10
1 Then Shmuel took a flask of shemen, and poured it upon his rosh, and kissed him,* and said, Hath not Hashem meshachacha (anointed thee) to be Nagid over His nachalah? 2 When thou art departed from me today, then thou shalt find two anashim near Kevurat Rachel on the border of Binyamin at Tzeltzach; and they will say unto thee, The donkeys which thou wentest to seek are found; and, hinei, Avicha hath taken leave of caring about the donkeys, and careth for you, saying, What shall I do for beni (my son)? 3 Then shalt thou go on forward from there, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tavor, and there shall meet thee shloshah anashim going up to HaElohim to Beit-El, one carrying shloshet gedayim (three young goats), and another carrying shloshet kikrot (three loaves) lechem, and another carrying a skin of yayin; 4 And they will give thee a Shalom greeting, and give thee two of the lechem; which thou shalt receive of their yad. 5 After that thou shalt come to the Giveat HaElohim, where is the outpost of the Pelishtim (Philistines); and it shall come to pass, when thou art come there to the Ir, that thou shalt meet a chevel (company, band) of nevi'im coming down from the high place with a nevel (lyre), tof (tambourine), khalil (flute), and kinnor (harp) before them; and they shall prophesy; 6 And the Ruach† of Hashem will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into an ish acher (another man, a different man). 7 And let it be, when these otot (signs) are come unto thee, that thou do what yadecha (thy hand) finds;‡ for HaElohim is with thee. 8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, hinei, I will come down unto thee, to offer olot (burnt offerings), and to sacrifice zivkhei shelamim (sacrifices of peace offerings); shivat yamim shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do.
9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Shmuel, Elohim changed for him a lev acher (another heart, a different heart); and all those otot (signs) came to pass that day. 10 And when they came there to the Giv'ah (Hill), hinei, a chevel (company, band) of nevi'im met him; and the Ruach§ of Elohim came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, hinei, he prophesied with the nevi'im, then HaAm said one to another, What is this that hath happened unto the Ben Kish? Is Sha'ul also among the nevi'im? 12 And an ish from that place answered and said, And who is avihem*(their father)? Therefore it became a mashal (proverb), Is Sha'ul also among the nevi'im?
13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the bamah (high place).
14 And the dod Sha'ul said unto him and to his na'ar, Where went ye? And he said, To search for the donkeys; and when we saw that they were nowhere, we came to Shmuel. 15 And the dod Sha'ul said, Tell me, now, what Shmuel said unto you. 16 And Sha'ul said unto his dod, He told us plainly that the donkeys were found. But of the matter of the melukhah (kingship), whereof Shmuel spoke, he told him not.
17 And Shmuel called HaAm together unto Hashem at Mitzpah; 18 And said unto the Bnei Yisroel, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, I brought up Yisroel out of Mitzrayim, and delivered you out of the yad Mitzrayim, and out of the yad kol HaMamlachot, and of them that oppressed you; 19 And ye have this day rejected Eloheichem, who Himself was Moshi'a for you out of all your adversities and your tzoroses; and ye have said unto Him, No, but set a Melech over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Hashem by your Shevatim (Tribes), and by your alefim (thousands, larger kinship units).
20 And when Shmuel had caused all the Shivtei Yisroel to come near, the Shevet (Tribe) of Binyamin was lakhad (taken [by lot], singled out [by lot]). 21 When he had caused the Shevet (Tribe) of Binyamin to come near by their mishpekhot, the mishpakhat Matri was lakhad (singled out [by lot]), and Sha'ul Ben Kish was lakhad; and when they searched for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore they inquired of Hashem further, Has the ish come here yet? And Hashem answered, Hinei he hath hid himself among the kelim (vessels, baggage, stuff).
23 And they ran and brought him out from there; and when he stood among HaAm, he was taller than any of HaAm from his shekhamim (shoulders) upward.
24 And Shmuel said to kol HaAm, See ye him whom Hashem hath chosen? That there is none like him among kol HaAm? And kol HaAm shouted, and said, May HaMelech live!
25 Then Shmuel told HaAm the mishpat haMelukhah†(right of the monarchy), and wrote it in a sefer, and deposited it up before Hashem. And Shmuel sent kol HaAm away, every ish to his bais.
26 And Sha'ul also went home to Giv'ah; and there went with him the valiant whose lev Elohim had touched.
27 But the Bnei Beliyaal said, How shall this one yoshi'einu (save us)? And they despised him, and brought no minchah (gift). But he held his peace.
* 10:1 Ps 2:12 † 10:6 Hakodesh ‡ 10:7 i.e., what thou seest fit to do § 10:10 Hakodesh * 10:12 cf. Am 7:14 † 10:25 see also Dt 17:14-20