Saul becomes the first king of Israel
17 Samuel sent a message to all Israel's people. He told them to come to Mizpah to meet with the Lord. 18 He said to them, ‘This is a message from the Lord, Israel's God: “I led you Israelites out from Egypt. I saved you from the power of the Egyptians. I also saved you from other kingdoms that were cruel to you. 19 I am the one who saves you from all your pain and troubles. But now you have turned against me, your God. You have said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us instead.’ So now come and stand in front of the Lord. Stand together in your tribes and in your clans.” ’
20 So each tribe came forward to Samuel, tribe by tribe. God chose Benjamin's tribe. 21 Then each family from Benjamin's tribe went forward. God chose the family of Matri. Then God chose Kish's son Saul from the family of Matri. They looked for Saul but nobody could find him. 22 So they asked the Lord, ‘Has Saul arrived here yet?’ The Lord said, ‘Yes, but he is hiding among the luggage.’
23 So they ran to find Saul. They brought him out from there. When Saul stood among the people, you could see his head above everyone else. 24 Samuel said to all the people, ‘Look! Here is the man that the Lord has chosen. There is nobody like him among all the people.’ Then the people shouted, ‘May the king live for a long time!’
25 Then Samuel explained to the people all the rules about a king. He wrote everything in a book. He put the book in a special place where they worshipped the Lord. Then Samuel told all the people to go to back to their homes. 26 Saul himself went back to his home at Gibeah. A group of brave men went with him. God had caused them to want to do that. 27 But some wicked men were complaining. They said, ‘This man will never be able to save us.’ They did not respect Saul. They did not bring him any gifts. But Saul did not say anything against them.
