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¹ Then Shemu'el took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, Isn't it that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance? ² When you are departed from me today, then you shall find two men by Rachel's tomb, in the border of Binyamin at Tzeltzach; and they will tell you, The donkeys which you went to seek are found; and, behold, your father has left off caring for the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? ³ Then shall you go on forward from there, and you shall come to the oak of Tavor; and there shall meet you there three men going up to God to Beit-El, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: ⁴ and they will Greet you, and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive of their hand. ⁵ After that you shall come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Pelishtim: and it shall happen, when you are come there to the city, that you shall meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tambourine, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying: ⁶ and the Spirit of the LORD will come mightily on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man. ⁷ Let it be, when these signs are come to you, that you do as occasion shall serve you; for God is with you. ⁸ You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down to you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shall you wait, until I come to you, and show you what you shall do.

⁹ It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Shemu'el, God gave him another heart: and all those signs happened that day. ¹⁰ When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹ It happened, when all who knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come to the son of Kish? Is Sha'ul also among the prophets? ¹² One of the same place answered, Who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Sha'ul also among the prophets? ¹³ When he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. ¹⁴ Sha'ul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Where went you? He said, To seek the donkeys; and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Shemu'el. ¹⁵ Sha'ul's uncle said, Tell me, Please, what Shemu'el said to you. ¹⁶ Sha'ul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, whereof Shemu'el spoke, he didn't tell him.

¹⁷ Shemu'el called the people together to the LORD to Mitzpah; ¹⁸ and he said to the children of Yisra'el, Thus says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, I brought up Yisra'el out of Mitzrayim, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Mitzrim, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you: ¹⁹ but you have this day rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, [No], but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands. ²⁰ So Shemu'el brought all the tribes of Yisra'el near, and the tribe of Binyamin was taken. ²¹ He brought the tribe of Binyamin near by their families; and the family of the Matri was taken; and Sha'ul the son of Kish was taken: but when they sought him, he could not be found. ²² Therefore they asked of the LORD further, Is there yet a man to come here? the LORD answered, Behold, he has hid himself among the baggage. ²³ They ran and fetched him there; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. ²⁴ Shemu'el said to all the people, "You see him whom the LORD has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?" All the people shouted, and said, [Long] live the king. ²⁵ Then Shemu'el told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. Shemu'el sent all the people away, every man to his house. ²⁶ Sha'ul also went to his house to Gevah; and there went with him the host, whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷ But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his shalom.