1 Tomou Samuel o vaso de óleo, e lho derramou sobre a cabeça e o beijou e disse: Não te ungiu Jeová para ser príncipe sobre a sua herança?

2 Quando te apartares hoje de mim, acharás dois homens juntos ao sepulcro de Raquel, no território de Benjamim, em Zelza. Eles te dirão: Acharam-se as jumentas que foste procurar; e teu pai, deixando de cuidar delas, aflige-se por ti e diz: Que farei eu por meu filho?

3 Então dali irás para adiante, e chegarás ao carvalho de Tabor, ali te encontrarão três homens que, subindo a Deus a Betel, levam, um três cabritos, outro três pães, e o outro um odre de vinho.

4 Eles te saudarão, e te darão dois pães; tu os receberás das suas mãos.

5 Depois virás ao outeiro de Deus, onde está a guarnição dos filisteus. Ao entrares ali na cidade, encontrarás um rancho de profetas descendo do alto, precedido de saltérios, tambores, flautas, harpas, e eles profetizando.

6 O espírito de Jeová se apoderará de ti, profetizarás com eles, e ficarás mudado em outro homem.

7 Quando estes sinais te acontecerem, faze o que pedir a ocasião; porque Deus é contigo.

8 Descerás diante de mim a Gilgal, e eu descerei a ter contigo, para oferecer holocaustos e para imolar sacrifícios de ofertas pacíficas. Esperarás sete dias, até que eu venha ter contigo e te declare o que hás de fazer.

9 Tanto que Saul deu costas para partir de Samuel, Deus lhe mudou o coração em outro; e todos esses sinais aconteceram naquele dia.

10 Chegando eles ao outeiro, eis que um rancho de profetas lhe saiu ao encontro; o espírito de Deus apoderou-se de Saul, e ele profetizou no meio deles.

11 Todos os que o tinham conhecido antes, quando viram que ele profetizava com os profetas, diziam uns aos outros: Que é o que aconteceu ao filho de Quis? Está Saul também entre os profetas?

12 Então um homem do lugar respondeu, e disse: Quem é o pai deles? Por isso passou em provérbio: Está Saul também entre os profetas?

13 Tendo acabado de profetizar, veio ao alto.

14 O tio de Saul perguntou-lhe a ele e ao seu servo: Aonde fostes? Respondeu ele: A procurar as jumentas. Quando vimos que não apareciam, fomos ter com Samuel.

15 Tornou-lhe o tio: Declara-me, que é o que vos disse Samuel.

16 Respondeu Saul a seu tio: Declarou-nos que as jumentas já eram achadas. Mas no tocante ao assunto do reino de que lhe falara Samuel, não lho disse.

17 Convocou Samuel o povo a Jeová em Mispa,

18 e disse aos filhos de Israel: Assim diz Jeová, Deus de Israel: Eu fiz subir a Israel do Egito, e vos livrei da mão dos egípcios e da mão de todos os reinos que vos oprimiam.

19 Mas vós hoje rejeitastes o vosso Deus, que é quem vos livra de todas as vossas calamidades e angústias, e lhe dissestes: Não! mas constitui um rei sobre nós. Agora ponde-vos diante de Jeová pelas vossas tribos e pelos vossos milhares.

20 Tendo Samuel feito chegar todas as tribos de Israel, tomou-se a tribo de Benjamim.

21 Tendo feito chegar a tribo de Benjamim pelas suas famílias, tomou-se a família de Matri; e dele se tomou Saul, filho de Quis. Mas, quando o procuraram, não podia ser encontrado.

22 Portanto, tornaram a perguntar a Jeová: Não veio ainda o homem para cá? Jeová respondeu: Ele se escondeu por entre a bagagem.

23 Foram correndo e trouxeram-no de lá. Estando ele entre o povo, era mais alto do que todo o povo desde o ombro para cima.

24 Disse Samuel a todo o povo: Vedes a quem Jeová escolheu? pois não há entre todo o povo quem lhe seja semelhante. Então todo o povo rompeu em gritos e disse: Viva o rei!

25 Declarou Samuel diante do povo o que fariam os reis e, escrevendo-o num livro, depositou-o diante de Jeová. Então Samuel despediu todo o povo, cada um para a sua casa.

26 Voltou Saul também para a sua casa em Gibeá; e foram com ele os homens de valor, cujos corações Deus tinha tocado.

27 Mas os filhos de Belial disseram: Como pode este homem salvar-nos? Desprezaram-no, e não lhe trouxeram presentes. Saul, porém, portou-se como se fora surdo.

1 Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you:

2 When you have gone away from me today, you will see two men by the resting-place of Rachel's body, in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went in search of have come back, and now your father, caring no longer for the asses, is troubled about you, saying, What am I to do about my son?

3 Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full of wine:

4 They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them.

5 After that you will come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where an armed force of the Philistines is stationed: and when you come to the town, you will see a band of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments of music before them; and they will be acting like prophets:

6 And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man.

7 And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you.

8 Then you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to do.

9 And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place that day.

10 And when they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets came face to face with him; and the spirit of God came on him with power and he took his place among them as a prophet.

11 Now when Saul's old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets?

12 And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?

13 Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house.

14 And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel.

15 Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you?

16 And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom.

17 Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah;

18 And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down:

19 But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.

20 So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

21 Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen.

22 So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods.

23 So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people.

24 And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see the man of the Lord's selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king!

25 Then Samuel gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

26 And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God.

27 But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.