Samuel Appoints Saul
10 Samuel took a ·jar [flask; vial] of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has ·appointed [anointed] you ·to lead [ruler; prince over] his ·people[a] [special possession; inheritance]. 2 After you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah [Gen. 35:19]. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you were looking for have been found. But now your father has stopped thinking about his donkeys and is ·worrying [anxious] about you. He is asking, “What will I do about my son?” ’
3 “Then you will go on until you reach the ·big [L oak] tree at Tabor. Three men ·on their way to worship [L going up to] God at Bethel will meet you there. One man will be carrying three ·goats [kids]. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. And the third will have a ·leather bag [skin] full of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you must accept. 5 Then you will go to ·Gibeah [or the hill] of God, where a Philistine ·camp [garrison] is. When you approach this town, a group of prophets will come down from the ·place of worship [high place]. They will be playing harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will ·rush upon [come on; seize; possess] you with power. You will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into a different man. 7 After these signs happen, do ·whatever you find to do [what must be done; what you see fit to do; L what your hand finds to do], because God ·will help [is with] you [C Saul was supposed to attack the garrison, but he did not do so].
8 “Go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come down to you to offer whole burnt offerings [Lev. 1] and to sacrifice ·fellowship [peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1]. But you must wait seven days. Then I will come and ·tell [show; reveal to] you what to do [C Saul did not do this either].”
Saul Made King
9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God ·changed Saul’s [gave Saul a new/another] heart. All these signs ·came true [were fulfilled; occurred] that day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, Saul met a ·group [band; procession] of prophets. The Spirit of God ·rushed upon [overwhelmed; seized; possessed] him, and he prophesied with the prophets. 11 When people who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What has happened to Kish’s son? Is even Saul ·one of [among] the prophets?”
12 A man who lived there ·said [answered; retorted], “Who is the father of these prophets [C Saul’s prophesying amazed and confused him]?” So this became a ·famous saying [proverb]: “Is ·even Saul one of [Saul also among] the prophets?” 13 When Saul finished prophesying, he ·entered the place of worship [came/went to the high place].
14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”
Saul said, “We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we went to talk to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle asked, “Please tell me. What did Samuel say to you?”
16 Saul answered, “He told us the donkeys had already been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about ·his becoming king [the kingdom; C Saul should have announced publicly that he was king].
17 Samuel called all the people of Israel ·to meet with [to] the Lord at Mizpah [7:5–11, 15–17]. 18 He said [L to the sons of Israel], “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I ·led [brought up] Israel out of Egypt. I ·saved [rescued; delivered] you from Egypt’s ·control [L hand] and from [L the hand of] other kingdoms that were ·troubling [oppressing] you.’ 19 But ·now [today] you have rejected your God. He ·saves [rescues; delivers] you from all your ·troubles [calamities; disasters; miseries] and ·problems [distresses], but you said, ‘No! ·We want [Appoint; Set] a king to rule over us.’ Now come, ·stand [present yourselves] before the Lord in your tribes and ·family groups [clans].”
20 When Samuel ·gathered [brought forward] ·all [each of] the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin was ·picked [chosen/taken by lot]. 21 Samuel had ·them [the tribe of Benjamin] pass by in ·family groups [clans], and Matri’s family was ·picked [chosen/taken by lot]. Then he had each man of Matri’s family pass by, and Saul son of Kish was ·picked [chosen/taken by lot]. But when they looked for Saul, ·they could not find him [he had disappeared]. 22 They ·asked [inquired further of] the Lord, “Has ·Saul [L the man] come here yet?”
The Lord said, “Yes. He’s hiding ·behind [among] the baggage.”
23 So they ran and brought him out. When Saul stood among the people, he was ·a head [head and shoulders] taller than anyone else. 24 Then Samuel said to the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. ·There is no one like him [He has no equal] among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained the ·rights and duties [ordinances; customs] of the king and then wrote them ·in a book [on a scroll] and put it before the Lord. Then he told the people to go to their homes.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. ·God touched the hearts of certain brave men who went along with him […accompanied by warriors/valiant men whose hearts God had touched]. 27 But some ·troublemakers [scoundrels; worthless men] said, “How can this man ·save [rescue; deliver] us?” They ·disapproved of [scorned; despised] Saul and refused to bring gifts to him. But Saul kept ·quiet[b] [silent; held his peace; ignored them].
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 10:1 people Some Greek copies add “You will reign over the Lord’s people and will save them from the enemies around them. And this will be the sign to you that the Lord has appointed you to lead his people.”
- 1 Samuel 10:27 quiet The Dead Sea Scrolls add an additional paragraph here, which reads, “Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been terribly oppressing the people of Gad and Reuben who lived east of the Jordan River. He gouged out the right eye of each of the Israelites living there, and he didn’t allow anyone to save them. There were no Israelites east of the Jordan whose right eye Nahash had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites, and they had settled in Jabesh Gilead.”