Print

Print


1 Samuel 9:15-10:1b

Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel:  "Tomorrow
about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and
you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel.  He shall save my
people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of
my people, because their outcry has come to me."  When Samuel saw Saul,
the LORD told him, "Here is the man of whom I spoke to you.  He it is who
shall rule over my people."  Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate,
and said, "Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?"  Samuel
answered Saul, "I am the seer; go up before me to the shrine, for today
you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell
you all that is on your mind.  As for your donkeys that were lost three
days ago, give no further thought to them, for they have been found.  And
on whom is all Israel's desire fixed, if not on you and on all your
ancestral house?"  Saul answered, "I am only a Benjaminite, from the least
of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the humblest of all the families
of the tribe of Benjamin.  Why then have you spoken to me in this way?"

Then Samuel took Saul and his servant-boy and brought them into the hall,
and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, of whom
there were about thirty.  And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion
I gave you, the one I asked you to put aside."  The cook took up the thigh
and what went with it and set them before Saul.  Samuel said, "See, what
was kept is set before you.  Eat; for it is set before you at the
appointed time, so that you might eat with the guests."

So Saul ate with Samuel that day.  When they came down from the shrine
into the town, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof, and he lay down to
sleep.  Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul upon the roof,
"Get up, so that I may send you on your way."  Saul got up, and both he
and Samuel went out into the street.

As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul,
"Tell the boy to go on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here
yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God."

Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he
said, "The LORD has anointed you ruler over his people Israel.  You shall
reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of
their enemies all around.