying three kids, and one carrying three cakes of bread, and one carrying a bottle of wine,
When you arrive at the [large] oak tree at Tabor [town], you will see three men coming toward you. They will be on their way to [worship] God at Bethel [town]. One of them will be leading three young goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a container of wine.
4 and they have asked of your welfare, and given two loaves to you, and you have received from their hand.
They will greet you, and they will offer you two of the loaves of bread. Accept them.
5 Afterward you come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines [is], and it comes to pass, at your coming in there to the city, that you have met a band of prophets coming down from the high place, and before them stringed instrument, and tambourine, and pipe, and harp, and they are prophesying;
When you arrive at the hill [where people worship] God near Gibeah [town], where there is the camp where the Philistine soldiers stay, you will meet a group of prophets who will be coming down from the altar on top of the hill. There will be people in front of them who will be playing [various musical instruments]: a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre. And all of them will be speaking messages that come directly from God.
6 and the Spirit of YHWH has prospered over you, and you have prophesied with them, and have turned into a [new] man;
At that time the Spirit of Yahweh will come upon you, and you also will speak messages that come directly from God. (You will be changed/The Spirit of Yahweh will change you), so that you will become like a different person.
7 and it has been, when these signs come to you—do for yourself as your hand finds, for God [is] with you.
After those things occur, do whatever you think is right to do, and God will (be with/help) you.
8 And you have gone down before me to Gilgal, and behold, I am going down to you, to cause burnt-offerings to ascend, to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings; you wait [for] seven days until my coming to you, and I have made known to you that which you do.”
Then go ahead of me, down to Gilgal [city], and wait for me there, for seven days. Then I will join you there, to burn sacrifices and offer other sacrifices to enable you to maintain fellowship with God. When I arrive there, I will tell you what [other] things you should do.”
9 And it has been, at his turning his shoulder to go from Samuel, that God turns to him another heart, and all these signs come on that day,
As Saul started to leave there, God changed Saul’s inner being. And all the things that Samuel had predicted happened on that day.
10 and they come in there to the height, and behold, a band of prophets [is there] to meet him, and the Spirit of God prospers over him, and he prophesies in their midst.
When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw some prophets who were [speaking messages that came directly from God. As the prophets were] approaching Saul and his servant, God’s Spirit came upon Saul powerfully, and he also began to speak messages from God.
11 And it comes to pass, all knowing him before, see, and behold, he has prophesied with prophets, and the people say to one another, “What [is] this [that] has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
When people who had known Saul previously heard him speaking messages from God as the prophets were doing, they said to each other, “What has happened to this son of Kish? Is he now really one of the (prophets/men who speak messages from God)?”
12 And a man there answers and says, “And who [is] their father?” Therefore it has been for an allegory, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
One of the men who lived there replied, “[Saul cannot be a prophet, because] all prophets receive their power to speak messages from God, not from their parents.” And that is why, [when people hear about a report of someone prophesying, they think about what happened to Saul and] say, “[We are surprised about that person becoming a prophet, like] we were surprised to hear that Saul had really become one of the prophets.”
13 And he ceases from prophesying, and comes to the high place,
When Saul finished speaking the messages that God gave him, he went to the place where the people offered sacrifices.
14 and the uncle of Saul says to him, and to his young man, “To where did you go?” And he says, “To seek the donkeys; and we see that they are not, and we come to Samuel.”
Later, Saul’s uncle [saw him there, and] asked him, “Where did you go?” Saul replied, “We went to look for the donkeys. When we could not find them, we came here to ask Samuel [if he could tell us where they were].”
15 And the uncle of Saul says, “Please declare to me what Samuel said to you.”
Saul’s uncle replied, “What did Samuel tell you?”
16 And Saul says to his uncle, “He certainly declared to us that the donkeys were found”; and of the matter of the kingdom he has not declared to him that which Samuel said.
Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about him becoming the king [of Israel].
17 And Samuel calls the people to YHWH to Mizpeh,
[Later] Samuel summoned the people of Israel to gather at Mizpah to [hear a message from] Yahweh.
18 and says to the sons of Israel, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I have brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms who are oppressing you;
After they arrived, he said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God we Israeli people [worship], says: I brought you Israeli people out of Egypt. I rescued your [ancestors] from the power of the rulers of Egypt and from all the other kings who oppressed them.
19 and you have rejected your God today, who [is] Himself your Savior out of all your evils and your distresses, and you say, No, but you set a king over us; and now, station yourselves before YHWH, by your tribes, and by your thousands.”
I am the one who saves you from all your troubles and difficulties. But today you have rejected me, your God, and you have said, ‘We don’t care! Give us a king!’ So [I will do what you want]. Now have [representatives of] your tribes and [of] your clans stand here in the presence of Yahweh.’”
20 And Samuel brings all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin is captured,
When those representatives came near to Samuel, [God indicated that] he had chosen someone from the tribe descended from Benjamin.
21 and he brings the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri is captured, and Saul son of Kish is captured, and they seek him, and he has not been found.
Then Samuel told representatives of the tribe of Benjamin to come forward, and God indicated that [from that tribe] he had chosen someone from the family of Matri, and then God indicated that [from the family of Matri] he had chosen Saul, the son of Kish. But when they looked for Saul, they could not find him.
22 And they ask again of YHWH, “Has the man come here yet?” And YHWH says, “Behold, he has been hidden near the vessels.”
So they asked Yahweh, “Where is Saul?” Yahweh replied, “He is hiding among the army equipment.”
23 And they run and bring him there, and he stationed himself in the midst of the people, and he is higher than any of the people from his shoulder and upward.
So they quickly went there [and found him, ] and brought him [in front of all the people]. They could see that [truly] he was a head taller than anyone else.
24 And Samuel says to all the people, “Have you seen him on whom YHWH has fixed, for there is none like him among all the people?” And all the people shout, and say, “Let the king live!”
Then Samuel said to all the people there, “This is the man whom Yahweh has chosen to be your king. Among all us Israeli people, there is no one like him!” Then all the people shouted, “We hope that this king will live a long time!”
25 And Samuel speaks to the people the right of the kingdom, and writes in a scroll, and places [it] before YHWH; and Samuel sends all the people away, each to his house.
Then Samuel told the people what things the king would force them to do, and all the things the king was required to do. He wrote all those things on a scroll, and then he put it in a sacred place in the temple. Then Samuel sent all the people home.
26 And Saul has also gone to his house, to Gibeah, and the force goes with him whose heart God has touched;
When Saul returned to his home in Gibeah [town], a group of men decided to continually accompany Saul. They did that because God (motivated them/put it in their minds) to do that.
27 and the sons of worthlessness have said, “How can this one save us?” And they despise him, and have not brought a present to him; and he is as one being deaf.
But some worthless men said, “(How can this man save us [from our enemies]?/This man will not be able to save us [from our enemies].)” [RHQ] They despised him, and refused to give him any gifts [to show that they would be loyal to him]. But Saul did not say anything [to rebuke them].
