1 Samuel 10
1 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?
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 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?”'
[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 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.
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 They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will take from their hands.
They will greet you, and they will offer you two of the loaves of bread. Accept them.
5 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.
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 The Spirit of Yahweh will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into a different 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 Now, when these signs come to you, do whatever your hand finds to do, 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 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.”
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 When Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. Then all these signs came to pass 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 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.
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 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?”
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 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?”
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 When he finished prophesying, he came 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 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.”
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 Saul's uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”
Saul’s uncle replied, “What did Samuel tell you?”
16 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.
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 Now Samuel called the people together before Yahweh at Mizpah.
[Later] Samuel summoned the people of Israel to gather at Mizpah to [hear a message from] Yahweh.
18 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.'
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 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.”
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 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.
When those representatives came near to Samuel, [God indicated that] he had chosen someone from the tribe descended from Benjamin.
21 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.
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 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.”
So they asked Yahweh, “Where is Saul?” Yahweh replied, “He is hiding among the army equipment.”
23 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.
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 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!”
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 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.
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 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went some strong men, whose hearts God had 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 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.
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].
