1 ¶ Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon Saul’s head, and kissed him, and said, Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?

2 After you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel’s sepulchre in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The donkeys that you went looking for have been found: and your father has stopped being concerned about the donkeys, and is worrying about you, saying, What should I do about my son?

3 Then you will go on from there, and will come to the plain of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three baby goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

4 And they will greet you, and give you two loaves of bread; which you shall accept from them.

5 After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is: and after you come to the city, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre, before them; and they will prophesy:

6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and will be turned into another man.

7 Now when you experience these signs, do as the occasion requires; for God is with you.

8 And you will go down to Gilgal ahead of me; and I will come down to you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice peace offerings: you shall wait for seven days, until I come to you, and show you what to do.

9 ¶ Then after Saul had turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart: and on that day all those signs came to pass.

10 And when they came to the hill, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

11 And when all who knew Saul before saw that he prophesied among the prophets, the people said to one another, What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

12 Then a man from the neighborhood asked, And who is their father? Therefore it became common to ask, Is Saul also among the prophets?

13 And when he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 And Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, Where did you go? And he said, To look for the donkeys: and when we could not find them anywhere, we went to Samuel.

15 And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray you, what Samuel said to you.

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

17 ¶ And Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpeh;

18 And said to the children of Israel, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you:

19 And you have this day rejected your God, who himself delivered you from all your adversities and tribulations; and you have said to him, No, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

20 And after Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to approach, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

21 When he had the tribe of Benjamin draw near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they looked for Saul, he could not be found.

22 So they inquired again of the LORD, asking if Saul had arrived there yet. And the LORD answered, Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.

23 And they ran and brought him from there: and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the people.

24 And Samuel said to all of the people, Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen, there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, Long live the king.

25 Then Samuel told the people what it would be like under a king, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and a band of men, whose hearts God had touched, went with him.

27 But the children of Belial said, How can this man save us? And they despised him, and did not bring him any gift. But Saul held his peace.