1. There was a wealthy man from the tribe of Benjamin named Kish. He was the son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite.
2. He had a son named Saul, who was a handsome young man. No one in Israel was more handsome than Saul, and he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.
3. When the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servant boys with you and go look for the donkeys."
4. So he traveled through the highlands of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah, but they didn’t find anything. They traveled through the land of Shaalim, but still found nothing, so they crossed back into the land of Benjamin, but they still couldn’t find the donkeys.
5. When they came to the territory of Zuph, Saul said to the boy who was with him, "Let’s go back before my father stops worrying about the donkeys and starts worrying about us."
6. But the boy said to him, "Listen, there’s a man of God in this town. He’s famous—everything he says actually happens! So let’s go there. Maybe he’ll be able to tell us which way we should go."
7. Saul said to his young boy, "But if we go, what should we bring to the man? The food in our bags is all gone. We don’t have any gift to offer the man of God. Do we have anything?"
8. "Here," the boy answered Saul, "I’ve got a quarter-shekel of silver. I’ll give that to the man of God so he tells us which way to go." (
9. Earlier in Israel, someone going to consult with God would say, "Let’s go to the seer," because the people who are called prophets today were previously called seers.)