1 Samuel 10

Revised Geneva Translation

10 Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be Governor over His inheritance?

² “After you have departed from me this day, you shall find two men by Rachel’s sepulcher, on the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah; and they will say to you, “The donkeys which you went to seek have been found. And lo, your father has left the care of the donkeys and worries about you, saying, ‘What shall I do for my son?’

³ “Then you shall go forth from there and shall come to the plain of Tabor. And you shall meet three men there going up to God, to Bethel, one carrying three goats and another carrying three loaves of bread and another carrying a bottle of wine.

⁴ “And they will ask you if all is well and will give you the two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands.

⁵ “After that, you shall come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. And when you have come there to the city, you shall meet a company of Prophets coming down from the high place with a lute and a tambourine and a flute and a harp before them; and they shall prophesy.

⁶ “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you. And you shall prophesy with them and shall be turned into another man.

⁷ “Therefore, when these signs shall come to you, do as the occasion shall require. For God is with you.

⁸ “And you shall go down before me to Gilgal. And I, also, will come down to you, to offer Burnt Offerings, and to sacrifice Sacrifices of peace. Wait for me for seven days, until I come to you and tell you what you shall do.”

⁹ And when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all those signs came to pass that same day.

¹⁰ And when they came there to the hill, behold, the company of Prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him; and he prophesied among them.

¹¹ Therefore, all the people who knew him before, when they saw that he prophesied among the Prophets, said each to other, “What has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the Prophets?”

¹² And one from the same place answered, and said, “But who is their father?” Therefore, it was a proverb, “Is Saul also among the Prophets?”

¹³ And when he had finished Prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴ And Saul’s uncle said to him, and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To look for the donkeys. And when we saw that they were nowhere, we came to Samuel.”

¹⁵ And Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me, please, what Samuel said to you.”

¹⁶ Then Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But concerning the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken, he told him nothing.

¹⁷ And Samuel assembled the people to the LORD in Mizpah,

¹⁸ And he said to the children of Israel, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I have brought Israel out of Egypt and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hands of all kingdoms that troubled you.

¹⁹ ‘But you have this day cast away your God, Who alone delivers you out of all your adversities and tribulations. And you said to Him, “No! But appoint a king over us!” Now, therefore, stand 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 Benjamin was taken.

²¹ Afterward, he assembled the tribe of Benjamin, according to their families; and the family of Matri was taken. So Saul, the son of Kish, was taken. And when they sought him, he could not be found.

²² Therefore, they asked the LORD again if that man should still come there. And the LORD answered, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the implements.”

²³ And they ran and brought him there. And when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders upward.

²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you not see him whom the LORD has chosen, so that there is no one like him among all the people?” And all the people shouted and said, “God save the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people the duty of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each man to his house.

²⁶ Saul, also, went home to Gibeah. And a band of men followed him whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷ But some wicked men said, “How shall he save us?” So they despised him and brought him no presents. But he held his tongue.