1 Then Samuel took a small jar of olive oil and poured some of it on Saul’s head. Then he kissed Saul on the cheek, and told him, “I am doing this because Yahweh has chosen you to be the leader of his Israeli people. 2 And this will prove it to you: When you leave me today, when you arrive near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah, in the area where the descendants of Benjamin live, you will meet two men. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys have been found, but now your father is worrying about you, and he is asking people, “Have you seen my son?’ ”

3 When you arrive at the large oak tree at Tabor town, you will see three men coming toward you. They will be on their way to worship God at Bethel town. One of them will be leading three young goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a container of wine. 4 They will greet you, and they will offer you two of the loaves of bread. Accept them.

5 When you arrive at the hill where people worship God near Gibeah town, where there is the camp where the Philistine soldiers stay, you will meet a group of prophets who will be coming down from the altar on top of the hill. There will be people in front of them who will be playing various musical instruments: a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre. And all of them will be speaking messages that come directly from God. 6 At that time the Spirit of Yahweh will come upon you, and you also will speak messages that come directly from God. ◄You will be changed/The Spirit of Yahweh will change you►, so that you will become like a different person. 7 After those things occur, do whatever you think is right to do, and God will ◄be with/help► you.

8 Then go ahead of me, down to Gilgal city, and wait for me there, for seven days. Then I will join you there, to burn sacrifices and offer other sacrifices to enable you to maintain fellowship with God. When I arrive there, I will tell you what other things you should do.”

9 As Saul started to leave there, God changed Saul’s inner being. And all the things that Samuel had predicted happened on that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw some prophets who were speaking messages that came directly from God. As the prophets were approaching Saul and his servant, God’s Spirit came upon Saul powerfully, and he also began to speak messages from God. 11 When people who had known Saul previously heard him speaking messages from God as the prophets were doing, they said to each other, “What has happened to this son of Kish? Is he now really one of the ◄prophets/men who speak messages from God►?”

12 One of the men who lived there replied, “Saul cannot be a prophet, because all prophets receive their power to speak messages from God, not from their parents.” And that is why, when people hear about a report of someone prophesying, they think about what happened to Saul and say, “We are surprised about that person becoming a prophet, like we were surprised to hear that Saul had really become one of the prophets.” 13 When Saul finished speaking the messages that God gave him, he went to the place where the people offered sacrifices.

14 Later, Saul’s uncle saw him there, and asked him, “Where did you go?” Saul replied, “We went to look for the donkeys. When we could not find them, we came here to ask Samuel if he could tell us where they were.”

15 Saul’s uncle replied, “What did Samuel tell you?”

16 Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about him becoming the king of Israel.

17 Later Samuel summoned the people of Israel to gather at Mizpah to hear a message from Yahweh. 18 After they arrived, he said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God we Israeli people worship, says: I brought you Israeli people out of Egypt. I rescued your ancestors from the power of the rulers of Egypt and from all the other kings who oppressed them. 19 I am the one who saves you from all your troubles and difficulties. But today you have rejected me, your God, and you have said, ‘We don’t care! Give us a king!’ So I will do what you want. Now have representatives of your tribes and of your clans stand here in the presence of Yahweh.’ ”

20 When those representatives came near to Samuel, God indicated that he had chosen someone from the tribe descended from Benjamin. 21 Then Samuel told representatives of the tribe of Benjamin to come forward, and God indicated that from that tribe he had chosen someone from the family of Matri, and then God indicated that from the family of Matri he had chosen Saul, the son of Kish. But when they looked for Saul, they could not find him. 22 So they asked Yahweh, “Where is Saul?” Yahweh replied, “He is hiding among the army equipment.”

23 So they quickly went there and found him, and brought him in front of all the people. They could see that truly he was a head taller than anyone else. 24 Then Samuel said to all the people there, “This is the man whom Yahweh has chosen to be your king. Among all us Israeli people, there is no one like him!” Then all the people shouted, “We hope that this king will live a long time!”

25 Then Samuel told the people what things the king would force them to do, and all the things the king was required to do. He wrote all those things on a scroll, and then he put it in a sacred place in the temple. Then Samuel sent all the people home.

26 When Saul returned to his home in Gibeah town, a group of men decided to continually accompany Saul. They did that because God ◄motivated them/put it in their minds► to do that. 27 But some worthless men said, “◄How can this man save us from our enemies?/This man will not be able to save us from our enemies.►” [RHQ] They despised him, and refused to give him any gifts to show that they would be loyal to him. But Saul did not say anything to rebuke them.