Tomó entonces Samuel la redoma de aceite, la derramó sobre la cabeza de Saúl^1a, lo besó^b y le dijo: ¿No te ha ungido el SEÑOR^c por príncipe sobre su heredad^d? 2 Cuando te apartes hoy de mí, hallarás a dos hombres cerca del sepulcro de Raquel^a, en el territorio de Benjamín, en Selsa, y te dirán: «Las asnas que fuiste a buscar han sido halladas. Y he aquí, tu padre ha dejado de preocuparse por¹ las asnas^b y está angustiado por vosotros, diciendo: “¿Qué haré en cuanto a mi hijo?”». 3 De allí seguirás más adelante, llegarás hasta la encina¹ de Tabor^a, y allí te encontrarás con tres hombres que suben a Dios en Betel^b, uno llevando tres cabritos, otro llevando tres tortas de pan y otro llevando un odre de vino; 4 ellos te saludarán y te darán dos tortas de pan, las cuales recibirás¹ de sus manos. 5 Después llegarás a la colina de Dios^1a donde está la guarnición de los filisteos; y sucederá que cuando llegues a la ciudad, allá encontrarás a un grupo de profetas^b que descienden del lugar alto con arpa, pandero, flauta y lira delante de ellos, y estarán profetizando^c. 6 Entonces el Espíritu del SEÑOR vendrá sobre ti con gran poder^a, profetizarás con ellos^b y serás cambiado en otro hombre. 7 Cuando estas señales te hayan sucedido, haz lo que la situación requiera^1a, porque Dios está contigo^b. 8 Descenderás delante de mí a Gilgal^a, y he aquí, yo descenderé a ti para ofrecer holocaustos y sacrificar ofrendas de paz^b. Esperarás siete días hasta que venga a ti y te muestre lo que debes hacer^c.

9 Y sucedió que cuando él volvió la espalda para dejar a Samuel, Dios le cambió el¹ corazón^a, y todas aquellas señales le acontecieron en aquel día. 10 Cuando llegaron allá a la colina¹, he aquí, un grupo de profetas salió a su encuentro; y el Espíritu de Dios vino sobre él con gran poder, y profetizó entre ellos^a. 11 Y sucedió que cuando todos los que le conocían de antes vieron que ahora profetizaba con los profetas, los del pueblo se decían unos a otros: ¿Qué le ha sucedido al hijo de Cis? ¿Está Saúl también entre los profetas^a? 12 Y un hombre de allí respondió, y dijo: ¿Y quién es el padre de ellos? Por lo cual esto se hizo proverbio: ¿Está Saúl también entre los profetas^a? 13 Cuando acabó de profetizar vino al lugar alto.

14 Y un tío de Saúl^a le dijo a él y a su criado: ¿Adónde fuisteis? Y él respondió: A buscar las asnas^b. Cuando vimos que no aparecían, fuimos a Samuel. 15 Y el tío de Saúl dijo: Te ruego que me cuentes qué os dijo Samuel. 16 Y Saúl respondió a su tío: Nos hizo saber claramente que las asnas habían sido halladas^a. Pero Saúl no le contó acerca del asunto del reino que Samuel le había mencionado.

17 Después Samuel convocó al pueblo delante del SEÑOR en Mizpa^a; 18 y dijo a los hijos de Israel: Así dice el SEÑOR, Dios de Israel: «Yo saqué a Israel de Egipto, y os libré del poder¹ de los egipcios y del poder² de todos los reinos que os oprimían^a». 19 Pero vosotros habéis rechazado hoy a vuestro Dios, que os libra de todas vuestras calamidades y vuestras angustias^a, y habéis dicho: «No, sino¹ pon un rey sobre nosotros». Ahora pues, presentaos delante del SEÑOR por vuestras tribus y por vuestras familias^2b. 20 Samuel hizo que se acercaran todas las tribus de Israel, y fue escogida por sorteo la tribu de Benjamín. 21 Entonces hizo que se acercara la tribu de Benjamín por sus familias, y fue escogida la familia de Matri. Y Saúl, hijo de Cis, fue escogido; pero cuando lo buscaron no lo pudieron hallar. 22 Volvieron, pues, a inquirir del SEÑOR^a: ¿Ha llegado ya el hombre aquí? Y el SEÑOR respondió: «He aquí, está escondido junto al bagaje». 23 Corrieron y lo trajeron de allí, y cuando estuvo en medio del pueblo, de los hombros arriba^a sobrepasaba a todo el pueblo. 24 Y Samuel dijo a todo el pueblo: ¿Veis al que el SEÑOR ha escogido^a? En verdad que no hay otro como él entre todo el pueblo. Entonces todo el pueblo gritó, y dijo: ¡Viva el rey^b! 25 Entonces Samuel dio¹ al pueblo las ordenanzas del reino^a, y las escribió en el libro, el cual puso delante del SEÑOR^b. Y despidió Samuel a todo el pueblo, cada uno a su casa. 26 También Saúl se fue a su casa en Guibeá^a, y con él fueron los valientes cuyos corazones Dios había tocado. 27 Pero ciertos hombres indignos^1a dijeron: ¿Cómo puedeeste salvarnos? Y lo menospreciaron y no le trajeron presente alguno^b. Mas él guardó silencio.

Then ^aSamuel took the flask of oil, poured it on ¹Saul’s head, ^bkissed him, and said, “Has ^cthe LORD not anointed you as ruler over ^dHis inheritance? 2 When you leave me today, then you will find two men close to ^aRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘^bThe donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has stopped talking about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What am I to do about my son?”’ 3 Then you will go on farther from there, and you will come as far as the ^1aoak of Tabor, and there three men going up ^bto God at Bethel will meet you: one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine. 4 And they will ¹greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. 5 Afterward you will come to ^1athe hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet ^ba group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre in front of them, and ^cthey will be prophesying. 6 Then ^athe Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and ^byou will prophesy with them and be changed into a different man. 7 And it shall be when these signs come to you, ^ado for yourself what ¹the occasion requires, because ^bGod is with you. 8 And ^ayou shall go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will be coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^bsacrifice peace offerings. ^cYou shall wait seven days until I come to you and inform you of what you should do.”

9 Then it happened, when he turned his back to leave Samuel, that God ^achanged ¹his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10 ^aWhen they came there to ¹the hill, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, so that he prophesied among them. 11 And it came about, when all who previously knew him saw that he was indeed prophesying with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? ^aIs Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a saying: “^aIs Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 Now ^aSaul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^bTo look for the donkeys. When we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 So Saul said to his uncle, “^aHe told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

17 Now Samuel called the ^apeople together to the LORD at Mizpah; 18 and he said to the sons of Israel, “^aThis is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the ¹power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you ^ahave rejected your God, who saves you from all your catastrophes and your distresses; yet you have ¹said, ‘No, but put a king over us!’ Now then, ^bpresent yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your ²groups of thousands.”

20 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel forward; and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. 21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin forward by its families, and the Matrite family was selected by lot. And Saul the son of Kish was selected by lot; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore ^athey inquired further of the LORD: “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD said, “Behold, he is hiding himself among the baggage.” 23 So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, ^ahe was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^awhom the LORD has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “^1bLong live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people ^athe ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book, and ^bplaced it before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. 26 Saul also went ^ato his house in Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But certain ^1auseless men said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and ^bdid not bring him a gift. But ²he kept silent about it.

Then ^aSamuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, ^bkissed him and said, “Has not ^cthe LORD anointed you a ruler over ^dHis inheritance? 2 When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to ^aRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘^bThe donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has ¹ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3 Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the ^1aoak of Tabor, and there three men going up ^bto God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine; 4 and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. 5 Afterward you will come to ^1athe hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet ^ba group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and ^cthey will be prophesying. 6 Then ^athe Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and ^byou shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. 7 It shall be when these signs come to you, ^ado for yourself what ¹the occasion requires, for ^bGod is with you. 8 And ^ayou shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^bsacrifice peace offerings. ^cYou shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.”

9 Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God ^achanged ¹his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10 ^aWhen they came to ¹the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. 11 It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? ^aIs Saul also among the prophets?” 12 A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “^aIs Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 Now ^aSaul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “^bTo look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 So Saul said to his uncle, “^aHe told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

17 Thereafter Samuel called the ^apeople together to the LORD at Mizpah; 18 and he said to the sons of Israel, “^aThus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the ¹power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But you ^ahave today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have ¹said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ Now therefore, ^bpresent yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your clans.”

20 Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore ^athey inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” So the LORD said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.” 23 So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, ^ahe was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^awhom the LORD has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “^1bLong live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people ^athe ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and ^bplaced it before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. 26 Saul also went ^ato his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But certain ^1aworthless men said, “How can this one deliver us?” And they despised him and ^bdid not bring him any present. But he kept silent.