1 Samuel 9:1-14

Other Translations of 1 Samuel 9:1-14

King James Version

Saul Chosen King

9¹ Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a Benjamite: or, the son of a man of Jemini a mighty man of power. ² And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

³ And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. ⁴ And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. ⁵ And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us. ⁶ And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go. ⁷ Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent is spent...: Heb. is gone out of, etc in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? ⁸ And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have I have...: Heb. there is found in my hand here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way. ⁹ (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) ¹⁰ Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; Well said: Heb. Thy word is good come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ And as they went up the hill the hill...: Heb. in the ascent of the city to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here? ¹² And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice sacrifice: or, feast of the people to day in the high place: ¹³ As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time this time: Heb. to day ye shall find him. ¹⁴ And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place.

English Standard Version

Saul Chosen King

9¹ There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. ² And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, "Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys." ⁴ And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them. ⁵ When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servantHebrew young man; also verses 7, 8, 10, 27 who was with him, "Come, let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us." ⁶ But he said to him, "Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go." ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, "But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?" ⁸ The servant answered Saul again, "Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekelA shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way." ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, "Come, let us go to the seer," for today's "prophet" was formerly called a seer.) ¹⁰ And Saul said to his servant, "Well said; come, let us go." So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, "Is the seer here?" ¹² They answered, "He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. ¹³ As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately." ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

The Message

Saul Chosen King

9¹ There was a man from the tribe of Benjamin named Kish. He was the son of Abiel, grandson of Zeror, great-grandson of Becorath, great-great-grandson of Aphiah - a Benjaminite of stalwart character. ² He had a son, Saul, a most handsome young man. There was none finer - he literally stood head and shoulders above the crowd!

³ Some of Kish's donkeys got lost. Kish said to his son, "Saul, take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys." ⁴ Saul took one of the servants and went to find the donkeys. They went into the hill country of Ephraim around Shalisha, but didn't find them. Then they went over to Shaalim - no luck. Then to Jabin, and still nothing. ⁵ When they got to Zuph, Saul said to the young man with him, "Enough of this. Let's go back. Soon my father is going to forget about the donkeys and start worrying about us." ⁶ He replied, "Not so fast. There's a holy man in this town. He carries a lot of weight around here. What he says is always right on the mark. Maybe he can tell us where to go." ⁷ Saul said, "If we go, what do we have to give him? There's no more bread in our sacks. We've nothing to bring as a gift to the holy man. Do we have anything else?" ⁸ The servant spoke up, "Look, I just happen to have this silver coin! I'll give it to the holy man and he'll tell us how to proceed!" ⁹ (In former times in Israel, a person who wanted to seek God's word on a matter would say, "Let's visit the Seer," because the one we now call "the Prophet" used to be called "the Seer.") ¹⁰ "Good," said Saul, "let's go." And they set off for the town where the holy man lived.

¹¹ As they were climbing up the hill into the town, they met some girls who were coming out to draw water. They said to them, "Is this where the Seer lives?" ¹² They answered, "It sure is - just ahead. Hurry up. He's come today because the people have prepared a sacrifice at the shrine. ¹³ As soon as you enter the town, you can catch him before he goes up to the shrine to eat. The people won't eat until he arrives, for he has to bless the sacrifice. Only then can everyone eat. So get going. You're sure to find him!" ¹⁴ They continued their climb and entered the city. And then there he was - Samuel! - coming straight toward them on his way to the shrine!

New King James Version

Saul Chosen King

9¹ There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. ² And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, "Please, take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys." ⁴ So he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them. ⁵ When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, "Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us." ⁶ And he said to him, "Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go." ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, "But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?" ⁸ And the servant answered Saul again and said, "Look, I have here at hand one fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way." ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: "Come, let us go to the seer"; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.) ¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, "Well said; come, let us go." So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the hill to the city, they met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, "Is the seer here?" ¹² And they answered them and said, "Yes, there he is, just ahead of you. Hurry now; for today he came to this city, because there is a sacrifice of the people today on the high place. ¹³ As soon as you come into the city, you will surely find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up, for about this time you will find him." ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they were coming into the city, there was Samuel, coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

New Living Translation

Saul Chosen King

9¹ There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel-head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.

³ One day Kish's donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, "Take a servant with you, and go look for the donkeys." ⁴ So Saul took one of the servants and traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they couldn't find the donkeys anywhere. ⁵ Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant, "Let's go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!" ⁶ But the servant said, "I've just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let's go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go." ⁷ "But we don't have anything to offer him," Saul replied. "Even our food is gone, and we don't have a thing to give him." ⁸ "Well," the servant said, "I have one small silver piece. We can at least offer it to the man of God and see what happens!" ⁹ (In those days if people wanted a message from God, they would say, "Let's go and ask the seer," for prophets used to be called seers.) ¹⁰ "All right," Saul agreed, "let's try it!" So they started into the town where the man of God lived.

¹¹ As they were climbing the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water. So Saul and his servant asked, "Is the seer here today?" ¹² "Yes," they replied. "Stay right on this road. He is at the town gates. He has just arrived to take part in a public sacrifice up at the place of worship. ¹³ Hurry and catch him before he goes up there to eat. The guests won't begin eating until he arrives to bless the food." ¹⁴ So they entered the town, and as they passed through the gates, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the place of worship.