1 Samuel 8-10

Contemporary English Version

The People of Israel Want a King

8 ^1-2 Samuel had two sons. The older one was Joel, and the younger one was Abijah. When Samuel was getting old, he let them be leaders at Beersheba. ³ But they were not like their father. They were dishonest and accepted bribes to give unfair decisions.

⁴ One day the nation's leaders came to Samuel at Ramah ^5 (A) and said, “You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons, but they haven't followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader, just like all the other nations. Choose one for us!”

⁶ Samuel was upset to hear the leaders say they wanted a king, so he prayed about it. ⁷ The Lord answered:

Samuel, do everything they want you to do. I am really the one they have rejected as their king. ⁸ Ever since the day I rescued my people from Egypt, they have turned from me to worship idols. Now they are turning away from you. ⁹ Do everything they ask, but warn them and tell them how a king will treat them.

¹⁰ Samuel told the people who were asking for a king what the Lord had said:

¹¹ If you have a king, this is how he will treat you. He will force your sons to join his army. Some of them will ride in his chariots, some will serve in the cavalry, and others will run ahead of his own chariot.^{[a] 12} Some of them will be officers in charge of 1,000 soldiers, and others will be in charge of 50. Still others will have to farm the king's land and harvest his crops, or make weapons and parts for his chariots. ¹³ Your daughters will have to make perfume or do his cooking and baking.

¹⁴ The king will take your best fields, as well as your vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his own officials. ¹⁵ He will also take a tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and officials.

¹⁶ The king will take your slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and make them do his work. ¹⁷ He will also take a tenth of your sheep and goats. You will become the king's slaves, ¹⁸ and you will finally cry out for the Lord to save you from the king you wanted. But the Lord won't answer your prayers.

^19-20 The people would not listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle.”

²¹ Samuel listened to them and then told the Lord exactly what they had said. ²² “Do what they want,” the Lord answered. “Give them a king.”

Samuel told the people to go back to their homes.

Saul Meets Samuel

9 Kish was a wealthy man who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. His father was Abiel, his grandfather was Zeror, his great-grandfather was Becorath, and his great-great-grandfather was Aphiah. ² Kish had a son named Saul, who was better looking and more than a head taller than anyone else in all Israel.

³ Kish owned some donkeys, but they had run off. So he told Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.”

⁴ Saul and the servant went through the hill country of Ephraim and the territory of Shalishah, but they could not find the donkeys. Then they went through the territories of Shaalim and Benjamin, but still there was no sign of the donkeys. ⁵ Finally they came to the territory where the clan of Zuph^[b] lived. “Let's go back home,” Saul told his servant. “If we don't go back soon, my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us!”

⁶ “Wait!” the servant answered. “There's a man of God who lives in a town near here. He's amazing! Everything he says comes true. Let's talk to him. Maybe he can tell us where to look.”

⁷ Saul said, “How can we talk to the prophet when I don't have anything to give him? We don't even have any bread left in our sacks. What can we give him?”

⁸ “I have a small piece of silver,” the servant answered. “We can give him that, and then he will tell us where to look for the donkeys.”

^9-10 “Great!” Saul replied. “Let's go to the man who can see visions!” He said this because in those days God would answer questions by giving visions to prophets.

Saul and his servant went to the town where the prophet lived. ¹¹ As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to get water,^[c] and the two men said to them, “We're looking for the man who can see visions. Is he in town?”

¹² “Yes, he is,” they replied. “He's in town today because there's going to be a sacrifice and a sacred meal at the place of worship. In fact, he's just ahead of you. Hurry ¹³ and you should find him right inside the town gate. He's on his way out to the place of worship to eat with the invited guests. They can't start eating until he blesses the sacrifice. If you go now, you should find him.”

¹⁴ They went to the town, and just as they were going through the gate, Samuel was coming out on his way to the place of worship.

¹⁵ The day before Saul came, the Lord had told Samuel, ¹⁶ “I've seen how my people are suffering, and I've heard their call for help. About this time tomorrow I'll send you a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who will rescue my people from the Philistines. I want you to pour olive oil^[d] on his head to show that he will be their leader.”

¹⁷ Samuel looked at Saul, and the Lord told Samuel, “This is the man I told you about. He's the one who will rule Israel.”

¹⁸ Saul went over to Samuel in the gateway and said, “A man who can see visions lives here in town. Could you tell me the way to his house?”

¹⁹ “I am the one who sees visions!” Samuel answered. “Go on up to the place of worship. You will eat with me today, and in the morning I'll answer your questions. ²⁰ Don't worry about your donkeys that ran off three days ago. They've already been found. Everything of value in Israel now belongs to you and your family.”^[e]

²¹ “Why are you telling me this?” Saul asked. “I'm from Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my clan is the least important in the tribe.”

Saul Eats with Samuel and Stays at His House

²² Samuel took Saul and his servant into the dining room at the place of worship. About 30 people were there for the dinner, but Samuel gave Saul and his servant the places of honor. ^23-24 Then Samuel told the cook, “I gave you the best piece of meat and told you to set it aside. Bring it here now.”

The cook brought the meat over and set it down in front of Saul. “This is for you,” Samuel told him. “Go ahead and eat it. I had this piece saved especially for you, and I invited these guests to eat with you.”

After Saul and Samuel had finished eating, ²⁵ they went down from the place of worship and back into town. A bed was set up for Saul on the flat roof^[f] of Samuel's house, ²⁶ and Saul slept there.

About sunrise the next morning,^[g] Samuel called up to Saul on the roof, “Time to get up! I'll help you get started on your way.”

Saul got up. He and Samuel left together ²⁷ and had almost reached the edge of town when Samuel stopped and said, “Tell your servant go on. Stay here with me for a few minutes, and I'll tell you what God has told me.”

Samuel Tells Saul He Will Be King

After the servant had gone, 10 ¹ Samuel took a small jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. Then he kissed^[h] Saul and told him:

The Lord has chosen you to be the leader and ruler of his people.^{[i] 2} When you leave me today, you'll meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They'll tell you, “The donkeys you've been looking for have been found. Your father has forgotten about them, and now he's worrying about you! He's wondering how he can find you.”

³ Go on from there until you reach the big oak tree at Tabor, where you'll meet three men on their way to worship God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and the last one will be carrying a clay jar of wine. ⁴ After they greet you, they'll give you two loaves of bread.

⁵ Next, go to Gibeah,^[j] where the Philistines have an army camp. As you're going into the town, you'll meet a group of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They'll be going along prophesying while others are walking in front of them, playing small harps, small drums, and flutes.

⁶ The Spirit of the Lord will suddenly take control of you.^[k] You'll become a different person and start prophesying right along with them. ⁷ After these things happen, do whatever you think is right! God will help you.

⁸ Then go to Gilgal. I'll come a little later, so wait for me. It may even take a week for me to get there, but when I come, I'll offer sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask for his blessings. I'll also tell you what to do next.

Saul Goes Back Home

⁹ As Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God made Saul feel like a different person. That same day, everything happened just as Samuel had said. ¹⁰ When Saul arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. The Spirit of God suddenly took control of him,^[l] and right there in the middle of the group he began prophesying.

¹¹ Some people who had known Saul for a long time saw that he was speaking and behaving like a prophet. They said to each other, “What's happened? How can Saul be a prophet?”

^12 (B) “Why not?” one of them answered. “Saul has as much right to be a prophet as anyone else!”^[m] That's why everyone started saying, “How can Saul be a prophet?”

¹³ After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the place of worship.

¹⁴ Later, Saul's uncle asked him, “Where have you been?”

Saul answered, “Looking for the donkeys. We couldn't find them, so we went to talk with Samuel.”

¹⁵ “And what did he tell you?” Saul's uncle asked.

¹⁶ Saul answered, “He told us the donkeys had been found.” But Saul didn't mention that Samuel had chosen him to be king.

The Lord Shows Israel that Saul Will Be King

¹⁷ Samuel sent messengers to tell the Israelites to come to Mizpah and meet with the Lord. ¹⁸ When everyone had arrived, Samuel said:

The Lord God of Israel told me to remind you that he had rescued you from the Egyptians and from the other nations that abused you.

¹⁹ God has rescued you from your troubles and hard times. But you have rejected your God and have asked for a king. Now each tribe and clan must come near the place of worship so the Lord can choose a king.

²⁰ Samuel brought each tribe, one after the other, to the altar, and the Lord chose the Benjamin tribe. ²¹ Next, Samuel brought each clan of Benjamin there, and the Lord chose the Matri clan. Finally, Saul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.

²² The people prayed, “Our Lord, is Saul here?”

“Yes,” the Lord answered, “he is hiding behind the baggage.”

²³ The people ran and got Saul and brought him into the middle of the crowd. He was more than a head taller than anyone else. ²⁴ “Look closely at the man the Lord has chosen!” Samuel told the crowd. “There is no one like him!”

The crowd shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵ Samuel explained the rights and duties of a king and wrote them all in a book. He put the book in one of the shrines where the Lord was worshiped. Then Samuel sent everyone home.

²⁶ God had encouraged some young men to become followers of Saul, and when he returned to his hometown of Gibeah, they went with him. ²⁷ But some worthless fools said, “How can someone like Saul rescue us from our enemies?” They did not want Saul to be their king, and so they didn't bring him any gifts. But Saul kept calm.