Study Desk

But Samuel always went back to his home in Ramah. There he built an altar to the Lord and judged Israel.

When Samuel was old, he appointed his sons to be judges for Israel.

Samuel's first son was named Joel. His second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba.

Samuel said, "If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take away your sons and force them to serve him. He will force them to be soldiers—they must fight from his chariots and become horse soldiers in his army. Your sons will become guards running in front of the king's chariot.

"A king will force your sons to become soldiers. He will choose which of your sons will be officers over 1000 men and which will be officers over 50 men. "A king will force some of your sons to plow his fields and gather his harvest. He will force some of your sons to make weapons for war and to make things for his chariots.

"A king will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves. He will take them from you and give them to his officers.

He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes, and he will give them to his officers and servants.

"A king will take your men and women servants. He will take your best cattle and your donkeys. He will use them all for his own work.

One day Kish's donkeys got lost. So he said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys."

Finally, Saul and the servant came to the town named Zuph. Saul said to his servant, "Let's go back. My father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us."

Saul said to his servant, "Sure, we can go into town, but what can we give to him? We have no gift to give the man of God. Even the food in our bags is gone. What can we give him?"

Saul said to his servant, "That is a good idea. Let's go." So they went to the town where the man of God was. Saul and the servant were walking up the hill toward town when they met some young women on the road. The young women were coming out to get water. Saul and the servant asked the young women, "Is the seer here?" (In the past, people in Israel called a prophet a "seer." So if they wanted to ask something from God, they would say, "Let's go to the seer.")

Saul and the servant started walking up the hill to town. Just as they came into town, they saw Samuel coming out of town, walking toward them. He was on his way to the place for worship.

Then Samuel took Saul and his servant to the eating area. About 30 people had been invited to eat together and share the sacrifice. Samuel gave Saul and his servant the most important place at the table.

Saul, his servant, and Samuel were walking together near the edge of town. Samuel said to Saul, "Tell your servant to go on ahead of us. I have a message for you from God." So the servant walked ahead of them.

Samuel took a jar of the special oil and poured the oil on Saul's head. Samuel kissed Saul and said, "The Lord has anointed you to be the leader over the people who belong to him. You will control the people. You will save them from the enemies that are all around them. He has anointed you to be ruler over his people. Here is a sign that will prove this is true:

After you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. The two men will say to you, ‘Someone found the donkeys you were looking for. Your father stopped worrying about his donkeys. Now he is worrying about you. He is saying: What will I do about my son?'"

When Saul and his servant came to Gibeath Elohim, Saul met a group of prophets. God's Spirit came on Saul with great power, and Saul prophesied with the prophets.

Saul's uncle asked Saul and his servant, "Where have you been?" Saul said, "We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel."

Saul answered, "Samuel told us the donkeys were already found." He did not tell his uncle everything. Saul did not tell him what Samuel said about the kingdom.