12. "He’s just ahead of you," they answered. "Hurry up! He has just come to town because there is a sacrifice today for the people at the shrine.
13. You’ll find him as soon as you enter the town, before he goes up to the shrine to eat. The people won’t eat until he gets there, because he must bless the sacrifice. Only after that can the invited guests eat. Now get going because you’ll find him momentarily."
14. So Saul and the boy went up to the town, and as they entered it, suddenly Samuel came toward them on his way up to the shrine.
15. Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed the following to Samuel:
16. "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the Benjaminite territory. You will anoint him as leader of my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines’ power because I have seen the suffering of my people, and their cry for help has reached me."
17. When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, "That’s the man I told you about. That’s the one who will rule my people."
18. Saul approached Samuel in the city gate and said, "Please tell me where the seer’s house is."
19. "I’m the seer," Samuel told Saul. "Go on ahead of me to the shrine. You can eat with me today. In the morning I’ll send you on your way, and I will tell you everything you want to know.
20. As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, don’t be worried about them because they’ve been found. Who owns all of Israel’s treasures, anyway? Isn’t it you and your whole family?"
21. "I’m a Benjaminite," Saul responded, "from the smallest Israelite tribe, and my family is the littlest of the families in the tribe of Benjamin. Why would you say something like that to me?"
22. Then Samuel took Saul and his young servant and brought them to the banquet room. He gave them an honored place among the invited guests. There were about thirty total.
23. Samuel said to the cook, "Serve the portion I gave you—the one I told you to set aside."
24. So the cook took the thigh and what was on it, and put it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "Look, what had been reserved is now in front of you. Eat up, because it was set apart for you for this specific occasion, ever since I invited the guests." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25. When they came back from the shrine to the town, a bed was made for Saul on the roof, and he slept.