I Samuel 10

¹Forsothe Samuel took `a vessel of oyle, and schedde out on the heed of Saul, and kisside hym, and seide, Lo! the Lord hath anoyntid thee in to prince on hys eritage; and thou schalt delyuere his puple fro the hond of his enemyes, that ben `in his cumpas. And this a tokene to thee, that the Lord hath anoyntid thee in to prince;

²whanne thou schalt go fro me to day, thou schalt fynde twei men bisidis `the sepulcre of Rachel, in `the endis of Beniamyn, in myddai, clensynge grete dichis; and thei schulen seie to thee, The femel assis ben foundun, whiche thou yedist to seke; and while the assis ben lefte, thi fadir is bisy for you, and seith, What schal Y do of my sone?

³And whanne thou hast go fro thennus, and hast passid ferthere, and hast come to the ook of Tabor, thre men, stiynge to God in to Bethel, schulen fynde thee there, o man berynge thre kydis, and another man berynge thre kakis of breed, and an other man berynge a galoun of wyn.

⁴And whanne thei han gret thee, thei schulen yyue to thee twei loues, and thou schalt take of `the hond of hem.

⁵After these thingis thou schalt come in to the `hil of the Lord, where is the stondyng, that is, forselet, of Filisteis; and whanne thou schalt entre in to the citee, there thou schalt haue metynge thee the flok of prophetis comynge doun fro the hiy place, and a sautree, and tympane, and pipe, and harpe bifor hem, and hem prophesiynge.

⁶And the Spirit of the Lord schal skippe in to thee, and thou schalt prophecie with hem, and thou schalt be chaungid in to another man.

⁷Therfor whanne alle thesse signes bifallen to thee, do thou, what euer thingis thin hond fyndith, `that is, dispose thee to regne comelili and myytily, for the Lord is with thee.

⁸And thou schalt go doun bifor me in to Galgala; for Y schal come doun to thee, that thou offre an offryng, and offre pesible sacrifices; bi seuene daies thou schalt abide, til I come to thee, and shewe to thee what thou schal do.

⁹Therfor whanne Saul hadde turnede awei his schuldre to go fro Samuel, God chaungide another herte to Saul, and alle these signes camen in that dai.

¹⁰And thei camen to the forseid hil, and lo! a cumpeny of prophetis metynge hym; and the Spirit of the Lord `scippide on hym, and he propheciede in the myddis of hem.

¹¹Sotheli alle men, that knewen hym yisterdai and the thrid dai ago, sien that he was with the prophetis, and that he prophesiede, and thei seiden togidere, What thing bifelde to the sone of Cys? Whether also Saul is among prophetis?

¹²And o man answeride to another man, and seide, And who is `his fadir? Therfor it was turned in to a prouerbe, Whether also Saul is among prophetis?

¹³Forsothe Saul ceside to prophesie, and he cam to an hiy place.

¹⁴And the brothir of `the fadir of Saul seide to hym, and to his child, Whidur yeden ye? And thei answeriden, To seke the femal assis; and whanne we founden `not thoo, we camen to Samuel.

¹⁵And the brother of his fadir seide to hym, Schewe thou to me what Samuel seide to thee.

¹⁶And Saul seide to `the brother of hys fadir, He schewide to vs, that the femal assis weren foundun. Sotheli Saul schewide not to hym of the word of rewme, `which word Samuel spak to hym.

¹⁷And Samuel clepide togidere the puple to the Lord in Masphat;

¹⁸and he seide to the sones of Israel, The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Y ledde Israel out of the lond of Egipt, and Y delyuerede you fro the hond of Egipcians, and fro the hond of alle kyngis that turmentiden you.

¹⁹Forsothe to day ye han caste awei youre Lord God, which aloone sauyde you fro alle youre yuelis and tribulaciouns; and ye seiden, Nay, but ordeyne thou a kyng on vs. Now therfor stonde ye bifor the Lord bi youre lynagis, and bi meynees.

²⁰And Samuel settide to gidere alle the lynages of Israel, and lot felde on the lynage of Beniamyn.

²¹And he settide togidere the lynage of Beniamyn, and the meynees therof; and lot felde on the meynees of Mathri, and it cam `til to Saul, the son of Cys. Therfor thei souyten hym, and he was not foundun there.

²²And aftir these thingis thei counseliden the Lord, whether Saul schulde come thidur. And the Lord answeride, Lo! he is hid at hoom.

²³Therfor thei runnen, and token hym fro thennus; and he stood in the myddil of the puple, and was hiyere than al the puple fro the schulder and `aboue.

²⁴And Samuel seide to al the puple, Certis ye seen whom the Lord hath chose; for noon in al the puple is lijk hym. And al the puple cryede, and seide, Lyue the kyng!

²⁵Forsothe Samuel spak to the puple the lawe of rewme, and wroot in a book, and puttide vp bifor the Lord. And Samuel dilyuerede al the puple, ech man in to his hows;

²⁶but also Saul yede in to his hous in to Gabaath; and the part of the oost yede with hym, whose hertis God hadde touchid.

²⁷Forsothe the sones of Belyal seiden, Whether this man may saue vs? And thei dispisiden hym, and brouyten not yiftis, `that is, preisyngis, to him; forsothe he `dissymelide hym to here.

I Samuel 10

¹Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

²When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

³Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth–el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

⁴And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.

⁵After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

⁶And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

⁷And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

⁸And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.

⁹And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

¹⁰And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

¹¹And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹²And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹³And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

¹⁴And Saul’s uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel.

¹⁵And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.

¹⁶And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

¹⁷And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh;

¹⁸And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you:

¹⁹And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands.

²⁰And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

²¹When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.

²²Therefore they enquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.

²³And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

²⁴And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

²⁵Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

²⁶And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.