1 Samuel 9

God Picks Saul

1 There was a rich man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, grandson of Zeror, great-grandson of Becorath, and great-great-grandson of Aphiah.

2 Kish had a son named Saul, young, fine, and built different. No one in Israel looked better than him. He stood a whole head taller than everybody else.

Saul’s Search for the Donkeys

3 One day, Kish lost some of his donkeys. He told Saul, “Take one of the servants and go find them.”

4 So Saul and the servant rolled out. They searched through the hill country of Ephraim, through Shalishah, but found nothing. They went through Shaalim, still no donkeys. They searched the territory of Benjamin but came up empty.

5 When they reached the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant, “Man, we better head back. My dad is going to start worrying more about us than the donkeys.”

A Prophet in the City

6 The servant said, “Hold up, there is a man of God in this town, respected, and everything he says comes true. Let us go holla at him. Maybe he can tell us where to go.”

7 Saul said, “But what are we going to give him, We are out of food, and we do not have nothing to offer.”

8 The servant said, “I got a quarter shekel of silver in my pocket. We can give that to the man of God and ask him about the donkeys.”

9 (Back then, if you wanted a word from God, people said, “Let us go see the seer”, that is what they used to call prophets.)

10 Saul said, “Aight, let us go.” So they headed to the town where the man of God was.

God Sets It Up

11 As they were climbing the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to get water. Saul asked, “Is the seer in town?”

12 The girls said, “Yeah, he is here. Hurry up, he just pulled up for the big sacrifice at the high place.”

13 “If you rush, you will catch him before he goes up to eat. The people will not eat till he blesses the sacrifice.”

14 So Saul and his servant entered the town, and right as they got to the gate, boom, there is Samuel coming toward them, headed up to the high place.

God Already Told Samuel

15 The day before Saul showed up, the Lord had whispered to Samuel,

16 “Tomorrow I am sending you a man from Benjamin. Anoint him as the leader over My people Israel. He is going to save them from the Philistines. I heard their cries.”

17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, “That is the man I was talking about. He is going to run My people.”

Samuel Meets Saul

18 Saul approached Samuel at the town gate and said, “Excuse me, where is the seer’s house?”

19 Samuel said, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, you all eat with me today. In the morning I will send you home and tell you everything you need to know.”

20 “Do not worry about them donkeys you lost three days ago, they been found. And besides, who is the real prize, You and your whole family line.”

21 Saul said, “Why are you talking to me like that? I am from Benjamin, the smallest tribe, and my family is not even big like that.”

Saul Gets the VIP Treatment

22 Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the banquet hall and gave them the best seats, at the head of about thirty guests.

23 Samuel told the cook, “Bring out that special piece I set aside.”

24 The cook brought out a thigh cut and put it in front of Saul. Samuel said, “Eat up. This was saved just for you since the day I invited everybody.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

Private Talk on the Rooftop

25 Afterward, they came down from the high place and Samuel talked with Saul on the rooftop.

26 At sunrise, Samuel called to Saul, “Get up, time to hit the road.” So Saul got up, and they walked outside together.

27 As they were walking down to the edge of town, Samuel said, “Tell your servant to go on ahead. You stay back, I got a message from God for you.”