1 ^cThen Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head ^dand kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince¹ over ^ehis people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince² over his heritage. 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by ^fRachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ^g‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now ^hyour father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the ⁱoak of Tabor. Three men ^jgoing up ^kto God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to ^lGibeath-elohim,^{3 m}where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down ⁿfrom the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 ^oThen the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, ^pand you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when ^qthese signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, ^rfor God is with you. 8 Then go down before me ^sto Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and ^tto sacrifice peace offerings. ^uSeven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to ^vGibeah,⁴ behold, a group of prophets met him, ^oand the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? ^wIs Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man of the place answered, ^x“And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, ^w“Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 ^ySaul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, ^z“To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, ^a“He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.