1 Samuel 9-10

New Life Version

Saul Is Chosen to Be the King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite. He was a powerful man of action. ² He had a son whose name was Saul, a good-looking young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel who was better looking than he. He was a head taller than any of the people. ³ Now the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ They passed through the hill country of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return. My father might stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” ⁶ The servant said, “See, there is a man of God in this city, and people honor him. All that he says comes true. Let us go there. It may be that he can tell us where we should go.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? The bread in our bags is gone. There is no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered Saul and said, “See, I have a fourth of a piece of silver in my hand. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us the way to go.” ⁹ (Before in Israel, when a man went to ask God a question, he would say, “Come, let us go to the man of God.” For he who is called a man who speaks for God now, was called a seer before.) ¹⁰ Saul said to his servant, “What you said is good. Come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women going out to get water. They said to them, “Is the man of God here?” ¹² The women answered, “He is. Look, he is up in front of you. Hurry now, for he has come to the city today because the people are giving a gift in worship on the high place today. ¹³ You will find him as you go into the city, before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes to give thanks for the gift. Then those who are asked to come will eat. Now go up, for you will find him at once.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had told Samuel, ¹⁶ “I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin about this time tomorrow. Choose him to be the leader of My people Israel. And he will save My people from the Philistines. For I have seen the trouble of My people. I have heard their cry. ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “Here is the man I told you about. He is the one who will rule over My people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul came to Samuel in the gate, and said, “Tell me, where is the man of God’s house?” ¹⁹ Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the man of God. Go up before me to the high place. For you will eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let you go. And I will tell you all that is on your mind. ²⁰ Do not worry about your donkeys which were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And for whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” ²¹ Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest of the family groups of Israel? Is not my family the least important of all the families of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me this way?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the meeting room. He gave them a place at the head of those who were asked to come, about thirty men. ²³ Samuel said to the one who was making the food ready, “Bring the part I gave you and told you to set aside.” ²⁴ So the man picked up the leg with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been saved for you. Eat. It has been kept for you until the right time, ever since I asked the people to come.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. ²⁶ They got up early the next day. Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

Saul Is Made King

²⁷ As they were going out of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on before us, but you stand here. Then I will make the Word of God known to you.”

10 Then Samuel took a bottle of oil and poured it on Saul’s head. He kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord chosen you to be a ruler over His land? ² When you leave me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s grave in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went to look for have been found. Now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and is worried about you, saying, “What should I do about my son?”’ ³ Then you will go farther and come to the oak tree of Tabor. There three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you. One will be carrying three young goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. And another will be carrying a bottle of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will take from their hand. ⁵ Then you will come to the hill of God where there are Philistine soldiers. When you come there to the city, you will meet a group of men who speak for God coming down from the high place. They will have harps, an object to beat sounds of joy, and a horn. And they will be speaking God’s Word. ⁶ Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you with power. You will speak God’s Word with them and be changed into another man. ⁷ When you see these special things, do whatever you find that should be done. For God is with you. ⁸ You will go down before me to Gilgal. Then see, I will come down to you to give burnt gifts and peace gifts. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.”

⁹ When Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart. And all these special things happened on that day. ¹⁰ When they came to the hill, a group of men who speak for God met him. The Spirit of God came upon him with power, so that he spoke God’s Word with them. ¹¹ People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul one of the men who speak God’s Word?” ¹² One of the men there answered, “Now, who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul one of the men who speak God’s Word?” ¹³ When Saul had finished speaking the Word of God, he went to the altar at the high place.

¹⁴ The brother of Saul’s father said to him and his servant, “Where have you been?” And Saul said, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.” ¹⁵ The brother of Saul’s father said, “Tell me, what did Samuel say to you?” ¹⁶ Saul said to his father’s brother, “He told us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him what Samuel had told him about being king.

¹⁷ Then Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸ He said to the people of Israel, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from the power of the Egyptians, and from the power of all the nations that made it hard for you.’ ¹⁹ But today you have turned away from your God, Who saves you from all your troubles. You have said, ‘No! Have a king rule over us!’ So now come before the Lord, by your family groups and by your thousands.” ²⁰ When Samuel brought all the families of Israel near, the name of the family group of Benjamin was drawn. ²¹ Then he brought the family group of Benjamin near by its families, and the name of the Matrite family was drawn. Then the name of Saul the son of Kish was drawn. But when they looked for him, he could not be found. ²² So they asked the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” The Lord said, “See, he is hiding among the bags.” ²³ They ran and brought him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of them. ²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? For sure there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people called out and said, “Long live the king!” ²⁵ Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the king and his nation. He wrote them in a book and laid it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. ²⁶ Saul went home to Gibeah. And the strong men whose hearts God had touched went with him. ²⁷ But some men of no worth said, “How can this man save us?” They hated him and did not bring him any gift. But he kept quiet.