1 Samuel 10

1 Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you:

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 When you have gone away from me today, you will see two men by the resting-place of Rachel's body, in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went in search of have come back, and now your father, caring no longer for the asses, is troubled about you, saying, What am I to do about 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 Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full 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 say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them.

They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hand.

5 After that you will come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where an armed force of the Philistines is stationed: and when you come to the town, you will see a band of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments of music before them; and they will be acting like prophets:

“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 And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man.

Then the LORD’s Spirit will come mightily on you, then you will prophesy with them and will be turned into another man.

7 And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with 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 you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to 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 And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place 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 And when they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets came face to face with him; and the spirit of God came on him with power and he took his place among them as a prophet.

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 Now when Saul's old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets?

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 And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?

One from the same place answered, “Who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also amongst the prophets?”

13 Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house.

When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel.

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 Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you?

Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

16 And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom.

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 Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah;

Samuel called the people together to the LORD to Mizpah;

18 And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down:

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 But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.

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 So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.

21 Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen.

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 put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods.

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 went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people.

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 And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see the man of the Lord's selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king!

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 gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

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 And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God.

Saul also went to his house in Gibeah; and the army went with him, whose hearts God had touched.

27 But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.

But certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no tribute. But he held his peace.