1Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.9.1 a Benjamite: or, the son of a man of Jemini9.1 power: or, substance 2And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
3And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. 4And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. 5And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us. 6And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go. 7Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?9.7 is spent…: Heb. is gone out of, etc9.7 have we: Heb. is with us? 8And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.9.8 I have…: Heb. there is found in my hand 9(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) 10Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was.9.10 Well said: Heb. Thy word is good
11¶ And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here?9.11 the hill…: Heb. in the ascent of the city 12And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place:9.12 sacrifice: or, feast 13As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him.9.13 this time: Heb. to day 14And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place.
15¶ Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,9.15 told…: Heb. revealed the ear of Samuel 16To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. 17And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.9.17 reign over: Heb. restrain in
18Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is. 19And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. 20And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house?9.20 three…: Heb. to day three days 21And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?9.21 so…: Heb. according to this word 22And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons. 23And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee. 24And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.9.24 left: or, reserved
25¶ And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. 26And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. 27And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.9.27 a while: Heb. to day
ሳሙኤል ሳኦልን ለንጉሥነት ቀባው
1ቂስ የተባለ አንድ ታዋቂ ብንያማዊ ሰው ነበረ፤ እርሱም የአቢኤል ልጅ፣ የጽሮር ልጅ፣ የብኮራት ልጅ፣ የብንያማዊው የአፌቅ ልጅ ነበር። 2ቂስም ከእስራኤል ልጆች መካከል በመልከ ቀናነቱ ተወዳዳሪ የማይገኝለት፣ ቁመቱም ከሌሎቹ ሁሉ ይልቅ ከትከሻው በላይ ዘለግ ያለ፣ ሳኦል የተባለ ወጣት ልጅ ነበረው።
3በዚያም ጊዜ የሳኦል አባት የቂስ አህዮች ጠፍተው ነበር፤ ቂስም ልጁን ሳኦልን፣ “ከአገልጋዮቹ መካከል አንዱን ይዘህ ሂድና አህዮቹን ፈልግ” አለው። 4ስለዚህ በኰረብታማው በኤፍሬም አገርና በሻሊሻ አካባቢ ባለው ስፍራ ሁሉ ተዘዋወረ፤ ሆኖም አህዮቹን አላገኙም። ወደ ሻዕሊምም ግዛት ዘልቀው ገቡ፤ አህዮቹ ግን በዚያም አልነበሩም። እንዲሁም በብንያም ግዛት በኩል ዐለፈ፤ ሆኖም አላገኟቸውም።
5ወደ ጹፍ ግዛት በደረሱ ጊዜ ሳኦል አብሮት የነበረውን አገልጋይ፣ “አባቴ ይህን ጊዜ ስለ አህዮቹ ማሰቡን ትቶ ስለ እኛ መጨነቅ ስለሚጀምር፣ ና እንመለስ” አለው።
6አገልጋዩ ግን፣ “እነሆ፤ በዚህች ከተማ አንድ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው አለ፤ እርሱም በጣም የተከበረ ነው፤ የሚናገረውም ሁሉ በትክክል ይፈጸማል፤ በየትኛው መንገድ መሄድ እንዳለብን ይነግረን ይሆናልና ወደዚያ እንሂድ” ሲል መለሰለት።
7ሳኦልም አገልጋዩን፣ “መሄዱን እንሂድ፤ ነገር ግን ለሰውየው ምን እንሰጠዋለን? በስልቻዎቻችን የያዝነው ስንቅ ዐልቋል። ለእግዚአብሔር ሰው የምናበረክተውም ስጦታ የለንም፤ ታዲያ ምን አለን?” አለው።
8አገልጋዩ፣ “እኔ የአንድ ሰቅል ጥሬ ብር ሩብ9፥8 ሦስት ግራም ያህል ነው። አለኝ፤ በየትኛው መንገድ መሄድ እንዳለብን ይነግረን ዘንድ ገንዘቡን ለእግዚአብሔር ሰው እሰጠዋለሁ” ሲል በድጋሚ መለሰለት። 9ቀደም ሲል በእስራኤል ዘንድ አንድ ሰው እግዚአብሔርን ለመጠየቅ ሲሄድ፣ “ኑ ወደ ባለ ራእዩ እንሂድ” ይል ነበር፤ ዛሬ ነቢይ የሚባለው በዚያ ጊዜ ባለ ራእይ ይባል ነበርና።
10ሳኦልም፣ “መልካም፤ ና እንሂድ” አለው። ስለዚህ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ወዳለበት ከተማ ሄዱ።
11በከተማዪቱ መዳረሻ ያለውን ኰረብታ በመውጣት ላይ ሳሉ፣ ውሃ ለመቅዳት የሚወጡ ልጃገረዶችን አግኝተው፣ “ባለ ራእዩ እዚህ ነውን?” ሲሉ ጠየቁ።
12እነርሱም እንዲህ ሲሉ መለሱላቸው፤ “አዎን አለ፤ እነሆ፤ ከፊታችሁ ነው፤ ፈጠን በሉ፤ ሕዝቡ በማምለኪያው ኰረብታ ላይ መሥዋዕት ስለሚያቀርብ፣ ወደ ከተማችን ገና ዛሬ መምጣቱ ነው፤ 13ወደ ከተማዪቱም በገባችሁ ጊዜ፣ ለመብላት ወደ ማምለኪያው ኰረብታ ከመውጣቱ በፊት ታገኙታላችሁ። መሥዋዕቱን እርሱ መባረክ ስላለበት፣ እርሱ እስኪመጣ ድረስ ሕዝቡ መብላት አይጀምርም፤ ከዚያ በኋላ የተጋበዘው ሕዝብ ይበላል፤ አሁኑኑ ውጡ፤ ወዲያው ታገኙታላችሁ።”
14እነርሱም ወደ ከተማዪቱ ወጡ፤ ወደ ከተማዪቱም በመግባት ላይ ሳሉ፣ እነሆ፤ ሳሙኤል ወደ ማምለኪያው ኰረብታ ለመውጣት እነርሱ ወዳሉበት አቅጣጫ መጣ።
15ሳኦል ከመምጣቱ ከአንድ ቀን በፊት እግዚአብሔር ለሳሙኤል ይህን እንዲህ ሲል ገልጦለት ነበር፤ 16“ነገ በዚህ ጊዜ ከብንያም ምድር አንድ ሰው ወደ አንተ እልካለሁ፤ በሕዝቤ በእስራኤል ላይ መሪ እንዲሆን ቅባው፤ እርሱም ሕዝቤን ከፍልስጥኤማውያን እጅ ይታደጋል። እነሆ፤ ሕዝቤን ከላይ ተመልክቻለሁ፤ ጩኸቱ ከእኔ ዘንድ ደርሷልና።”
17ሳሙኤል ሳኦልን ባየው ጊዜ እግዚአብሔር፣ “ያ የነገርሁህ ሰው እነሆ፤ እርሱም ሕዝቤን ይገዛል” አለው።
18ሳኦልም በቅጥሩ በር ላይ ወደ ሳሙኤል ቀረብ ብሎ፣ “የባለ ራእዩ ቤት የት እንደ ሆነ ትነግረኛለህ?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
19ሳሙኤልም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰለት፤ “ባለ ራእዩ እኔ ነኝ፤ ዛሬ ከእኔ ጋር ስለምትበሉ ከፊቴ ቀድማችሁ ወደ ማምለኪያው ኰረብታ ውጡ፤ ነገ ጧት አሰናብትሃለሁ፤ በልብህ ያለውንም እነግርሃለሁ። 20ከሦስት ቀን በፊት ስለ ጠፉብህ አህዮች አትጨነቅ፤ ተገኝተዋልና። የእስራኤል ምኞት ሁሉ ያዘነበለው ወደ አንተና ወደ አባትህ ቤተ ሰብ ሁሉ አይደለምን?”
21ሳኦልም፣ “እኔ ከእስራኤል ነገዶች ውስጥ በጣም አነስተኛ ከሆነው ከብንያም ወገን አይደለሁምን? ጐሣዬስ ከብንያም ነገድ ጐሣዎች ሁሉ የሚያንስ አይደለምን? ታዲያ እንዲህ ያለውን ነገር ስለ ምን ትነግረኛለህ?” ብሎ መለሰለት።
22ከዚያም ሳሙኤል ሳኦልንና አገልጋዩን ወደ አዳራሹ አመጣ፤ ከተጋበዙትም ሠላሳ ያህል ሰዎች ሁሉ በላይ አስቀመጣቸው። 23ሳሙኤልም ወጥ ቤቱን፣ “ለይተህ አስቀምጥ ብዬ የሰጠሁህን የሥጋ ብልት አምጣው” አለው።
24ወጥ ቤቱም የጭኑን ሥጋ እንዳለ አምጥቶ በሳኦል ፊት አስቀመጠው። ሳሙኤልም፣ “ይህ፣ ‘እንግዶችን ጋብዣለሁ’ ካልሁበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ እስከ ተወሰነው ጊዜ ድረስ ለአንተ ተለይቶ የተቀመጠልህ ስለሆነ ብላው” አለው። ሳኦልም በዚያች ዕለት ከሳሙኤል ጋር አብሮ በላ።
25ከማምለኪያው ኰረብታ ወደ ከተማዪቱ ከወረዱ በኋላ ሳሙኤል በቤቱ ሰገነት ላይ ከሳኦል ጋር ተነጋገረ። 26በማለዳ ተነሡ፤ ሳሙኤል ሳኦልን ከሰገነቱ ላይ ጠርቶ፣ “ላሰናብትህ ስለሆነ ተዘጋጅ” አለው። ሳኦልም ተዘጋጅቶ እንዳበቃ፣ ከሳሙኤል ጋር ተያይዘው ወደ ውጭ ወጡ። 27ወደ ከተማዪቱ ዳርቻ እየወረዱ ሳለ፣ ሳሙኤል ሳኦልን፣ “አገልጋይህ ወደ ፊት ቀድሞን እንዲሄድ ንገረው” አለው፤ አገልጋዩም እንደ ተነገረው አደረገ፤ ከዚህ በኋላ ሳሙኤል፣ “አንተ ግን ከእግዚአብሔር የተላከ መልእክት እነግርህ ዘንድ ለጥቂት ጊዜ እዚህ ቈይ” አለው።
