Saul meets Samuel
14 Saul and his servant went up towards the town. When they arrived there, Samuel came towards them. He was going up to the altar on the hill. 15 The day before Saul arrived, the Lord had already spoken to Samuel. He had said, 16 ‘Tomorrow I will send a man to you who comes from the land of Benjamin. He will arrive at about this time of day. Anoint him to be the ruler over my people, Israel. He will save my people from the power of the Philistines. My people have called out to me for help. Now I have decided to help them.’
17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, ‘Here is the man that I told you about. He will rule over my people.’
18 Saul met Samuel at the gate of the town. Saul said to him, ‘Please tell me where the seer's house is.’
19 Samuel said to him, ‘I am the seer! Go in front of me now to the altar on the hill. You and your servant will eat a meal with me there. Tomorrow morning I will send you back to your home. Before that, I will tell you what you want to know. 20 Someone has already found the donkeys that you lost three days ago. Do not think any more about them. The only thing that the Israelite people want now is you! They want you and all your father's family.’
21 Saul answered, ‘I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. It is the smallest tribe in the nation of Israel. And my family belongs to the smallest clan in that tribe. So why do you speak like this to me?’
22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into the room where they would eat the meal. He made them sit in the most important seats in front of all the other people. About 30 people had come to eat the meal. 23 Samuel said to the cook, ‘Please bring me the special piece of meat that I gave to you. I told you to keep that piece separate.’
24 So the cook brought the leg of meat and he put it down in front of Saul. Samuel said to Saul, ‘I kept this special piece of meat for you to eat. Eat it now. I kept it separate for this time when we would eat together. I chose it for you when I asked the people to come and eat this special meal.’
So Saul ate the meal with Samuel that day.
25 They came down from the hill and they went into the town. Samuel took Saul onto the roof of his house and they talked together.
