101 Then Samuel took the flask of oil , poured it on his head , kissed him and said , "Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over His inheritance ? 2 "When you go from me today , then you will find two men close to Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah ; and they will say to you, ' The donkeys which you went to look for have been found . Now behold , your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying , "What shall I do about my son ?"' 3 "Then you will go on further from there , and you will come as far as the oak of Tabor , and there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats , another carrying three loaves of bread , and another carrying a jug of wine ; 4 and they will greet e you and give you two loaves of bread , which you will accept from their hand . 5 "Afterward e you will come to the hill of God where e the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city , that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp , tambourine , flute , and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying . 6 "Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily , and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man . 7 "It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires , for God is with you. 8 "And you shall go down before me to Gilgal ; and behold , I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings . You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do ."

9 Then it happened when he turned his back to leave e e Samuel , God changed his heart ; and all those signs came about on that day . 10 When they came to the hill there , behold , a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily , so that he prophesied among them. 11 It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets , that the people said to one another , "What has happened to the son of Kish ? Is Saul also among the prophets ?" 12 A man there e said , "Now, who is their father ?" Therefore e it became a proverb : " Is Saul also among the prophets ?" 13 When he had finished prophesying , he came to the high place . 14 Now Saul's uncle said to him and his servant , "Where did you go ?" And he said , " To look for the donkeys . When we saw that they could not be found , we went to Samuel ." 15 Saul's uncle said , "Please tell me what Samuel said to you." 16 So Saul said to his uncle , " He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found ." But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned .

17 Thereafter Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah ; 18 and he said to the sons of Israel , " Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel , 'I brought Israel up from Egypt , and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.' 19 "But you have today rejected your God , who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses ; yet you have said , 'No , but set a king over us!' Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans ." 20 Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near , and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families , and the Matrite family was taken . And Saul the son of Kish was taken ; but when they looked for him, he could not be found . 22 Therefore they inquired further of the Lord , "Has the man come here yet ?" So the Lord said , "Behold , he is hiding himself by the baggage ." 23 So they ran and took him from there , and when he stood among the people , he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward . 24 Samuel said to all the people , "Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen ? Surely there is no one like him among all the people ." So all the people shouted and said , " Long live the king !" 25 Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom , and wrote them in the book and placed it before the Lord . And Samuel sent all the people away , each one to his house . 26 Saul also went to his house at Gibeah ; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But certain worthless men said , "How can this one deliver us?" And they despised him and did not bring him any present . But he kept silent .