1 SamuelChapter 10

Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.

¹Then Samuel took a small jar of olive oil. He poured it on Saul's head and kissed him. He said, "The LORD has anointed you to rule over his own people, hasn't he?" ²"When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel's tomb. It is at Zelzah, on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you went to look for have been found. Now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys. He is worried about you. He is asking, "What should I do about my son?"' ³Then you will go on from there until you come to the big oak tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They will be going up to worship God at Bethel. One will be carrying three young goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. The third will be carrying a skin of wine. ⁴They will greet you. They will give you two loaves of bread, and you will take the bread from them. ⁵After that you will come to Gibeah of God. The Philistines have a camp of soldiers there. As you come near the town, you will meet a group of prophets. They will be coming down from the high place. People playing harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres will be in front of them. And the prophets will be prophesying. ⁶Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush on you. You will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person. ⁷Once these signs happen, do whatever you see needs to be done, because God is with you. ⁸Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will surely come to you there. I will offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come. Then I will show you what to do." ⁹Saul turned to leave Samuel. Then God changed Saul's heart. And all the signs came true that day. ¹⁰Saul and his servant got to Gibeah. A group of prophets came to meet him. Then the Spirit of God rushed on Saul. He began to prophesy with them. ¹¹All the people who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets. They asked each other, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul one of the prophets now?" ¹²A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a common saying: "Is Saul one of the prophets now?" ¹³When Saul stopped prophesying, he went up to the high place. ¹⁴Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," Saul said. "When we saw we couldn't find them, we went to Samuel." ¹⁵Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you." ¹⁶Saul answered, "He told us for sure that the donkeys had been found." But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about him being king. ¹⁷Later, Samuel called the people together to meet with the LORD at Mizpah. ¹⁸He said to the Israelites, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt. I saved you from the power of the Egyptians. I saved you from all the kingdoms that were cruel to you.' ¹⁹But today you have turned away from your God. He is the one who saves you from all your troubles and pain. But you said to him, 'No! Put a king over us.' So now, come stand before the LORD by your tribes and clans." ²⁰So Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward. And the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. ²¹Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward clan by clan. The clan of Matri was chosen. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, they couldn't find him. ²²So they asked the LORD again, "Has the man come here yet?" The LORD answered, "Look, he is hiding among the bags and supplies." ²³So they ran and brought Saul out. When he stood among the people, he was a head taller than anyone else. ²⁴Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." Then all the people shouted, "Long live the king!" ²⁵Then Samuel explained to the people the rules for how a king should rule. He wrote them on a scroll. He put it in a safe place before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away. Each one went home. ²⁶Saul also went home to Gibeah. Brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him. ²⁷But some worthless men said, "How can this man save us?" They looked down on him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept quiet about it.