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.
Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head, then kissed him and said, “Hasn’t the LORD anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?
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 you have departed from me today, then you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb, on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will tell you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found; and behold, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “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.
“Then you will go on forward from there, and you will come to the oak of Tabor. Three men will meet you there going up to God to Bethel: one carrying three young goats, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a container of wine.
4 They will greet you, and they will offer you two of the loaves of bread. Accept them.
They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from 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 you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is; and it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a lute, a tambourine, a pipe, and a harp before them; and they will 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.
Then the LORD’s Spirit will come mightily on you, then you will prophesy with them and will be turned into another man.
7 After those things occur, do whatever you think is right to do, and God will (be with/help) you.
Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do what is appropriate for the occasion; for God is with you.
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.”
“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. Wait seven days, until I come to you and show you what you are 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.
It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened 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.
When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied amongst 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)?”
When all who knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said to one another, “What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also amongst 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.”
One from the same place answered, “Who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also amongst the prophets?”
13 When Saul finished speaking the messages that God gave him, he went to the place where the people offered sacrifices.
When he had finished 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].”
Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” He said, “To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle replied, “What did Samuel tell you?”
Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”
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].
Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys were found.” But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he didn’t tell him.
17 [Later] Samuel summoned the people of Israel to gather at Mizpah to [hear a message from] Yahweh.
Samuel called the people together to the LORD to Mizpah;
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, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says ‘I brought Israel up 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.’
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 have today rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, ‘No! Set a king over us!’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”
20 When those representatives came near to Samuel, [God indicated that] he had chosen someone from the tribe descended from Benjamin.
So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.
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.
He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families and the family of the Matrites was chosen. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen; but when they looked for him, he could not be found.
22 So they asked Yahweh, “Where is Saul?” Yahweh replied, “He is hiding among the army equipment.”
Therefore they asked of the LORD further, “Is there yet a man to come here?” The LORD answered, “Behold, he has hidden himself amongst the baggage.”
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.
They ran and got him there. When he stood amongst the people, he was higher than any of the people from his 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!”
Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen, that there is no one like him amongst all the people?” All the people shouted and said, “Long live 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.
Then Samuel told the people the regulations of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his 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 went to his house in Gibeah; and the army went with him, 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 certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no tribute. But he held his peace.
