1 Samuel 10
10
Saul among Prophets
1Then Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has the Lord not anointed you as ruler over His inheritance (Israel)? 2When you leave me today, you will meet two men beside Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went to look for have been found. And your father has stopped caring about them and is worried about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ 3Then you will go on further from there, and you will come to the terebinth tree of Tabor, and three men going up to [sacrifice to] God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine. 4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. 5After that you will come to #10:5 Or Gibeath-haelohim.the hill of God where the garrison of the Philistines is; and when you come there to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place [of worship] with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. 6Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into another man. 7When these signs come to you, do for yourself whatever #10:7 Lit your hand finds.the situation requires, for God is with you. 8You shall go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will be coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you must do.”
9Then it happened when Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. 10When they came to the hill [Gibeah], behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came on him mightily, and he prophesied [under divine guidance] among them. 11Now when all who knew Saul previously saw that he actually prophesied now [by inspiration] with the prophets, the people said one to another, “What has happened to [Saul, who is nobody but] the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12And a man from there answered, “But who is the father of the others?” So it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13When Saul had finished prophesying, he went to the high place [of worship].
14Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And Saul said, “To look for the donkeys. And when we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel [for help].” 15Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?” 16And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.
Saul Publicly Chosen King
17Then Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah, 18and he said to Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought Israel up from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19But today you have rejected your God, who Himself saves you from all your disasters and distresses; yet you have said, ‘No! Set a king over us.’ Now then, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your families (clans).”
20And when Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. 21Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. And Saul the son of Kish was chosen by lot; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord answered, “He is there, hiding himself by the #10:22 Lit baggage.provisions and supplies.” [Ex 28:30] 23So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”
25Then Samuel told the people the #10:25 Lit legal claim, i.e. what a king would require from his subjects.requirements of the kingdom, and wrote them in a book and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26Saul also went home to Gibeah; and the #10:26 Or men of wealth and influence.brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27But some #10:27 Lit sons of Belial.worthless men said, “How can this man save and rescue us?” And they regarded Saul with contempt and did not bring him a gift. But he ignored the insult and kept silent.
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1 Samuel 10
10
1Samuel took a small jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. Then he kissed#10.1 kissed: Relatives or close friends often greeted one another with a kiss. But this may have been a ceremonial kiss after Samuel poured oil on Saul's head to show that he was to be the king. Saul and told him:
The Lord has chosen you to be the leader and ruler of his people.#10.1 people: One ancient translation adds “You will rule the Lord's people and save them from their enemies who are all around them. These things will prove that what I say is true.” 2When 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.”
3Go 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. 4After they greet you, they'll give you two loaves of bread.
5Next, go to Gibeah,#10.5 Gibeah: The Hebrew text has “Gibeah of God,” which may or may not have been the same Gibeah as Saul's hometown. 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.
6The Spirit of the Lord will suddenly take control of you.#10.6 take … you: Or “will take control of you in a powerful way.” You'll become a different person and start prophesying right along with them. 7After these things happen, do whatever you think is right! God will help you.
8Then 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
9As Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God made Saul feel like a different person. That same day, everything happened just as Samuel had said. 10When Saul arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. The Spirit of God suddenly took control of him,#10.10 suddenly … him: Or “came over him in a powerful way.” and right there in the middle of the group he began prophesying.
11Some 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 #
1 S 19.23,24. “Why not?” one of them answered. “Saul has as much right to be a prophet as anyone else!”#10.12 Why not … anyone else: Or “Sure he is! He's probably the leader of the prophets!” or “How can he be? Those prophets are nobodies!” That's why everyone started saying, “How can Saul be a prophet?”
13After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the place of worship.
14Later, 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.
16Saul 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
17Samuel sent messengers to tell the Israelites to come to Mizpah and meet with the Lord. 18When 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.
19God 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.
20Samuel brought each tribe, one after the other, to the altar, and the Lord chose the Benjamin tribe. 21Next, 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.
22The people prayed, “Our Lord, is Saul here?”
“Yes,” the Lord answered, “he is hiding behind the baggage.”
23The 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!”
25Samuel 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.
26God had encouraged some young men to become followers of Saul, and when he returned to his hometown of Gibeah, they went with him. 27But 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.
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