The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you:
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Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, "The Lord anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the Lord has chosen you to be the ruler of his people:
2 When you have gone away from me today, you will see two men by the resting-place of Rachel's body, in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went in search of have come back, and now your father, caring no longer for the asses, is troubled about you, saying, What am I to do about my son?
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When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, "What shall I do about my son?'
3 Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full of wine:
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You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine.
4 They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them.
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They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept.
5 After that you will come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where an armed force of the Philistines is stationed: and when you come to the town, you will see a band of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments of music before them; and they will be acting like prophets:
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Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting.
6 And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man.
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Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person.
7 And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you.
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When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do.
8 Then you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to do.
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You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do."
9 And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place that day.
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When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day.
10 And when they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets came face to face with him; and the spirit of God came on him with power and he took his place among them as a prophet.
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When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting.
11 Now when Saul's old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets?
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People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?"
12 And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?
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A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets - who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?"
13 Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house.
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When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.
14 And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel.
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Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," Saul answered. "When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel."
15 Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you?
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"And what did he tell you?" Saul's uncle asked.
16 And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom.
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"He told us that the animals had been found," Saul answered - but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.
17 Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah;
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Samuel called the people together for a religious gathering at Mizpah
18 And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down:
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and said to them, "The Lord, the God of Israel, says, "I brought you out of Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all the other peoples who were oppressing you.
19 But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.
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I am your God, the one who rescues you from all your troubles and difficulties, but today you have rejected me and have asked me to give you a king. Very well, then, gather yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by clans.' "
20 So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.
20
Then Samuel had each tribe come forward, and the Lord picked the tribe of Benjamin.
21 Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen.
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Then Samuel had the families of the tribe of Benjamin come forward, and the family of Matri was picked out. Then the men of the family of Matri came forward, and Saul son of Kish was picked out. They looked for him, but when they could not find him,
22 So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods.
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they asked the Lord, "Is there still someone else?" The Lord answered, "Saul is over there, hiding behind the supplies."
23 So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people.
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So they ran and brought Saul out to the people, and they could see that he was a foot taller than anyone else.
24 And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see the man of the Lord's selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king!
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Samuel said to the people, "Here is the man the Lord has chosen! There is no one else among us like him." All the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
25 Then Samuel gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
25
Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book, which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent everyone home.
26 And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God.
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Saul also went back home to Gibeah. Some powerful men, whose hearts God had touched, went with him.
27 But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.
27
But some worthless people said, "How can this fellow do us any good?" They despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.