1 Samuel 9

9 ¹ There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a man of wealth and standing. ² He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the people of Israel more handsome than he; from his shoulders up he stood taller than anyone else.

³ Now the donkeys belonging to Kish, Saul's father, had wandered off, and Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys." ⁴ So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. They went on through the land of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but still they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, "Come on, let's head back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us."

⁶ But the servant said to him, "Look, there is a man of our Father in this town, and he is held in honor; everything he says surely comes true. Let's go there now; perhaps he can tell us which way to go."

⁷ Saul said to his servant, "But if we go, what can we bring the man? The bread in our sacks is gone, and we have no gift to bring to the man of our Father. What do we have?"

⁸ The servant answered Saul again, "Look, I have here a small silver coin. I will give it to the man of our Father so he will tell us which way to go." ⁹ (In those days in Israel, when someone wanted to consult our Father, they would say, "Let's go to the seer," because what we now call a prophet was then called a seer.)

¹⁰ "Good idea," Saul replied. "Let's go." So they went to the town where the man of our Father was.

¹¹ As they were climbing the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water, and they asked them, "Is the seer here?" ¹² "He is," they answered. "In fact, he is just ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come to town today because the people are holding a sacrifice on the high place." ¹³ "As soon as you enter the town you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; only then will the guests eat. Go up now, for you will find him at once."

¹⁴ So they went up to the town. As they were entering it, there was Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, our Father had revealed this to Samuel: ¹⁶ "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen the suffering of my people, and their cry has come to me."

¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, our Father said to him, "Here is the man I told you about; this is the one who will govern my people."

¹⁸ Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and said, "Please tell me, where is the house of the seer?"

¹⁹ "I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and tell you everything that is on your mind." ²⁰ "As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them, for they have been found. And to whom does all that is desirable in Israel belong, if not to you and to all your father's house?"

²¹ Saul replied, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me like this?"

²² Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who had been invited — about thirty in all. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion I gave you, the one I told you to set aside." ²⁴ So the cook took up the thigh and what was on it and set it before Saul. Samuel said, "Here is what was kept for you. Eat, for it was set aside for you for this occasion, ever since I invited these guests." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ After they came down from the high place into the town, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. ²⁶ They rose early, and at daybreak Samuel called up to Saul on the roof, "Get up, and I will send you on your way." So Saul got up, and the two of them, he and Samuel, went out into the street together.

²⁷ As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us" — and he went on — "but you stay here a while, so I can give you the word of our Father."