¹Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, “Has not Yahweh anointed you ruler over his people, over Israel? You will restrain the people of Yahweh, and you will deliver them from the hand of their enemies all around. And this is the sign for you that Yahweh has anointed you over his inheritance as ruler:

²When you go today from me, you will find two men near the tomb of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The female donkeys that you went to search for have been found; and look, your father has abandoned the word of the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do for my son?”’

³You will change from there and beyond, and you will come to the oak of Tabor, and there will find you three men going up to God to Beth-el: one carrying three young goats, and one carrying three loaves of the food, and one carrying a harp of the wine.

⁴They will ask about your wholeness and give you two loaves of bread, and you will take them from their hand.

⁵After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the garrisons of the Philistines are there. And when you come there to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place, with a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying.

⁶The breath of Yahweh will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be turned into another man.

⁷When these signs come to you, do for yourself whatever your hand finds, for God is with you.

⁸You will go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and look, I am coming down to you to offer up burnt offerings and to sacrifice the sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and make known to you what you should do.”

⁹When he turned his shoulder to go from Samuel, God changed his heart into another; and all these signs came about on that day.

¹⁰They came there to Gibeah, and look, a band of prophets met him; and the breath of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied in their midst.

¹¹Everyone who had known him from earlier times saw that, look, he was prophesying with the prophets, and the people said, each man to his neighbor, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹²A man from there answered and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹³He completed his prophesying and came to the high place.

¹⁴And the uncle of Saul said to him and to his boy, "Where did you go?" And he said, "To search for the female donkeys; and we saw that there were none, and we went to Samuel."

¹⁵And the uncle of Saul said, "Tell me, please, what did Samuel say to you?"

¹⁶And Saul said to his uncle, "He plainly told us that the female donkeys had been found." But the word of the kingdom he did not tell him, what Samuel had said.

¹⁷And Samuel called the people together to Yahweh at Mizpah.

¹⁸And he said to the children of Israel, "Like this says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.'"

¹⁹But today you have rejected your God, who himself is a deliverer for you from all your evils and your distresses; and you said to him, 'Set a king over us.' And now, take your stand before the face of Yahweh by your tribes and by your thousands."

²⁰And Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was captured.

²¹And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of the Matri was captured; and Saul the son of Kish was captured. And they searched for him, but he was not found.

²²And they inquired again of Yahweh, "Has the man come here yet?" And Yahweh said, "Look, he is hiding himself among the baggage."

²³They ran and took him from there, and he took his stand in the middle of the people; and he was taller than all the people, from his shoulder and upward.

²⁴And Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the one whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is none like him among all the people." And all the people raised a shout and said, "May the king live!"

²⁵And Samuel spoke to the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in the record, and laid it down before the face of Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each man to his house.

²⁶And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the army, whose hearts God had touched, went with him.

²⁷But the sons of worthlessness said, "How will this one save us?" And they despised him, and brought him no gift; but he was like one who kept silent.