¹ Then took Samuel a flask of oil, and poured out upon his head, and kissed him,—and said—Is it not, that Yahweh hath anointed thee over his inheritance, as leader?

² When thou departest, to-day, from me, then shalt thou find two men by the grave of Rachel, within the boundary of Benjamin, in Zelzah,—and they will say unto thee, The asses are found, which thou wentest to seek, and lo! thy father hath abandoned caring for the asses, and is concerned for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

³ Then shalt thou pass on quickly from thence onwards, and come as far as the oak of Tabor, and there shall find thee there, three men going up unto God, at Bethel,—one, carrying three kids, and, another, carrying three cakes of bread, and, another, carrying a skin of wine;

⁴ then will they ask thee, of thy welfare,—and give thee two cakes of bread, which thou shalt receive at their hand.

⁵ After that, shalt thou come unto the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines,—and it shall be, as thou comest in thither into the city, thou shalt light upon a band of prophets, coming down from the high place, and, before them, a harp, and a timbrel, and a flute, and a lyre, they having been moved to prophesy.

⁶ Then will come suddenly upon thee, the Spirit of Yahweh, and thou shalt be moved to prophesy with them,—and shalt be changed into another man.

⁷ And it shall be, when these signs shall come unto thee, then act thou for thyself, as thou shalt find occasion, for, God, is with thee.

⁸ And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal, for lo! I am coming down unto thee, to offer up ascending-offerings, to sacrifice peace-offerings,—seven days, shalt thou tarry, until I come unto thee, then will I let thee know what thou shalt do.

⁹ And so it was, that, when he turned away to depart from Samuel, God gave him another heart,—and all these signs came to pass that day.

¹⁰ And, when they came thither to the hill, lo! a band of prophets coming to meet him,—then came suddenly upon him, the Spirit of God, and he was moved to prophesy in their midst.

¹¹ And it came to pass, that, all who knew him aforetime, looked, and lo! with the prophets, he did prophesy. So the people said, one to another—What, now, hath befallen the son of Kish? Is, even Saul, among the prophets?

¹² Then responded one of that place, and said, But who is, their father? For this cause, it became a proverb, Is, even Saul, among the prophets?

¹³ And, when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴ Then said Saul’s uncle unto him, and unto his young man—Whither have ye been? And he said, To seek the asses, and, when they were nowhere, to be seen, we came unto Samuel.

¹⁵ And Saul’s uncle said,—Do tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said to you.

¹⁶ And Saul said unto his uncle, He, told, us that the asses were found,—but, as to the matter of the kingdom, he told him not what Samuel had said.

¹⁷ Then Samuel called out the people, unto Yahweh, at Mizpah,

¹⁸ and said unto the sons of Israel—Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel: I myself, brought up Israel, out of Egypt,—and rescued you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that distressed you.

¹⁹ Yet, ye, to-day, have rejected your God, who, himself, hath been giving you salvation from all your calamities and your distresses, and ye have said to him: A king, shalt thou set over us,—Now, therefore, present yourselves before Yahweh, by your tribes, and by your thousands.

²⁰ And, when Samuel had brought near all the tribes of Israel, then was taken the tribe of Benjamin.

²¹ And, when he had brought near the tribe of Benjamin, by their families, then was taken the family of Matri,—and, when he had brought near the family of Matri, man by man, then was taken Saul the son of Kish; so they sought him, but he was not to be found.

²² Then asked they again of Yahweh, Hath there yet to come in hither a man? And Yahweh said, Lo! he, hath hid himself among the stores.

²³ So they ran, and fetched him thence, and, when he presented himself in the midst of the people, then was he [seen to be] taller than any of the people, from his shoulders and upwards.

²⁴ And Samuel said unto all the people—Have ye seen him whom Yahweh hath chosen, that there is none like him, among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said—Let the king live!

²⁵ Then Samuel declared unto the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a scroll, and laid it up before Yahweh. And Samuel sent away all the people, every man to his own house.

²⁶ Yea, even Saul, went to his own house, at Gibeah,—and the valiant men whose heart God had moved went with him.

²⁷ But, abandoned men, said—How can this one save us? So they treated him with contempt, and brought him no present,—but he was as one that was deaf.