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When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges in Israel.
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The older son was named Joel and the younger one Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.
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But they did not follow their father's example; they were interested only in making money, so they accepted bribes and did not decide cases honestly.
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Then all the leaders of Israel met together, went to Samuel in Ramah,
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and said to him, "Look, you are getting old and your sons don't follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have."
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Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the LORD,
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and the LORD said, "Listen to everything the people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they have rejected as their king.
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Ever since I brought them out of Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshiped other gods; and now they are doing to you what they have always done to me.
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So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them."
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Samuel told the people who were asking him for a king everything that the LORD had said to him.
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"This is how your king will treat you," Samuel explained. "He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots.
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He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots.
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Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers.
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He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials.
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He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials.
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He will take your servants and your best cattle and donkeys, and make them work for him.
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He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves.
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When that time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you yourselves chose, but the LORD will not listen to your complaints."
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The people paid no attention to Samuel, but said, "No! We want a king,
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so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles."
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Samuel listened to everything they said and then went and told it to the LORD.
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The LORD answered, "Do what they want and give them a king." Then Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back home.
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There was a wealthy and influential man named Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin; he was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, and belonged to the family of Becorath, a part of the clan of Aphiah.
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He had a son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Saul was a foot taller than anyone else in Israel and more handsome as well.
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Some donkeys belonging to Kish had wandered off, so he said to Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys."
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They went through the hill country of Ephraim and the region of Shalishah, but did not find them; so they went on through the region of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then they went through the territory of Benjamin, but still did not find them.
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When they came into the region of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, "Let's go back home, or my father might stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."
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The servant answered, "Wait! In this town there is a holy man who is highly respected because everything he says comes true. Let's go to him, and maybe he can tell us where we can find the donkeys."
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"If we go to him, what can we give him?" Saul asked. "There is no food left in our packs, and we don't have a thing to give him, do we?"
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The servant answered, "I have a small silver coin. I can give him that, and then he will tell us where we can find them."
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Saul replied, "A good idea! Let's go." So they went to the town where the holy man lived. As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women who were coming out to draw water. They asked these women, "Is the seer in town?" (At that time a prophet was called a seer, and so whenever someone wanted to ask God a question, he would say, "Let's go to the seer.")
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"Yes, he is," the young women answered. "In fact, he is just ahead of you. If you hurry, you will catch up with him. As soon as you go into town, you will find him. He arrived in town today because the people are going to offer a sacrifice on the altar on the hill. The people who are invited won't start eating until he gets there, because he has to bless the sacrifice first. If you go now, you will find him before he goes up the hill to eat."
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So Saul and his servant went on to the town, and as they were going in, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way to the place of worship.
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Now on the previous day the LORD had told Samuel,
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"Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the tribe of Benjamin; anoint him as ruler of my people Israel, and he will rescue them from the Philistines. I have seen the suffering of my people and have heard their cries for help."
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When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I told you about. He will rule my people."
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Then Saul went over to Samuel, who was near the gate, and asked, "Tell me, where does the seer live?"
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Samuel answered, "I am the seer. Go on ahead of me to the place of worship. Both of you are to eat with me today. Tomorrow morning I will answer all your questions and send you on your way.
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As for the donkeys that were lost three days ago, don't worry about them; they have already been found. But who is it that the people of Israel want so much? It is you---you and your father's family."
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Saul answered, "I belong to the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important one in the tribe. Why, then, do you talk like this to me?"
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Then Samuel led Saul and his servant into the large room and gave them a place at the head of the table where the guests, about thirty in all, were seated.
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Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the piece of meat I gave you, which I told you to set aside."
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So the cook brought the choice piece of the leg and placed it before Saul. Samuel said, "Look, here is the piece that was kept for you. Eat it. I saved it for you to eat at this time with the people I invited." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
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When they went down from the place of worship to the town, they fixed up a bed for Saul on the roof,
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and he slept there. At dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get up, and I will send you on your way." Saul got up, and he and Samuel went out to the street together.
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When they arrived at the edge of town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us." The servant left, and Samuel continued, "Stay here a minute, and I will tell you what God has said."
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Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, "The LORD anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the LORD has chosen you to be the ruler of his people:
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When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, 'What shall I do about my son?'
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You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine.
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They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept.
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Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting.
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Suddenly the spirit of the LORD will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person.
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When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do.
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You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do."
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When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day.
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When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting.
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People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?"
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A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets---who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?"
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When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.
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Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," Saul answered. "When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel."
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"And what did he tell you?" Saul's uncle asked.
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"He told us that the animals had been found," Saul answered---but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.
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Samuel called the people together for a religious gathering at Mizpah
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and said to them, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'I brought you out of Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all the other peoples who were oppressing you.
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I am your God, the one who rescues you from all your troubles and difficulties, but today you have rejected me and have asked me to give you a king. Very well, then, gather yourselves before the LORD by tribes and by clans.' "
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Then Samuel had each tribe come forward, and the LORD picked the tribe of Benjamin.
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Then Samuel had the families of the tribe of Benjamin come forward, and the family of Matri was picked out. Then the men of the family of Matri came forward, and Saul son of Kish was picked out. They looked for him, but when they could not find him,
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they asked the LORD, "Is there still someone else?" The LORD answered, "Saul is over there, hiding behind the supplies."
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So they ran and brought Saul out to the people, and they could see that he was a foot taller than anyone else.
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Samuel said to the people, "Here is the man the LORD has chosen! There is no one else among us like him." All the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
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Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book, which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent everyone home.
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Saul also went back home to Gibeah. Some powerful men, whose hearts God had touched, went with him.
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But some worthless people said, "How can this fellow do us any good?" They despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts.
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I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you---I who am said to be meek and mild when I am with you, but harsh with you when I am away. By the gentleness and kindness of Christ
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I beg you not to force me to be harsh when I come; for I am sure I can deal harshly with those who say that we act from worldly motives.
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It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives.
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The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments;
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we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.
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And after you have proved your complete loyalty, we will be ready to punish any act of disloyalty.
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You are looking at the outward appearance of things. Are there some there who reckon themselves to belong to Christ? Well, let them think again about themselves, because we belong to Christ just as much as they do.
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For I am not ashamed, even if I have boasted somewhat too much about the authority that the Lord has given us---authority to build you up, not to tear you down.
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I do not want it to appear that I am trying to frighten you with my letters.
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Someone will say, "Paul's letters are severe and strong, but when he is with us in person, he is weak, and his words are nothing!"
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Such a person must understand that there is no difference between what we write in our letters when we are away and what we will do when we are there with you.
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Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!
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As for us, however, our boasting will not go beyond certain limits; it will stay within the limits of the work which God has set for us, and this includes our work among you.
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And since you are within those limits, we were not going beyond them when we came to you, bringing the Good News about Christ.
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So we do not boast about the work that others have done beyond the limits God set for us. Instead, we hope that your faith may grow and that we may be able to do a much greater work among you, always within the limits that God has set.
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Then we can preach the Good News in other countries beyond you and shall not have to boast about work already done in someone else's field.
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But as the scripture says, "Whoever wants to boast must boast about what the Lord has done."
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For it is when the Lord thinks well of us that we are really approved, and not when we think well of ourselves.
