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¹ Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured [it] upon his head, and kissed him, and said, [Is it] not because the LORD hath anointed thee [to be] captain over his inheritance?² When thou hast departed from me to-day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?³ Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:⁴ And they will salute thee, and give thee two [loaves] of bread; which thou shalt receive from their hands.⁵ After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where [is] the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou hast come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp before them; and they will prophesy:⁶ And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.⁷ And let it be, when these signs have come to thee, [that] thou do as occasion shall serve thee; for God [is] with thee.⁸ And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to thee, to offer burnt-offerings, [and] to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do.

⁹ And it was [so], that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.¹⁰ And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.¹¹ And it came to pass when all that formerly knew him saw, that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What [is] this [that] hath come to the son of Kish? [Is] Saul also among the prophets?¹² And one of the same place answered and said, But who [is] their father? Therefore it became a proverb, [Is] Saul also among the prophets?¹³ And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.¹⁴ And Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that [they were] no where, we came to Samuel.¹⁵ And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, What Samuel said to you.¹⁶ And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he told him not.

¹⁷ And Samuel called the people together to the LORD to Mizpeh;¹⁸ And said to the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, [and] of them that oppressed you:¹⁹ And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities, and your tribulations; and ye 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 And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.²¹ When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.²² Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, if the man would yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.²³ And they ran and brought him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that [there is] none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.²⁵ Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote [it] in a book, and laid [it] up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.²⁶ And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.²⁷ But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.