Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it upon his head, and he kissed him and said,  ¹Jehovah anoints you ruler over His inheritance.

When you depart from me today, you will find two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The donkeys that you went to look for have been found; and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and is worried about you, saying, What shall I do about my son?

Then you will go on further from there and come to the terebinth of Tabor; and three men will meet you there, going up to God at Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, and you will take them from their hand.

After that you will come to  ¹the hill of God, where the Philistines' garrison is. And as you come to the city there, you will encounter a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harp and tambourine and pipe and lyre; and they will be prophesying.

And the Spirit of Jehovah will rush upon you; and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

And when these signs happen to you, do as you find occasion, for God is with you.

And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer up burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. You shall wait seven days, until I come to you; then I will make known to you what you shall do.

And so when he turned his back to depart from Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs happened that day.

And when they came there to  ¹the hill, there was the group of prophets, coming to meet him. And the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.

And when all who had known him previously saw that now he was prophesying with the prophets, the people said one to another, What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

And someone from there answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

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

And Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, Where did you go? And he said, To look for the donkeys; and when we saw that they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.

And Saul's uncle said, Tell me then what Samuel said to you.

And Saul said to his uncle, He told us clearly that the donkeys had been found. But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom that Samuel had spoken of.

Then Samuel gathered the people together to Jehovah at Mizpah.

And he said to the children of Israel, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.

But today you have rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your calamities and distresses, and have said,  ¹No; but set a king over us. And now present yourselves before Jehovah according to your tribes and according to your thousands.

So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was  ¹taken.

And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near according to its families, and the family of Matri was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken. But when they sought him, he could not be found.

Therefore they asked of Jehovah again, Is there yet another man coming here? And Jehovah said, There he is; he has hidden himself among the baggage.

And they ran and took him from there. And when he stood up among the people, he was taller than all the people from his shoulders and up.

And Samuel said to all the people, See him whom Jehovah has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people shouted and said, Long live the king!

Then Samuel told the people the  ¹practice of the kingdom, and he wrote it in a book and laid it before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah, and the men of valor, whose hearts God had touched, went with him;

But some worthless men said, How can this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no present. But he kept silent.

Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and encamped against Jabesh-gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.

And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out; and I will make it a reproach upon all Israel.

And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers throughout all the territory of Israel. And if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.

Then the messengers went to Gibeah of Saul, and they spoke these words in the hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voice and wept.

And Saul was just coming from the field after the oxen, and Saul said, What is wrong with the people that they weep so? And they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul as he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.

And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by means of the messengers, saying, Whoever does not come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the dread of Jehovah fell upon the people, and they came forth as one man.

And he mustered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah were thirty thousand.

And they said to the messengers who had come, Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow you will have deliverance by the time the sun is hot. So the messengers went and told this to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

And the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us all that seems good in your sight.

And on the next day Saul put the people into three companies, and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch. And they struck Ammon until the day was hot; and those who remained were so scattered that not two of them remained together.

And the people said to Samuel, Who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men that we may put them to death.

But Saul said, No man shall be put to death on this day, for today Jehovah has accomplished deliverance in Israel.

Then Samuel said to the people, Come and let us go to Gilgal and there renew the  ¹kingdom.

And all the people went to Gilgal. And there they made Saul king before Jehovah in Gilgal, and there they sacrificed peace offerings before Jehovah, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

And Samuel said to all Israel, I have now listened to your voice according to all that you have said to me, and I have placed a king over you.

And now, here is the king who goes before you. But I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you, and I have gone before you from my youth until this day.

 ¹Here I am; testify against me before Jehovah and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe in order to blind my eyes with it? Then I will restore it to you.

And they said, You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from anyone's hand.

And he said to them, Jehovah is Witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they said, He is witness.

And Samuel said to the people, It is Jehovah who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

Now therefore stand here, that I may plead with you before Jehovah concerning all the righteous acts of Jehovah, which He did to you and to your fathers.

When Jacob went to Egypt, and your fathers cried out to Jehovah, Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron; and they brought your fathers out from Egypt and caused them to dwell in this place.

But they forgot Jehovah their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera, the captain of Hazor's army, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.

Then they cried out to Jehovah and said, We have sinned, for we have forsaken Jehovah and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but deliver us now from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.

And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal and  ¹Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hand of your enemies all around; and you dwelt securely.

And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me,  ¹No; but a king will reign over us, though Jehovah your God was your King.

Now therefore here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have asked for. See then, Jehovah has set a king over you.

If you fear Jehovah and serve Him and listen to His voice and do not rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow Jehovah your God, fine.

But if you do not listen to the voice of Jehovah, but rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, then the hand of Jehovah will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

Now therefore stand here and see this great thing that Jehovah will do before your eyes.

Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to Jehovah, that He send thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness which you have done in the sight of Jehovah by asking for a king for yourselves is great.

And Samuel called to Jehovah, and Jehovah sent thunder and rain on that day. And all the people feared Jehovah and Samuel greatly.

Then all the people said to Samuel, Pray to Jehovah your God for your servants that we would not die, for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king for ourselves.

And Samuel said to the people, Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil, yet do not turn away from following Jehovah, but serve Jehovah with all your heart.

And do not turn away, for your turning away would be after vain idols, which cannot profit or deliver you, for they are vanity.

For because of His great name Jehovah will not forsake His people, for Jehovah has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I would  ¹sin against Jehovah by ceasing to pray for you, but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

Only, fear Jehovah and serve Him in truth with all your heart, for consider what great things He has done for you.

But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be consumed.