⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(A)Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^(B)Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, ^(C)for they have not rejected you, ^(D)but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them ^(E)and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel's Warning Against Kings

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. ¹¹ He said, ^(F)“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^(G)he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. ¹² And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^(H)to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ^14 (I)He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men^[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ^(J)but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel's Request

¹⁹ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, ^20 (K)that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. ²² And the Lord said to Samuel, ^(L)“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

Saul Chosen to Be King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(M)Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. ² And he had a son whose name was Saul, ^(N)a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. ^(O)From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

Saul Proclaimed King

¹⁷ Now Samuel called the people together ^(A)to the Lord ^(B)at Mizpah. ¹⁸ And he said to the people of Israel, ^(C)“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ^19 (D)But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore ^(E)present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”

²⁰ Then Samuel ^(F)brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot;^[a] and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. ^22 (G)So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” ²³ Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, ^(H)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. ²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(I)whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, ^(J)“Long live the king!”

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people ^(K)the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. ²⁶ Saul also went to his home ^(L)at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷ But some ^(M)worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

The Kingdom Is Renewed

¹² Then the people said to Samuel, ^(A)“Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ ^(B)Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” ¹³ But Saul said, ^(C)“Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today ^(D)the Lord has worked ^(E)salvation in Israel.” ¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to ^(F)Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(G)before the Lord in Gilgal. There ^(H)they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.