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/Chapter 9

9 / 31

1 Samuel

ESV

Chapter 9

¹There 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. ²He 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. ³Now 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.” ⁴He 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 he passed through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them. ⁵When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us go back, lest my father stop worrying about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” ⁶But 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 about our journey on which we have set out.” ⁷Then 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?” ⁸The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel 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 would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today's “prophet” was formerly called a “seer.”) ¹⁰And Saul said to his servant, “Good idea; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. ¹¹As 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?” ¹²They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just today to the city, because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. ¹³As 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, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” ¹⁴So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them on his way up to the high place. ¹⁵Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: ¹⁶“Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” ¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” ¹⁸Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” ¹⁹Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and tomorrow I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. ²⁰As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?” ²¹Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” ²²Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall and seated them in the chief place among those who were invited, who were about thirty persons. ²³And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion that I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’” ²⁴So the cook took up the whole leg and what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you for this appointed time, when I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the housetop. ²⁶Then they arose early, and at about the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. ²⁷As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.”