1 Samuel 9:1–27

¹ Now there was a Benjamite, a powerful man, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. ² And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the people. ³ One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the land of Shalishah, but did not find the donkeys. He and the servant went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they went through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them. ⁵ When they reached the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, “Come, let us go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” ⁶ “Look,” said the servant, “in this city there is a man of God who is highly respected; everything he says surely comes to pass. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.” ⁷ “If we do go,” Saul replied, “what can we give the man? For the bread in our packs is gone, and there is no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have here in my hand a quarter shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, a man on his way to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.) ¹⁰ “Good,” said Saul to his servant. “Come, let us go.” So they set out for the city where the man of God was. ¹¹ And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?” ¹² “Yes, he is ahead of you,” they answered. “Hurry now, for today he has come to the city because the people have a sacrifice 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. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will eat. Go up at once; you will find him.” ¹⁴ So Saul and his servant went up toward the city, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the high place. ¹⁵ Now on the day before Saul’s arrival, the LORD had revealed to Samuel, ¹⁶ “At 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 them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” ¹⁷ Wh…