1 Samuel 10:1-27, NLT
1 Samuel 10
Samuel Anoints Saul as King
1Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel, his special possession.*10:1 Greek version reads over Israel. And you will rule over the Lord’s people and save them from their enemies around them. This will be the sign to you that the Lord has appointed you to be leader over his special possession.
3“When you get to the oak of Tabor, you will see three men coming toward you who are on their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be bringing three young goats, another will have three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a wineskin full of wine.
5“When you arrive at Gibeah of God,*10:5 Hebrew Gibeath-haelohim. where the garrison of the Philistines is located, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They will be playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre, and they will be prophesying.
Samuel’s Signs Are Fulfilled
9As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart, and all Samuel’s signs were fulfilled that day.
12And one of those standing there said, “Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?”*10:12 Hebrew said, “Who is their father?” So that is the origin of the saying “Is even Saul a prophet?”
13When Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the place of worship.
“We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied, “but we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel to ask him where they were.”
15“Oh? And what did he say?” his uncle asked.
16“He told us that the donkeys had already been found,” Saul replied. But Saul didn’t tell his uncle what Samuel said about the kingdom.
Saul Is Acclaimed King
17Later Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet before the Lord at Mizpah.
20So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.
And the Lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.”
24Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!”
And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25Then Samuel told the people what the rights and duties of a king were. He wrote them down on a scroll and placed it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people home again.
26When Saul returned to his home at Gibeah, a group of men whose hearts God had touched went with him.
[Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the people of Gad and Reuben who lived east of the Jordan River. He gouged out the right eye of each of the Israelites living there, and he didn’t allow anyone to come and rescue them. In fact, of all the Israelites east of the Jordan, there wasn’t a single one whose right eye Nahash had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites, and they had settled in Jabesh-gilead.]*10:27 This paragraph, which is not included in the Masoretic Text, is found in Dead Sea Scroll 4QSama.