Samuel Anoints Saul

10 Samuel took a jar of the special oil. Samuel poured the oil on Saul’s head. Samuel kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has anointed (chosen) you to be the leader over the people who belong to him. You will control the Lord’s people. You will save them from the enemies that are all around them. The Lord has anointed you to be ruler over his people. Here is a sign that will prove this is true:* ²After you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. The two men will say to you, ‘Someone found the donkeys you were looking for. Your father stopped worrying about his donkeys. Now he is worrying about you. He is saying: What will I do about my son?’” ³{Samuel said,} “Then you will go until you come to the large oak tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. Those three men will be on their way to worship God at Bethel. One man will be carrying three young goats. The second man will be carrying three loaves of bread. And the third man will have a bottle of wine. ⁴These three men will say hello to you. They will offer you two loaves of bread. And you will accept those two loaves of bread from them. ⁵Then you will go to Gibeath Elohim. There is a Philistine fort in that place. When you come to this town, a group of prophets will come out. These prophets will come down from the place for worship.* They will be prophesying.* They will be playing harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. ⁶Then the Lord’s Spirit will come on you with great power. You will be changed. You will be like a different man. You will begin to prophesy with these prophets. ⁷After that happens, you can do whatever you choose to do. Why? Because God will be with you. ⁸“Go to Gilgal before me. Then I will come there to you. And I will offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. But you must wait seven days. Then I will come and tell you what to do.”

Saul Becomes Like the Prophets

⁹Just as Saul turned to leave Samuel, God turned Saul’s life around. All those things happened that day. ¹⁰Saul and his servant went to Gibeath Elohim. At that place, Saul met a group of prophets. God’s Spirit came on Saul with great power, and Saul prophesied with the prophets. ¹¹Some of the people who had known Saul before saw him prophesying* with the prophets. So they asked each other, “What has happened to Kish’s son? Is Saul also one the prophets?” ¹²A man living in Gibeath Elohim said, “Yes! And it seems that he is their leader.”* That is why this became a famous saying: “Is Saul also one of the prophets?”

Saul Arrives Home

¹³After Saul finished prophesying,* he went to the place for worship {near his home}. ¹⁴Saul’s uncle asked Saul and his servant, “Where have you been?” Saul said, “We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we went to see Samuel.” ¹⁵Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?” ¹⁶Saul answered, “Samuel told us the donkeys were already found.” Saul did not tell his uncle everything. Saul did not tell him the things Samuel said about the kingdom.

Samuel Announces Saul as King

¹⁷Samuel told all the people of Israel to meet together with the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸Samuel told the people of Israel, “The Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I led Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control and from the other kingdoms that tried to hurt you.’ ¹⁹But today you have rejected your God. Your God saves you from all your troubles and problems. But you said, ‘No, we want a king to rule us.’ Now come, stand before the Lord in your families and family groups.” ²⁰Samuel brought all the family groups of Israel near. {Then Samuel began to choose the new king.} First, the family group of Benjamin was chosen. ²¹Samuel told each family in the family group of Benjamin to pass by. Matri’s family was chosen. Then Samuel told each man in Matri’s family to walk by. Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when the people looked for Saul, they could not find him. ²²Then they asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?” The Lord said, “Saul is hiding behind the supplies.” ²³The people ran and took Saul out from behind the supplies. Saul stood up among the people. Saul was a head taller than any other person. ²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. There is no person like Saul among the people.” Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!” ²⁵Samuel explained the rules of the kingdom to the people. He wrote the rules in a book. He put the book before the Lord. Then Samuel told the people to go home. ²⁶Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. God touched the hearts of brave men, and these brave men began to follow Saul. ²⁷But some troublemakers said, “How can this man save us?” They said bad things about Saul and refused to bring gifts to him. But Saul said nothing.

Nahash, King of the Ammonites

Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, had been hurting the family groups of Gad and Reuben. Nahash poked out the right eye of each of the men. Nahash did not allow anyone to help them. Nahash king of the Ammonites poked out the right eye of every Israelite man living in the area east of the Jordan River. But 7,000 Israelite men ran away from the Ammonites and came to Jabesh Gilead.*

You will control … true These lines are from the ancient Greek translation. They are not in the Hebrew text. place for worship Literally, “high place.” prophesying Usually, this means “speaking for God.” But here this also means that the Spirit of God took control of the person and caused him to sing and dance. Yes … leader Literally, “And who is their father?” Often the man who taught and led other prophets was called “father.” Nahash … came to Jabesh Gilead This part is not in the standard Hebrew text, but is found in some ancient translations and in one of the ancient Hebrew scrolls from Qumran.

11 About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite and his army surrounded Jabesh Gilead. All the people of Jabesh said to Nahash, “If you will make a treaty with us, we will serve you.” ²But Nahash the Ammonite answered, “I will make a treaty with you people only if I can poke out the right eye of each person. Then all Israel will be ashamed!” ³The leaders of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Let us have seven days. We will send messengers through all Israel. If no one comes to help us, we will come up to you {and surrender to you}.”

Saul Saves Jabesh Gilead

⁴The messengers came to Gibeah where Saul lived. They told the news to the people. The people cried loudly. ⁵Saul had been out in the field with his cows. Saul came in from the field and heard the people crying. Saul asked, “What’s wrong with the people? Why are they crying?” Then the people told Saul what the messengers from Jabesh said. ⁶Saul listened to their story. Then God’s Spirit came on Saul with great power. Saul became very angry. ⁷Saul took a pair of cows and cut them in pieces. Then he gave the pieces of those cows to messengers. He ordered the messengers to carry the pieces throughout the land of Israel. He told them to give this message to the people of Israel: “Come follow Saul and Samuel. If any person does not come and help them, then this same thing will happen to his cows!” A great fear from the Lord came on the people. They all came together like one person. ⁸Saul gathered the men together at Bezek. There were 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 men from Judah. ⁹Saul and his army told the messengers from Jabesh, “Tell the people at Jabesh in Gilead that by noon tomorrow, you will be saved.” The messengers told Saul’s message to the people at Jabesh. The people at Jabesh were very happy. ¹⁰Then the people of Jabesh said to Nahash the Ammonite, “Tomorrow we will come to you. Then you can do anything you want to us.” ¹¹The next morning Saul separated his soldiers into three groups. At sunrise, Saul and his soldiers entered the Ammonite camp. Saul attacked while they were changing guards that morning. Saul and his soldiers defeated the Ammonites before noon. The Ammonite soldiers all ran away in different directions—no two soldiers stayed together. ¹²Then the people said to Samuel, “Where are the people who said they didn’t want Saul to rule as king? Bring those people here, and we will kill them!” ¹³But Saul said, “No! Don’t kill anyone today! The Lord saved Israel today!” ¹⁴Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal. At Gilgal we will again make Saul the king.” ¹⁵All the people went to Gilgal. There, in front of the Lord, the people made Saul king. They offered fellowship offerings to the Lord. Saul and all the Israelites had a great celebration.

Samuel Speaks About the King

12 Samuel said to all Israel: “I have done everything you wanted me to do. I have put a king over you. ²Now you have a king to lead you. I am old and gray, but my sons are here with you. I have been your leader since I was a young boy. ³Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, you must tell those things to the Lord and his chosen king. Did I steal anyone’s cow or donkey? Did I hurt or cheat anyone? Did I ever take money, or even a pair of shoes, to do something wrong? If I did any of these things, then I will make it right.” ⁴The Israelites answered, “No! You never did anything bad to us. You never cheated us or took things from us!” ⁵Samuel said to the Israelites, “The Lord and his chosen king are witnesses today. They heard what you said. They know that you could find nothing wrong with me.” The people answered, “Yes! The Lord is witness!” ⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord has seen what happened. The Lord is the One who chose Moses and Aaron. And he is the one who brought your ancestors* out of Egypt. ⁷Now, stand there and I will tell you about the good things the Lord did for you and your ancestors. ⁸“Jacob went to Egypt. Later, the Egyptians made life hard for his descendants.* So they cried to the Lord for help. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron took your ancestors out of Egypt and led them to live in this place. ⁹“But your ancestors* forgot the Lord their God. So the Lord let them become the slaves of Sisera. Sisera was the commander of the army at Hazor. Then the Lord let them become the slaves of the Philistines and the king of Moab. They all fought against your ancestors. ¹⁰But your ancestors cried to the Lord for help. They said, ‘We have sinned. We left the Lord, and we served the false gods Baal* and Ashtoreth.* But now save us from our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹“So the Lord sent Jerub Baal (Gideon), Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. The Lord saved you from your enemies around you. And you lived in safety. ¹²But then you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites coming to fight against you. You said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us!’ You said that, even though the Lord your God was already your king! ¹³Now, here is the king you chose. The Lord put this king over you. ¹⁴You must fear and respect the Lord. You must serve him and obey his commands. You must not turn against him. You and the king ruling over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do those things, then God will save you.* ¹⁵But if you don’t obey the Lord and if you turn against him, then he will be against you. The Lord will destroy you and your king! ¹⁶“Now stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷Now is the time of the wheat harvest.* I will pray to the Lord. I will ask him to send thunder and rain. Then you will know you did a very bad thing against the Lord when you asked for a king.” ¹⁸So Samuel prayed to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. And the people became very afraid of the Lord and Samuel. ¹⁹All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants. Don’t let us die! We have sinned many times. And now we have added to those sins—we have asked for a king.” ²⁰Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. It is true! You did all those bad things. But don’t stop following the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹Idols are only statues—they can’t help you! So don’t worship them. Idols can’t help you or save you. They are nothing! ²²“But the Lord won’t leave his people. No, the Lord was pleased to make you his own people. So, for his own good name, he won’t leave you. ²³And as for me, I would never stop praying for you. If I stopped praying for you, then I would be sinning against the Lord. I will continue to teach you the right way to live a good life. ²⁴But you must honor the Lord. You must truly serve the Lord with all your heart. Remember the wonderful things he did for you! ²⁵But if you are stubborn and do evil, then God will throw you and your king away—like sweeping dirt out with a broom.”

ancestors Literally, “fathers.” This means a person’s parents, grandparents, and all the people they are descended from. descendants A person’s children and their future families. Baal The Canaanite people believed that this false god brought the rain and storms. They also thought that he made the land produce good crops. Ashtoreth The Canaanite people thought that this false goddess could make people able to have babies. She was their goddess of love and war. then God will save you This is from the ancient Greek translation. time of … harvest This was the dry time of year when no rains fell.