1 Samuel 10
1 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.
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.
2 [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?’”
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?
3 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.
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.
4 They will greet you, and they will offer you two of the loaves of bread. Accept them.
And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and thou shalt take them at their hand.
5 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.
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.
6 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.
And the spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man.
7 After those things occur, do whatever you think is right to do, and God will (be with/help) you.
When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.
8 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.”
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.
9 As Saul started to leave there, God changed Saul’s inner being. And all the things that Samuel had predicted happened on that day.
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.
10 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.
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.
11 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)?”
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?
12 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.”
And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?
13 When Saul finished speaking the messages that God gave him, he went to the place where the people offered sacrifices.
And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
14 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].”
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.
15 Saul’s uncle replied, “What did Samuel tell you?”
And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.
16 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].
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.
17 [Later] Samuel summoned the people of Israel to gather at Mizpah to [hear a message from] Yahweh.
And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:
18 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.
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.
19 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.’”
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.
20 When those representatives came near to Samuel, [God indicated that] he had chosen someone from the tribe descended from Benjamin.
And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.
21 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.
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.
22 So they asked Yahweh, “Where is Saul?” Yahweh replied, “He is hiding among the army equipment.”
And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.
23 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.
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.
24 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!”
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.
25 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.
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.
26 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.
Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.
27 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].
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.
