1ከዚያም ሳሙኤል የዘይቱን ብርሌ ወስዶ፣ ዘይቱን በሳኦል ራስ ላይ ካፈሰሰ በኋላ እንዲህ ሲል ሳመው፤ “በርስቱ ላይ ገዥ ትሆን ዘንድ እግዚአብሔር ቀብቶህ የለምን10፥1 የዕራይስጥ ቅጆች ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማሉ፤ የሰብዓ ሊቃናትና የቩልጌት ትርጕም ግን፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ሕዝብ ትገዛለህ ከከበቡት ጠላቶቹም እጅ ታድነዋለህ፤ እግዚአብሔር ለርስቱ ገዥ አድርጐ የሾመህ ምልክቱ ይህ ነው የሚለውን ይጨምራሉ።? 2ዛሬ ከእኔ ተለይተህ ስትሄድ፣ በብንያም ወሰን ላይ በምትገኘው ጼልጻህ በተባለች ስፍራ በራሔል መቃብር አጠገብ ሁለት ሰዎች ታገኛለህ። እነርሱም፣ ‘የምትፈልጋቸው አህዮች ተገኝተዋል፤ አሁን አባትህ ስለ አህዮቹ ማሰቡን ትቶ፣ “ስለ ልጄ ምን ባደርግ ይሻለኛል?” እያለ በመጨነቅ ላይ ነው’ ይሉሃል።
3“አንተም ጕዞህን በመቀጠል በታቦር እስካለው እስከ ትልቁ ዛፍ ድረስ ትሄዳለህ፤ እዚያም ሦስት ሰዎች፣ አንዱ ሦስት የፍየል ግልገል፣ ሌላው ሦስት ዳቦ፣ ሌላው ደግሞ የወይን ጠጅ የተሞላበት አቍማዳ ይዘው ወደ እግዚአብሔር ወደ ቤቴል ሲወጡ ያገኙሃል። 4እነርሱም ሰላም ይሉሃል፤ ሁለት ዳቦ ይሰጡሃል፤ አንተም ትቀበላቸዋለህ።
5“ከዚያ በኋላ የፍልስጥኤማውያን ጦር ወዳለበት ወደ እግዚአብሔር ተራራ ወደ ጊብዓ ትሄዳለህ። ወደ ከተማዪቱ እንደ ደረስህም የነቢያት ጉባኤ በመሰንቆ፣ በከበሮ፣ በእንቢልታና በበገና ታጅበው ትንቢት እየተናገሩ ከማምለኪያው ኰረብታ ላይ ሲወርዱ ታገኛቸዋለህ። 6የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ በኀይል ይወርድብሃል፤ ከእነርሱ ጋር ትንቢት ትናገራለህ፤ እንደ ሌላ ሰውም ሆነህ ትለወጣለህ። 7እነዚህ ምልክቶች በተፈጸሙ ጊዜ እጅህ ማድረግ የምትችለውን ሁሉ አድርግ፤ እግዚአብሔር ከአንተ ጋር ነውና።
8“ከፊቴ ቀድመህ ወደ ጌልገላ ውረድ፤ እኔም የሚቃጠለውን መሥዋዕትና የኅብረት መሥዋዕቱን10፥8 በትውፊት የሰላም መሥዋዕት ይባላል። ለማቅረብ ወደ አንተ እመጣለሁ፤ ነገር ግን ወደ አንተ መጥቼ ምን ማድረግ እንዳለብህ እስክነግርህ ድረስ ሰባት ቀን መቈየት አለብህ።”
ሳኦል ነገሠ
9ሳኦል ከሳሙኤል ተለይቶ ለመሄድ ፊቱን በመለሰ ጊዜ፣ እግዚአብሔር የሳኦልን ልብ ለወጠው፤ ምልክቱም ሁሉ በዚያ ዕለት ተፈጸመ። 10ጊብዓ በደረሱ ጊዜ የነቢያቱ ጉባኤ አገኙት፤ የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ በኀይል ወረደበት፤ ከእነርሱም ጋር ትንቢት ተናገረ። 11ቀድሞ የሚያውቁት ሁሉ ከነቢያቱ ጋር ትንቢት ሲናገር ባዩት ጊዜ፣ እርስ በርሳቸው፣ “የቂስን ልጅ ምን ነካው? ሳኦልም ከነቢያት ወገን ነውን?” ሲሉ ተጠያየቁ።
12በዚያ ነዋሪ የሆነ አንድ ሰው፣ “የእነርሱስ አባት ማን ነው?” ብሎ መለሰ። ስለዚህ፣ “ሳኦልም ከነቢያት ወገን ነውን?” የሚል ምሳሌያዊ አነጋገር ሆነ። 13ሳኦል ትንቢት መናገሩን ከፈጸመ በኋላ ወደ ማምለኪያው ኰረብታ ሄደ።
14በዚህ ጊዜ የሳኦል አጎት እርሱንና አገልጋዩን፣ “የት ነበራችሁ?” ሲል ጠየቃቸው።
እርሱም፣ “አህዮቹን ፍለጋ ሄደን ነበር፤ እንደማይገኙ በተረዳን ጊዜ ግን ወደ ሳሙኤል ሄድን” አለው።
15የሳኦል አጎትም፣ “እባክህ፣ ሳሙኤል ያለህን ንገረኝ” አለው።
16ሳኦልም መልሶ፣ “አህዮቹ መገኘታቸውን ገልጦ ነገረን” አለው። ይሁን እንጂ ስለ መንገሡ ሳሙኤል የነገረውን ለአጎቱ አልተናገረም።
17ሳሙኤል የእስራኤልን ሕዝብ ወደ ምጽጳ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ፊት ጠርቶ፣ 18እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘እስራኤልን ከግብፅ አወጣሁት፤ ከግብፃውያን እጅ ይጨቍኗችሁ ከነበሩት ከሌሎቹ መንግሥታት ሁሉ እጅ ታደግኋችሁ።’ 19ዛሬ ግን ከመከራችሁና ከጭንቃችሁ ሁሉ የሚያድናችሁን አምላካችሁን ንቃችሁ፤ ‘የለም፤ ንጉሥ አንግሥልን’ አላችሁ። ስለዚህ በየነገዳችሁና በየጐሣችሁ ሆናችሁ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቅረቡ።”
20ሳሙኤል የእስራኤልን ነገዶች ሁሉ ባቀረበ ጊዜ፣ የብንያም ነገድ ተመረጠ። 21ከዚያም የብንያምን ነገድ በየጐሣው ወደ ፊት አቀረበ፤ የማጥሪ ጐሣም ተመረጠ። በመጨረሻም የቂስ ልጅ ሳኦል ተመረጠ። እርሱ ግን ተፈልጎ አልተገኘም። 22ሰዎቹም፣ “ሰውየው መጥቷልን?” ሲሉ እግዚአብሔርን ጠየቁ።
እግዚአብሔርም፣ “አዎን፤ ነገር ግን በዕቃ መካከል ተሸሽጓል” አለ።
23እነርሱም ሮጠው ከተደበቀበት አመጡት፤ በሕዝቡ መካከል በቆመ ጊዜም ቁመቱ ከሌሎቹ ሁሉ ይልቅ ከትከሻው በላይ ዘለግ ያለ ነበር። 24ሳሙኤልም መላውን ሕዝብ፣ “እግዚአብሔር የመረጠውን ሰው አያችሁን? ከሕዝቡ ሁሉ የሚስተካከለው ማንም የለም” አለ።
ከዚያም ሕዝቡ፣ “ንጉሡ ለዘላለም ይኑር!” ብሎ ጮኸ።
25ሳሙኤልም ለንጉሥ የሚገባውን ወግና ሥርዐት ለሕዝቡ ገልጦ ካስረዳ በኋላ በመጽሐፍ ጽፎ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት አኖረው። ከዚህ በኋላ ሳሙኤል እያንዳንዱን ሰው ወደየቤቱ አሰናበተ።
26ሳኦልም ጊብዓ ወዳለው ቤቱ ሄደ፤ እግዚአብሔርም ልባቸውን የነካው ኀያላን ሰዎች አብረውት ሄዱ። 27አንዳንድ ምናምንቴ ሰዎች ግን፣ “እንዲህ ያለ ሰው እንዴት ሊያድነን ይችላል?” በማለት ናቁት፤ ስጦታም አላመጡለትም። ሳኦል ግን ዝም አለ።
1Then Samuel took a bottle of olive oil. He poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him. He said, “The Lord has anointed you to be the king of his people. 2When you leave me today, you will meet two men. They will be near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They’ll say to you, ‘The donkeys you have been looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped thinking about them. Instead, he’s worried about you. He’s asking, “What can I do to find my son?” ’
3“You will go on from Zelzah until you come to the large tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They’ll be on their way up to Bethel to worship God. One of them will be carrying three young goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. A third will be carrying a bottle of wine. It will be a bottle made out of animal skin. 4The men will greet you. They’ll offer you two loaves of bread. You will accept the loaves from them.
5“After that, you will go to Gibeah of God. Some Philistine soldiers are stationed there. As you approach the town, you will meet a group of prophets. They’ll be coming down from the high place where they worship. People will be playing lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps at the head of the group. The prophets will be prophesying. 6The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully on you. Then you will prophesy along with them. You will become a different person. 7All these things will happen. Then do what you want to do. God is with you.
8“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. You can be sure that I’ll come down to you there. I’ll come and sacrifice burnt offerings and friendship offerings. But you must wait there for seven days until I come to you. Then I’ll tell you what to do.”
Saul Becomes King of Israel
9As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart. All these things happened that day. 10When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met Saul. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully on him. He prophesied along with them. 11Those who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets. They asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also one of the prophets?”
12A man who lived in Gibeah answered, “Yes, he is. In fact, he’s their leader.” That’s why people say, “Is Saul also one of the prophets?” 13After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place to worship.
14Later, Saul’s uncle spoke to him and his servant. He asked, “Where have you been?”
“Looking for the donkeys,” Saul said. “But we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel.”
15Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16Saul replied, “He told us the donkeys had been found.” But Saul didn’t tell his uncle that Samuel had said he would become king.
17Samuel sent a message to the Israelites. He told them to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. 18He said to them, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Israel, I brought you up out of Egypt. I saved you from their power. I also saved you from the power of all the kingdoms that had treated you badly.’ 19But now you have turned your backs on your God. He saves you out of all your trouble and suffering. In spite of that, you have said, ‘We refuse to listen. Place a king over us.’ So now gather together to meet with the Lord. Do it tribe by tribe and family group by family group.”
20Then Samuel had each tribe of Israel come forward. The tribe of Benjamin was chosen by casting lots. 21Next he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward, family group by family group. Matri’s group was chosen. Finally Saul, the son of Kish, was chosen. But when people looked for him, they realized he wasn’t there. 22They needed more help from the Lord. So they asked him, “Has the man come here yet?”
The Lord said, “Yes. He has hidden himself among the supplies.”
23So they ran over there and brought him out. When he stood up, the people saw that he was a head taller than any of them. 24Samuel spoke to all the people. He said, “Look at the man the Lord has chosen! There isn’t anyone like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “May the king live a long time!”
25Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of the king who ruled over them. He wrote them down in a book. He placed it in front of the Lord in the holy tent. Then he sent the people away. He sent each of them to their own homes.
26Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. Some brave men whose hearts God had touched went with Saul. 27But some people who wanted to stir up trouble said, “How can this fellow save us?” They looked down on him. They didn’t bring him any gifts. But Saul kept quiet about it.
