¹⁷ Samuel called all the people of Israel ·to meet with [to] the Lord at Mizpah [7:5–11, 15–17]. ¹⁸ He said [^Lto the sons of Israel], “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I ·led [brought up] Israel out of Egypt. I ·saved [rescued; delivered] you from Egypt’s ·control [^Lhand] and from [^Lthe hand of] other kingdoms that were ·troubling [oppressing] you.’ ¹⁹ But ·now [today] you have rejected your God. He ·saves [rescues; delivers] you from all your ·troubles [calamities; disasters; miseries] and ·problems [distresses], but you said, ‘No! ·We want [Appoint; Set] a king to rule over us.’ Now come, ·stand [present yourselves] before the Lord in your tribes and ·family groups [clans].”

²⁰ When Samuel ·gathered [brought forward] ·all [each of] the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin was ·picked [chosen/taken by lot]. ²¹ Samuel had ·them [the tribe of Benjamin] pass by in ·family groups [clans], and Matri’s family was ·picked [chosen/taken by lot]. Then he had each man of Matri’s family pass by, and Saul son of Kish was ·picked [chosen/taken by lot]. But when they looked for Saul, ·they could not find him [he had disappeared]. ²² They ·asked [inquired further of] the Lord, “Has ·Saul [^Lthe man] come here yet?”

The Lord said, “Yes. He’s hiding ·behind [among] the baggage.”

²³ So they ran and brought him out. When Saul stood among the people, he was ·a head [head and shoulders] taller than anyone else. ²⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. ·There is no one like him [He has no equal] among all the people.”

Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”