1 Then Samuel tooke a viole of oyle and powred it vpon his head, and kissed him, and saide, Hath not the Lord anointed thee to be gouernour ouer his inheritance? 2 When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt finde two men by Rahels sepulchre in the border of Beniamin, euen at Zelzah, and they will say vnto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seeke, are founde: and lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and soroweth for you, saying, What shall I doe for my sonne? 3 Then shalt thou go forth from thence and shalt come to the plaine of Tabor, and there shall meete thee three men going vp to God to Bethel: one carying three kiddes, and an other carying three loaues of bread, and another carying a bottle of wine: 4 And they will aske thee if all be well, and will giue thee the two loaues of bread, which thou shalt receiue of their handes. 5 After that shalt thou come to the hill of God, where is the garisons of the Philistims: and when thou art come thither to the citie, thou shalt meete a companie of Prophets comming downe from the hie place with a viole, and a tymbrell, and a pipe, and an harpe before them, and they shall prophecie. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come vpon thee, and thou shalt prophecie with them, and shalt be turned into another man. 7 Therefore when these signes shall come vnto to thee, doe as occasion shall serue: for God is with thee. 8 And thou shalt goe downe before me to Gilgal: and I also will come downe vnto thee to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace. Tary for me seuen dayes, till I come to thee and shewe thee what thou shalt doe. 9 And when he had turned his backe to goe from Samuel, God gaue him another heart: and all those tokens came to passe that same day. 10 And when they came thither to the hill, beholde, the companie of Prophets meete him, and the Spirit of God came vpon him, and he prophecied among them. 11 Therefore all the people that knewe him before, when they saw that he prophecied among the Prophets, saide eche to other, What is come vnto the sonne of Kish? is Saul also among the Prophets? 12 And one of the same place answered, and said, But who is their father? Therefore it was a prouerbe, Is Saul also among the Prophets? 13 And when he had made an ende of prophecying, he came to the hie place. 14 And Sauls vncle saide vnto him, and to his seruant, Whither went ye? And he saide, To seeke the asses: and when we sawe that they were no where, we came to Samuel. 15 And Sauls vncle saide, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said vnto you. 16 Then Saul saide to his vncle, He tolde vs plainely that the asses were founde: but concerning the kingdome whereof Samuel spake, tolde he him not. 17 And Samuel assembled the people vnto the Lord in Mizpeh, 18 And he saide vnto the children of Israel, Thus saith ye Lord God of Israel, I haue brought Israel out of Egypt, and deliuered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the handes of all kingdomes that troubled you. 19 But ye haue this day cast away your God, who onely deliuereth you out of all your aduersities and tribulations: and ye said vnto him, No, but appoint a King ouer vs. Nowe therefore stand ye before the Lord according to your tribes, and according to your thousands. 20 And when Samuel had gathered together all the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Beniamin was taken. 21 Afterwarde he assembled the tribe of Beniamin according to their families, and the familie of Matri was taken. So Saul the sonne of Kish was taken, and when they sought him, he coulde not be found. 22 Therefore they asked the Lord againe, if that man should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, Beholde, he hath hid himselfe among the stuffe. 23 And they ranne, and brought him thence: and when he stoode among the people, he was hier then any of the people from the shoulders vpwarde. 24 And Samuel saide to all the people, See ye not him, whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? and all the people shouted and saide, God saue the King. 25 Then Samuel tolde the people the duetie of the kingdome, and wrote it in a booke, and laied it vp before the Lord, and Samuel sent all the people away euery man to his house. 26 Saul also went home to Gibeah, and there followed him a bande of men, whose heart God had touched, 27 But the wicked men saide, Howe shall hee saue vs? So they despised him, and brought him no presents: but he held his tongue.
1 Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, “The Lord anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the Lord has chosen you to be the ruler of his people: 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, ‘What shall I do about my son?’ 3 You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept. 5 Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. 6 Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. 7 When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. 8 You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do.”
9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. 11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?” 12 A man who lived there asked, “How about these other prophets—who do you think their fathers are?” This is how the saying originated, “Has even Saul become a prophet?” 13 When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.
14 Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, “Where have you been?”
“Looking for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel.”
15 “And what did he tell you?” Saul's uncle asked.
16 “He told us that the animals had been found,” Saul answered—but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.
Saul Is Acclaimed as King
17 Samuel called the people together for a religious gathering at Mizpah 18 and said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I brought you out of Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all the other peoples who were oppressing you. 19 I am your God, the one who rescues you from all your troubles and difficulties, but today you have rejected me and have asked me to give you a king. Very well, then, gather yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by clans.’”
20 Then Samuel had each tribe come forward, and the Lord picked the tribe of Benjamin. 21 Then Samuel had the families of the tribe of Benjamin come forward, and the family of Matri was picked out. Then the men of the family of Matri came forward, and Saul son of Kish was picked out. They looked for him, but when they could not find him, 22 they asked the Lord, “Is there still someone else?”
The Lord answered, “Saul is over there, hiding behind the supplies.”
23 So they ran and brought Saul out to the people, and they could see that he was a foot taller than anyone else. 24 Samuel said to the people, “Here is the man the Lord has chosen! There is no one else among us like him.”
All the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book, which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent everyone home. 26 Saul also went back home to Gibeah. Some powerful men, whose hearts God had touched, went with him. 27 But some worthless people said, “How can this fellow do us any good?” They despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts.