1 Samuel 10:17–25

¹⁷After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah ¹⁸and said to the Israelites, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

¹⁹But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

²⁰Thus Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. ²¹Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected.^e Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him. ²²So again they inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”

And the LORD replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

²³So they ran and brought Saul, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others. ²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”

And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.