1 Samuel 10
10
1Then Samuel took a bottle of olive oil. He poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him. He said, “The Lord has anointed you to be the king of his people. 2When you leave me today, you will meet two men. They will be near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They’ll say to you, ‘The donkeys you have been looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped thinking about them. Instead, he’s worried about you. He’s asking, “What can I do to find my son?” ’
3“You will go on from Zelzah until you come to the large tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They’ll be on their way up to Bethel to worship God. One of them will be carrying three young goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. A third will be carrying a bottle of wine. It will be a bottle made out of animal skin. 4The men will greet you. They’ll offer you two loaves of bread. You will accept the loaves from them.
5“After that, you will go to Gibeah of God. Some Philistine soldiers are stationed there. As you approach the town, you will meet a group of prophets. They’ll be coming down from the high place where they worship. People will be playing lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps at the head of the group. The prophets will be prophesying. 6The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully on you. Then you will prophesy along with them. You will become a different person. 7All these things will happen. Then do what you want to do. God is with you.
8“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. You can be sure that I’ll come down to you there. I’ll come and sacrifice burnt offerings and friendship offerings. But you must wait there for seven days until I come to you. Then I’ll tell you what to do.”
Saul Becomes King of Israel
9As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart. All these things happened that day. 10When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met Saul. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully on him. He prophesied along with them. 11Those who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets. They asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also one of the prophets?”
12A man who lived in Gibeah answered, “Yes, he is. In fact, he’s their leader.” That’s why people say, “Is Saul also one of the prophets?” 13After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place to worship.
14Later, Saul’s uncle spoke to him and his servant. He asked, “Where have you been?”
“Looking for the donkeys,” Saul said. “But we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel.”
15Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16Saul replied, “He told us the donkeys had been found.” But Saul didn’t tell his uncle that Samuel had said he would become king.
17Samuel sent a message to the Israelites. He told them to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. 18He said to them, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Israel, I brought you up out of Egypt. I saved you from their power. I also saved you from the power of all the kingdoms that had treated you badly.’ 19But now you have turned your backs on your God. He saves you out of all your trouble and suffering. In spite of that, you have said, ‘We refuse to listen. Place a king over us.’ So now gather together to meet with the Lord. Do it tribe by tribe and family group by family group.”
20Then Samuel had each tribe of Israel come forward. The tribe of Benjamin was chosen by casting lots. 21Next he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward, family group by family group. Matri’s group was chosen. Finally Saul, the son of Kish, was chosen. But when people looked for him, they realized he wasn’t there. 22They needed more help from the Lord. So they asked him, “Has the man come here yet?”
The Lord said, “Yes. He has hidden himself among the supplies.”
23So they ran over there and brought him out. When he stood up, the people saw that he was a head taller than any of them. 24Samuel spoke to all the people. He said, “Look at the man the Lord has chosen! There isn’t anyone like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “May the king live a long time!”
25Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of the king who ruled over them. He wrote them down in a book. He placed it in front of the Lord in the holy tent. Then he sent the people away. He sent each of them to their own homes.
26Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. Some brave men whose hearts God had touched went with Saul. 27But some people who wanted to stir up trouble said, “How can this fellow save us?” They looked down on him. They didn’t bring him any gifts. But Saul kept quiet about it.
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1 Samuel 10: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Samuel 10
10
1Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul's head, and kissed him, saying, “The Lord has anointed you as ruler of his chosen people.#10:1. This line is given in the form of a question, but is better translated as a statement, since a question can imply uncertainty. 2When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb in Zelzah, on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you went to look for have been found.
Now your father isn't concerned about them but is worried about you. He's wondering, ‘What about my son?’
3You will leave there and go on to the oak at Tabor where you will meet three men on their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be carrying three young goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a skin of wine. 4They will greet you#10:4. Literally, “shalom,” the usual greeting of the time. and give you two loaves of bread which you should take.
5Next you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have a garrison. As you come into town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place led by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. 6The Spirit of the Lord will come on you with power. You will prophesy with them, and you will become a different man. 7After these signs have happened, do what you need to do, for God is with you. 8Then go ahead of me to Gilgal. I assure you I will come and join you to present burnt offerings and friendship offerings. Wait there seven days until I come to you, and let you know what you should do.”
9The moment Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a different way of thinking,#10:9. “Different way of thinking”: literally “turned another heart to him.” Since in Hebrew the heart was where thinking occurred, this relates to the mind. In many ways this corresponds to the Greek concept of a “mind change,” which is the real meaning of conversion. So in a sense Saul could be said to have been “converted” at that point. and all the signs were fulfilled that day. 10When Saul and his servant arrived in Gibeah, there was a procession of prophets coming out to meet them, the Spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he also started to prophesy with them.
11Everyone who had known Saul and now saw him prophesying with the prophets said to each other, “What's going on with the son of Kish? Is Saul one of the prophets too?”
12A man living there responded, “But who is their father?”#10:12. In other words, the prophetic gift is not dependent on genealogy. So it became a saying: “Is Saul one of the prophets too?”
13After Saul had finished prophesying, he went to the high place. 14Saul's uncle asked Saul and his servant, “Where have you been?”
“We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we couldn't find them we went to Samuel.”
15“Please tell me what he said to you,” Saul's uncle asked.
16“He promised us the donkeys had been found,” Saul replied. But Saul didn't tell his uncle what Samuel had said about him becoming king.
17Samuel called the people of Israel to come before the Lord at Mizpah. 18He told the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I led Israel out of Egypt, and I saved you from the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. 19But now you have rejected your God, the one who saves you from all your troubles and disasters. You told him, ‘You must appoint a king to rule us.’ So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and family groups.”
20Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. 21Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its family groups, and the family group of Matri was chosen. Lastly, Saul, son of Kish, was chosen. But when they looked for him, he couldn't be found. 22So they asked the Lord, “Has he arrived here yet?”
The Lord replied, “Go and look—he's hiding among the baggage.”
23They ran and brought Saul over. When he stood among the people, he was head and shoulders taller than anyone else.
24Samuel said to everyone, “Can you see the one the Lord has chosen? There's no one like him anywhere!”
All the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25Then Samuel explained to the people all that a king would do. He wrote it down on a scroll and placed it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent everyone home.
26Saul also returned to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by warriors whom God had encouraged to help him.
27But some obnoxious men asked, “How could this man save us?” They hated him and didn't bring him any gifts; but Saul did not retaliate.#10:27. In the traditional Hebrew text the chapter finishes here. However, in one scroll found at Qumran there is the following additional information which relates to the following chapter and is included here for interest. “Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been severely oppressing the people of Gad and Reuben. He would gouge out their right eyes and would not let anyone help them. There wasn't anyone left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, hadn't gouged out. However, there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had gone to live in Jabesh-gilead.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com