1 Samuel 10

1 Forsothe Samuel took `a vessel of oyle, and schedde out on the heed of Saul, and kisside hym, and seide, Lo! the Lord hath anoyntid thee in to prince on hys eritage; and thou schalt delyuere his puple fro the hond of his enemyes, that ben `in his cumpas. And this a tokene to thee, that the Lord hath anoyntid thee in to prince;

Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

2 whanne thou schalt go fro me to day, thou schalt fynde twei men bisidis `the sepulcre of Rachel, in `the endis of Beniamyn, in myddai, clensynge grete dichis; and thei schulen seie to thee, The femel assis ben foundun, whiche thou yedist to seke; and while the assis ben lefte, thi fadir is bisy for you, and seith, What schal Y do of my sone?

When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

3 And whanne thou hast go fro thennus, and hast passid ferthere, and hast come to the ook of Tabor, thre men, stiynge to God in to Bethel, schulen fynde thee there, o man berynge thre kydis, and another man berynge thre kakis of breed, and an other man berynge a galoun of wyn.

Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up 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.

4 And whanne thei han gret thee, thei schulen yyue to thee twei loues, and thou schalt take of `the hond of hem.

They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands.

5 After these thingis thou schalt come in to the `hil of the Lord, where is the stondyng, that is, forselet, of Filisteis; and whanne thou schalt entre in to the citee, there thou schalt haue metynge thee the flok of prophetis comynge doun fro the hiy place, and a sautree, and tympane, and pipe, and harpe bifor hem, and hem prophesiynge.

After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

6 And the Spirit of the Lord schal skippe in to thee, and thou schalt prophecie with hem, and thou schalt be chaungid in to another man.

Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

7 Therfor whanne alle thesse signes bifallen to thee, do thou, what euer thingis thin hond fyndith, `that is, dispose thee to regne comelili and myytily, for the Lord is with thee.

When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.

8 And thou schalt go doun bifor me in to Galgala; for Y schal come doun to thee, that thou offre an offryng, and offre pesible sacrifices; bi seuene daies thou schalt abide, til I come to thee, and shewe to thee what thou schal do.

And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”

9 Therfor whanne Saul hadde turnede awei his schuldre to go fro Samuel, God chaungide another herte to Saul, and alle these signes camen in that dai.

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day.

10 And thei camen to the forseid hil, and lo! a cumpeny of prophetis metynge hym; and the Spirit of the Lord `scippide on hym, and he propheciede in the myddis of hem.

When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them.

11 Sotheli alle men, that knewen hym yisterdai and the thrid dai ago, sien that he was with the prophetis, and that he prophesiede, and thei seiden togidere, What thing bifelde to the sone of Cys? Whether also Saul is among prophetis?

All those who had formerly known Saul and saw him prophesying with the prophets asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

12 And o man answeride to another man, and seide, And who is `his fadir? Therfor it was turned in to a prouerbe, Whether also Saul is among prophetis?

Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

13 Forsothe Saul ceside to prophesie, and he cam to an hiy place.

And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.

14 And the brothir of `the fadir of Saul seide to hym, and to his child, Whidur yeden ye? And thei answeriden, To seke the femal assis; and whanne we founden `not thoo, we camen to Samuel.

Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” “To look for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

15 And the brother of his fadir seide to hym, Schewe thou to me what Samuel seide to thee.

“Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?”

16 And Saul seide to `the brother of hys fadir, He schewide to vs, that the femal assis weren foundun. Sotheli Saul schewide not to hym of the word of rewme, `which word Samuel spak to hym.

And Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

17 And Samuel clepide togidere the puple to the Lord in Masphat;

After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah

18 and he seide to the sones of Israel, The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Y ledde Israel out of the lond of Egipt, and Y delyuerede you fro the hond of Egipcians, and fro the hond of alle kyngis that turmentiden you.

and said to the Israelites, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

19 Forsothe to day ye han caste awei youre Lord God, which aloone sauyde you fro alle youre yuelis and tribulaciouns; and ye seiden, Nay, but ordeyne thou a kyng on vs. Now therfor stonde ye bifor the Lord bi youre lynagis, and bi meynees.

But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

20 And Samuel settide to gidere alle the lynages of Israel, and lot felde on the lynage of Beniamyn.

Thus Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected.

21 And he settide togidere the lynage of Beniamyn, and the meynees therof; and lot felde on the meynees of Mathri, and it cam `til to Saul, the son of Cys. Therfor thei souyten hym, and he was not foundun there.

Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him.

22 And aftir these thingis thei counseliden the Lord, whether Saul schulde come thidur. And the Lord answeride, Lo! he is hid at hoom.

So again they inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

23 Therfor thei runnen, and token hym fro thennus; and he stood in the myddil of the puple, and was hiyere than al the puple fro the schulder and `aboue.

So they ran and brought Saul, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others.

24 And Samuel seide to al the puple, Certis ye seen whom the Lord hath chose; for noon in al the puple is lijk hym. And al the puple cryede, and seide, Lyue the kyng!

Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

25 Forsothe Samuel spak to the puple the lawe of rewme, and wroot in a book, and puttide vp bifor the Lord. And Samuel dilyuerede al the puple, ech man in to his hows;

Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.

26 but also Saul yede in to his hous in to Gabaath; and the part of the oost yede with hym, whose hertis God hadde touchid.

Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.

27 Forsothe the sones of Belyal seiden, Whether this man may saue vs? And thei dispisiden hym, and brouyten not yiftis, `that is, preisyngis, to him; forsothe he `dissymelide hym to here.

But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.