1Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?10:1 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate over his people Israel? You will reign over the Lord’s people and save them from the power of their enemies round about. And this will be a sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over his inheritance: 2When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?” ’
3“Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
5“After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”
Saul Made King
9As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. 11When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
14Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”
“Looking for the donkeys,” he said. “But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”
15Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
17Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah 18and said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ 19But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”
20When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the Lord said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”
23They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.
26Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
立扫罗为王
1撒母耳把一瓶膏油倒在扫罗的头上，亲吻他，说：“耶和华已经膏立你做祂子民的首领。 2你今天离开我以后，会在便雅悯境内的谢撒、靠近拉结的墓旁遇见两个人。他们会告诉你，你要找的驴已经找到，现在你父亲不再为驴担心，反为你担心，说，‘我该怎样找到我的儿子呢？’ 3你继续往前走，会在他泊的橡树那里遇见三个人。他们要到伯特利去敬拜上帝，一个牵着三只山羊羔，一个带着三个饼，一个拿着一皮袋酒。 4他们会问候你，送你两个饼，你要把饼收下。 5此后，你会去上帝的山，那里有非利士人的驻军。你一进城，就会遇见一群先知从丘坛下来，前面有人鼓瑟、敲鼓、吹笛、弹琴，先知们会说预言。 6耶和华的灵会突然降在你身上，你就会跟他们一起说预言，那时，你会变成另一个人。 7这些兆头临到你的时候，你就要见机行事，因为上帝与你同在。 8你先到吉甲去，在那里等我七天，我会到那里献燔祭和平安祭。我到了以后会告诉你怎么做。”
9扫罗转身离开撒母耳，上帝使他心灵焕然一新。撒母耳所说的兆头那天都应验了。 10扫罗和他的仆人来到上帝的山，遇见了一群先知。上帝的灵突然降在扫罗身上，他就在他们中间说起预言来。 11以前认识扫罗的人看见他跟先知一起说预言，就议论说：“基士的儿子怎么了？扫罗也做了先知吗？” 12当地的一个人说：“他们的父亲是谁？”自此以后，“扫罗也做了先知吗”就成为一句谚语。 13扫罗说完预言以后，就去了丘坛。
14扫罗的叔叔问他和他的仆人：“你们到哪里去了？”扫罗答道：“我们去找驴，没找着，就去见撒母耳。” 15扫罗的叔叔说：“请把撒母耳对你们说的话告诉我。” 16扫罗答道：“他肯定地告诉我们驴已经找到了。”但扫罗没有把撒母耳提到的立王之事告诉叔叔。
17撒母耳把以色列人招聚到米斯巴耶和华那里， 18对他们说：“以色列的上帝耶和华这样说，‘我带你们出埃及，从埃及人和压迫你们的各国之人手中救出你们。’ 19但你们现在却背弃了拯救你们脱离一切灾难和困苦的上帝，竟然对祂说，‘我们要你立一位王来统治我们。’所以你们现在就按着支派宗族站在耶和华面前吧！”
20撒母耳让以色列各支派来抽签，结果抽中了便雅悯支派。 21然后撒母耳让便雅悯支派的各宗族来抽，结果抽中了玛特利家族，最后又抽中了基士的儿子扫罗。众人找扫罗，却找不到他。 22他们便求问耶和华，说：“这人来了吗？”耶和华说：“他来了，躲在物品堆中。” 23他们就跑去把扫罗请来。扫罗站在百姓当中，高出众人一头。 24撒母耳对百姓说：“这就是耶和华为你们选的人。在以色列没有人能比得上他。”众人高呼：“愿王万岁！”
25撒母耳向百姓说明做君王的权利和责任，又把这些都记在册子上，放在耶和华面前，然后让百姓各自回家。 26扫罗返回基比亚自己的家时，有一群被上帝感动的勇士跟随他。 27但有一些市井之徒说：“这人怎能救我们？”就鄙视他，没有送礼物给他，但扫罗没有说什么。
