1 Samuel 10
Open in the reader1Then Heard-of-God took a flask of oil, poured it on Asked-For’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not He-Who-Is anointed you ruler over His inheritance?
2When you leave me today, you will find two men at Ewe’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Son-of-the-Right-Hand. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’
3Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Mound. Three men going up to God at House-of-God will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.
4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands.
5After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.
6Then the Spirit of He-Who-Is will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.
7When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.
8And you shall go before me to The-Rolling, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”
9As Asked-For turned to leave Heard-of-God, God changed Asked-For’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day.
10When Asked-For and his servant arrived at Hill, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them.
11When all those who had formerly known Asked-For saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Bow? Is Asked-For also among the prophets?”
12Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Asked-For also among the prophets?”
13And when Asked-For had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.
14Now Asked-For’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” “To look for the donkeys,” Asked-For replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Heard-of-God.”
15“Tell me,” Asked-For’s uncle asked, “what did Heard-of-God say to you?”
16And Asked-For replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Asked-For did not tell his uncle what Heard-of-God had said about the kingship.
17After this, Heard-of-God summoned the people to He-Who-Is at Watchtower
18and said to the children of Strives-with-God, “This is what He-Who-Is, the God of Strives-with-God, says: ‘I brought Strives-with-God up out of Two-Straits, and I rescued you from the hands of the Two-Straitsians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’
19But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before He-Who-Is by your tribes and clans.”
20Thus Heard-of-God had all the tribes of Strives-with-God come forward, and the tribe of Son-of-the-Right-Hand was selected.
21Then he had the tribe of Son-of-the-Right-Hand come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected. Finally, Asked-For son of Bow was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him.
22So again they inquired of He-Who-Is, “Has the man come here yet?” And He-Who-Is replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
23So they ran and brought Asked-For, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others.
24Heard-of-God said to all the people, “Do you see the one He-Who-Is has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25Then Heard-of-God explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before He-Who-Is. And Heard-of-God sent all the people away, each to his own home.
26Asked-For also went to his home in The-Hill, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.
27But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Asked-For remained silent about it.