12. And one of those standing there said, “Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?” So that is the origin of the saying “Is even Saul a prophet?”
13. When Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the place of worship.
14. “Where have you been?” Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant.“We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied, “but we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel to ask him where they were.”
15. “Oh? And what did he say?” his uncle asked.
16. “He told us that the donkeys had already been found,” Saul replied. But Saul didn’t tell his uncle what Samuel said about the kingdom.
17. Later Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet before the lord at Mizpah.
18. And he said, “This is what the lord, the God of Israel, has declared: I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all of the nations that were oppressing you.
19. But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today and have said, ‘No, we want a king instead!’ Now, therefore, present yourselves before the lord by tribes and clans.”
20. So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.
21. Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the lord, and the family of the Matrites was chosen. And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them. But when they looked for him, he had disappeared!
22. So they asked the lord, “Where is he?”And the lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.”
23. So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.
24. Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the lord has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!”And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”