1 Samuel 10

Saul Gets Crowned in Secret

1 Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it all over Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “The Lord anointed you to be the leader over His people. You are going to run things for Him and save Israel from their enemies.”

2 “When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb by Zelzah. They will tell you, ‘The donkeys you were looking for are found. Now your dad worried about you, not the donkeys.’”

3 “Then you will roll on from there and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men are going to meet you there, one carrying three goats, one carrying three loaves of bread, and one carrying a skin of wine.”

4 “They are going to greet you and give you two loaves of bread. Take it, that is for you.”

5 “Then you will go to Gibeah of God where the Philistines got a checkpoint. When you get close to the town, you will bump into a group of prophets coming down, playing harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.”

6 “The Spirit of the Lord will hit you hard. You will start prophesying too and you will be changed into a whole new man.”

7 “When all these signs happen, do whatever the moment calls for, because God is with you.”

8 “Then head down to Gilgal. I will meet you there later to offer sacrifices. Wait seven days till I pull up, then I will tell you what to do next.”

Saul Gets Hit with the Spirit

9 As soon as Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs happened that same day.

10 When they got to Gibeah, there was the group of prophets. God’s Spirit hit Saul strong, and he started prophesying just like them.

11 Everybody who knew Saul before was shocked. They said, “Hold up, what is happening with Kish’s son, Is Saul one of the prophets now?”

12 One of the locals said, “Man, who is his daddy now,” And that is where the saying came from: “Is Saul really one of the prophets?”

13 After Saul finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.

Saul Keeps It Quiet

14 Later Saul’s uncle pulled up and asked him and his servant, “Where have y’all been?” Saul said, “We were looking for the donkeys, but when we did not find them, we went to see Samuel.”

15 Saul’s uncle asked, “What did Samuel say?”

16 Saul said, “He told us the donkeys were found.” But Saul did not tell him that Samuel had said anything about kingship.

Saul Officially Picked

17 Samuel called all Israel together at Mizpah for a big meeting with God.

18 He said, “This what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I pulled you all out of Egypt, rescued you all from every enemy, but you all rejected Me, your true King, today.’”

19 “Now line up by tribes and families, time to pick who is going to run you all.”

20 Samuel brought up all the tribes, and the tribe of Benjamin got picked.

21 Then he brought up the tribe of Benjamin by families, and the Matri family got picked. Then they picked Saul son of Kish. But when they went to find him, he was MIA.

22 They asked the Lord, “Where he at?” God said, “He is hiding out in the supplies.”

23 They ran and got him. He stood up, and he was so tall he towered over everybody by a full head.

24 Samuel said to the crowd, “Look at the one the Lord picked! Nobody is like him in all Israel.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

Saul’s Terms as King

25 Samuel wrote down all the rights and rules of kingship and put it in a scroll, then placed it before the Lord. Then he sent everybody back home.

26 Saul also went home to Gibeah. Some strong men, whose hearts God had touched, rolled with him.

27 But some shady dudes said, “Man, how is he supposed to save us,” They dissed him hard and did not bring him any gifts. But Saul kept it moving and said nothing.