CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub]. Common English Bible

CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub]

your sons don't follow in your footsteps. So appoint us a king to judge us like all the other nations have."⁶It seemed very bad to Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us," so he prayed to the LORD.

⁷The LORD answered Samuel, "Comply with the people's request--everything they ask of you--because they haven't rejected you. No, they've rejected me as king over them. ⁸They are doing to you only what they've been doing to me^u from the day I brought them out of Egypt to this very minute, abandoning me and worshipping other gods. ⁹So comply with their request, but give them a clear warning, telling them how the king will rule over them."^v

¹⁰Then Samuel explained everything the LORD had said to the people who were asking for a king. ¹¹"This is how the king will rule over you," Samuel said:

"He will take your sons, and will use them for his chariots and his cavalry and as runners for his chariot. ¹²He will use them as his commanders of troops of one thousand and troops of fifty, or to do his plowing and his harvesting, or to make his weapons or parts for his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, or bakers. ¹⁴He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his servants. ¹⁵He will give one-tenth of your grain and your vineyards to his officials and servants. ¹⁶He will take your male and female servants, along with the best of your cattle^w and donkeys, and make them do his work. ¹⁷He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and then you yourselves will become his slaves!¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose for yourselves, but on that day the LORD won't answer you."

¹⁹But the people refused to listen to Samuel and said, "No! There must be a king over us²⁰so we can be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles."

²¹Samuel listened to everything the people said and repeated it directly to the LORD. ²²Then the LORD said to Samuel, "Comply with their request. Give them a king."

Samuel then told the Israelite people, "Go back, each of you, to your own hometown."

Saul chosen to lead Israel

1Samuel 9There was a wealthy man from the tribe of Benjamin named Kish. He was the son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite. ²He had a son named Saul, who was a handsome young man. No one in Israel was more handsome than Saul, and he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

³When the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servant boys with you and go look for the donkeys."⁴So he traveled through the highlands of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah, but they didn't find anything. They traveled through the land of Shaalim, but still found nothing, so they crossed back into the land of Benjamin, but they still couldn't find the donkeys. ⁵When they came to the territory of Zuph, Saul said to the boy who was with him, "Let's go back before my father stops worrying about the donkeys and starts worrying about us."

⁶But the boy said to him, "Listen, there's a man of God in this town. He's famous--everything he says actually happens! So let's go there. Maybe he'll be able to tell us which way we should go."

⁷Saul said to his young boy, "But if we go, what should we bring to the man? The food in our bags is all gone. We don't have any gift to offer the man of God. Do we have anything?"

⁸"Here," the boy answered Saul, "I've got a quarter-shekel of silver. I'll give that to the man of God so he tells us which way to go." (⁹Earlier in Israel, someone going to consult with God would say, "Let's go to the seer," because the people who are called prophets today were previously called seers.)

¹⁰Saul said to the boy, "Great idea! Let's go." So they went into the town where the man of God lived. ¹¹They were going up the hill to the town when they met some young women coming out to draw water. "Is the seer here?" they asked them.

¹²"He's just ahead of you," they answered. "Hurry up! He has just come to town because there is a sacrifice today for the people at the shrine. ¹³You'll find him as soon as you enter the town, before he goes up to the shrine to eat. The people won't eat until he gets there, because he must bless the sacrifice. Only after that can the invited guests eat. Now get going because you'll find him momentarily."

¹⁴So Saul and the boy went up to the town, and as they entered it, suddenly Samuel came toward them on his way up to the shrine. ¹⁵Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed the following to Samuel: ¹⁶"About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the Benjaminite territory. You will anoint him as leader of my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines' power because I have seen the suffering of^x my people, and their cry for help has reached me."¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, "That's the man I told you about. That's the one who will rule^y my people."

¹⁸Saul approached Samuel in the city gate and said, "Please tell me where the seer's house is."

¹⁹"I'm the seer," Samuel told Saul. "Go on ahead of me to the shrine. You can eat with me today. In the morning I'll send you on your way, and I will tell you everything you want to know. ²⁰As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, don't be worried about them because they've been found. Who owns all of Israel's treasures, anyway? Isn't it you and your whole family?"^z

²¹"I'm a Benjaminite," Saul responded, "from the smallest Israelite tribe, and my family is the littlest of the families in the tribe of Benjamin. Why would you say something like that to me?"

²²Then Samuel took Saul and his young servant and brought them to the banquet room. He gave them an honored place among the invited guests. There were about thirty total. ²³Samuel said to the cook, "Serve the portion I gave you--the one I told you to set aside."²⁴So the cook took the thigh and what was on it,^a and put it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "Look, what had been reserved is now in front of you. Eat up, because it was set apart for you for this specific occasion, ever since I invited the guests."^b So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵When they came back from the shrine to the town, a bed was made for Saul on the roof, and he slept.^c

²⁶Near dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Wake up! I will send you on your way." So Saul got up, and the two of them, he and Samuel, went outside. ²⁷As they were nearing the edge of town Samuel said, "Tell the boy to go on ahead of us" (the servant did so) "but you stop for a bit so I can tell you God's word."

Samuel anoints Saul as king

1Samuel 10Samuel took a small jar of oil and poured it over Saul's head and kissed him. "The LORD hereby anoints you leader of his people Israel," Samuel said. "You will rule the LORD's people and save them from the power of the enemies who surround them. And this will be the sign for you that the LORD has anointed you as leader of his very own possession:^d ²When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you, 'The donkeys you went looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped thinking about the donkeys and is worried about you. He's asking: What should I do about my son?'³Then, when you've gone on a bit farther, you will come to the oak at Tabor. Three men who are going to consult God at Bethel will meet up with you there, one carrying three young goats, one carrying three loaves of bread, and one carrying a jar of wine. ⁴They will ask how you're doing and will offer you sacrificial bread,^e which you should accept. ⁵After that, you will come to Gibeath-elohim, which is a Philistine fort. When you enter the town, you will encounter a group of prophets coming down from the shrine preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. They will be caught up in a prophetic frenzy. ⁶Then the LORD's spirit will come over you, and you will be caught up in a prophetic frenzy right along with them; it will be like you've become a completely different person. ⁷Once these signs have

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