1 Så tok Samuel flaska med olje, helte den over hans hode, kysset ham og sa: Er det ikke Herren som har med den hellige olje gjort deg til hersker over Israel, sitt folk? Du skal ha makt over Herrens folk og beskytte dem fra deres fiender rundt omkring, og dette skal være tegnet for deg:

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:

2 Når du forlater meg i dag, vil du møte to menn ved graven til Rakel i Benjamins land, i Zelzah, og de vil si til deg: Eselhoppene du lette etter, er funnet. Nå er din far ikke lenger bekymret for eselene, men er urolig for deg og sier: Hva skal jeg gjøre med min sønn?

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?

3 Så skal du gå videre derfra, og når du kommer til Tabors eik, vil du møte tre menn som er på vei til Betel for å tilbe Gud; en har med seg tre unge geiter, en annen tre brød og en tredje en skinnsekk med vin.

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:

4 De vil hilse deg med fred og gi deg to brød, som du skal ta imot fra dem.

They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them.

5 Deretter kommer du til Gibeas høyde, Guds by, hvor filisternes vaktstyrke holder til. Når du kommer til byen, vil du møte en flokk profeter som kommer ned fra offerhaugen med musikkinstrumenter foran seg, og de vil profetere.

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:

6 Herrens ånd vil komme over deg med kraft, og du vil profetere med dem og bli til et annet menneske.

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.

7 Og når disse tegnene skjer, se til at du griper den anledning som gis deg, for Gud er med deg.

And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you.

8 Da skal du gå ned foran meg til Gilgal, og jeg vil komme til deg for å ofre brennoffer og fredsoffer. Vent der i syv dager til jeg kommer og forteller deg hva du skal gjøre.

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.

9 Og det skjedde at da han dro bort fra Samuel, ga Gud ham et nytt hjerte, og alle disse tegnene skjedde den dagen.

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.

10 Da de kom til Gibeah, møtte han en flokk profeter; Guds ånd kom over ham med kraft, og han sluttet seg til dem som en av profetene.

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.

11 Da Sauls gamle venner så ham blant profetene, sa folket til hverandre: Hva har hendt med Saul, sønn av Kish? Er også Saul blant profetene?

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?

12 En fra stedet svarte: Hvem er deres far? Slik ble det til et ordtak: Er også Saul blant profetene?

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?

13 Så gikk han bort fra profetene og kom hjem.

Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house.

14 Og Sauls onkel sa til ham og tjeneren hans: Hvor har dere vært? Og han svarte: Vi lette etter eselene, men da vi ikke fant dem, kom vi til Samuel.

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.

15 Da spurte han: Hva sa Samuel til dere?

Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you?

16 Og Saul svarte: Han fortalte oss at eselene var funnet. Men han sa ingenting om Samuels ord om riket.

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.

17 Så kalte Samuel folket sammen for Herren i Mispa;

Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah;

18 Og han sa til Israels barn: Herren, Israels Gud, har sagt: Jeg førte Israel ut av Egypt, og reddet dere fra egypterne og fra alle kongedømmene som knuget dere.

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:

19 Men i dag har dere vendt dere bort fra deres Gud, som har vært deres frelser fra alle deres vanskeligheter og sorger, og dere har sagt til ham: Sett en konge over oss. Så still dere nå framfor Herren etter deres stammer og tusener.

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.

20 Da lot Samuel alle Israels stammer komme fram, og Benjamins stamme ble valgt.

So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

21 Så lot han Benjamins stamme komme fram etter slekt, og Matris slekt ble tatt ut; og fra dem, Saul, sønn av Kish, men da de lette etter ham, var han ingen steder å finne.

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.

22 Så spurte de Herren igjen: Er mannen her? Og Herrens svar var: Han har gjemt seg blant pakkene.

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.

23 Så skyndte de seg og hentet ham, og da han sto blant folket, var han en hode høyere enn noen av dem.

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.

24 Samuel sa til folket: Ser dere mann Herren har valgt, det finnes ingen som ham blant hele folket! Og hele folket ropte med høy røst: Leve kongen!

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!

25 Da forklarte Samuel folket kongedømmets rettigheter, skrev dem ned i en bok og la den for Herren. Så sendte Samuel folket hjem, hver til sitt hus.

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.

26 Og Saul dro til sitt hjem i Gibeah, og med ham dro de stridsmenn som Gud hadde berørt i hjertet.

And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God.

27 Men noen verdiløse menn sa: Hvordan kan denne mannen frelse oss? De ringeaktet ham og ga ham ingen gave.

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.