1 Samuel 9:1-13

New American Standard Bible 1995

Saul’s Search

9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(A)Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of ^[a]valor. ² He had a son whose name was Saul, a ^(B)choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; ^(C)from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take now with you one of the servants, and arise, go search for the donkeys.” ⁴ He passed through ^(D)the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^(E)Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^(F)Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of ^(G)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, and let us return, ^(H)or else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us.” ⁶ He said to him, “Behold now, there is ^(I)a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^(J)all that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, ^(K)perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack and there is ^(L)no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will ^(M)tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called ^(N)a seer.) ¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the slope to the city, ^(O)they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” ¹² They answered them and said, “He is; ^[b]see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for ^(P)the people have a sacrifice on ^(Q)the high place today. ¹³ As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, because ^(R)he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up for you will find him at once.”