1Sa 8, 1Sa 10 | ESV | STEP | When Samuel became old , he made his sons judges over Israel .

1 When Samuel became old, ^ahe made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways ^bbut turned aside after gain. ^cThey took bribes and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^dRamah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^eNow appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, ^ffor they have not rejected you, ^gbut they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them ^hand show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, ⁱ“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^jhe will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^kto plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 ^lHe will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men ^{▼▼Septuagint cattle} and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ⁿbut the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel’s Request

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 ^othat we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, ^p“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

1 Samuel 10

Saul Anointed King

1 ^qThen Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head ^rand kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince ^{▼▼Or leader} over ^this people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew lacks over his people Israel? And you shall. . . . to be prince} over his heritage. 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by ^vRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ^w‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now ^xyour father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the ^yoak of Tabor. Three men ^zgoing up ^aato God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to ^abGibeath-elohim, ^{▼▼ Gibeath-elohim means the hill of God} ^adwhere there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down ^aefrom the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 ^afThen the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, ^agand you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when ^ahthese signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, ^aifor God is with you. 8 Then go down before me ^ajto Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^akto sacrifice peace offerings. ^alSeven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to ^amGibeah, ^{▼▼ Gibeah means the hill} behold, a group of prophets met him, ^aoand the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? ^apIs Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man of the place answered, ^aq“And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, ^ar“Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 ^asSaul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, ^at“To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, ^au“He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

Saul Proclaimed King

17 Now Samuel called the people together ^avto the Lord ^awat Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, ^ax“Thus says the Lord, 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 were oppressing you.’ 19 ^ayBut today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore ^azpresent yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”

20 Then Samuel ^babrought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; ^{▼▼Septuagint adds finally he brought the family of the Matrites near, man by man} and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 ^bcSo they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, ^bdhe was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^bewhom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, ^bf“Long live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people ^bgthe rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home ^bhat Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some ^biworthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.