1 Samuel 10

1 Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, "Has not the LORD anointed you to be ruler over his people Israel? And you shall rule over the people of the LORD, and you shall save them out of the hand of their enemies all around. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be ruler over his inheritance.

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 you have departed from me today, then you shall find two men by Rachel's tomb, in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will tell you, 'The donkeys which you went to seek have been found; and look, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, "What shall I do about 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 Then you will go on further from there and you will come to the oak of Tabor, and three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you. One will be carrying three young goats, and another carrying three containers of bread, and another carrying a container 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 greet you and give you two wave offerings of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.

They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread which you should take.

5 After that you shall come to Gibeath Elohim, where the Philistine garrison is. And it shall happen, when you have come there to the city, that you shall meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with harps, and tambourines, and flutes, and lyres before them, and they will 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 will come mightily on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be transformed into a different person.

The Spirit of the Lord will come on you with power. You will prophesy with them, and you will become a different man.

7 And let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.

After these signs have happened, do what you need to do, for God is with you.

8 You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and look, I will come down to you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: you shall wait seven days, until I come to you, and show you what you shall 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 When he had turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all these signs 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 he went from there to Gibeah, and look, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among 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 It happened, when all who knew him before saw that, look, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, "What is this that has come to the son of Kish? 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 One of the same place answered, "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 finished prophesying, and went home,

After Saul had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.

14 then his uncle said to him and to his servant, "Where did you go?" And he said, "To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were not found, 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 Saul's uncle said, "Please tell me what Samuel said to you."

“Please tell me what he said to you,” Saul's uncle asked.

16 Saul said to his uncle, "He told us plainly that the donkeys were found." But concerning the matter of the kingdom he did not tell him.

“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 Samuel called the people together to the LORD to Mizpah;

Samuel called the people of Israel to come before the Lord at Mizpah.

18 and he said to the children of Israel, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed 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 have this day rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said, 'No. Set a king over us.' Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands."

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

Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.

21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families, and the family of the Matrites was taken. And he brought the family of the Matrites near man by man, and Saul the son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he could not be 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 Therefore they asked of the LORD further, "Is there a man yet to come here?" The LORD answered, "Look, he has hidden himself among the baggage."

So they asked the Lord, “Has he arrived here yet?” The Lord replied, “Go and look—he's hiding among the baggage.”

23 They ran and fetched him there; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his 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 Samuel said to all the people, "You see him whom the LORD has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?" All the people shouted, and said, "Let the king live."

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 Then Samuel told the people the regulations of the kingdom, and wrote it on a scroll, and laid it up before the LORD. Samuel sent all the people away, every man went to his place

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 went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the valient men, whose hearts the LORD had touched.

Saul also returned to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by warriors who God had encouraged to help him.

27 But certain worthless fellows said, "How shall this man save us?" So they despised him, and brought him no present. Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was severely oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He put out the right eye of all of them, and he would not allow anyone to rescue Israel. Not one was left of the children of Israel beyond the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, did not put out, except for seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and went to Jabesh Gilead.

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.