1. Kish was a wealthy man who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. His father was Abiel, his grandfather was Zeror, his great-grandfather was Becorath, and his great-great-grandfather was Aphiah.
2. Kish had a son named Saul, who was better looking and more than a head taller than anyone else in all Israel.
3. Kish owned some donkeys, but they had run off. So he told Saul, “Take one of the servants and go and look for the donkeys.”
4. Saul and the servant went through the hill country of Ephraim and the territory of Shalishah, but they could not find the donkeys. Then they went through the territories of Shaalim and Benjamin, but still there was no sign of the donkeys.
5. Finally they came to the territory where the clan of Zuph lived. “Let's go back home,” Saul told his servant. “If we don't go back soon, my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us!”
6. “Wait!” the servant answered. “There's a man of God who lives in a town near here. He's amazing! Everything he says comes true. Let's talk to him. Perhaps he can tell us where to look.”
7. Saul said, “How can we talk to the prophet when I don't have anything to give him? We don't even have any bread left in our sacks. What can we give him?”
8. “I have a small piece of silver,” the servant answered. “We can give him that, and then he will tell us where to look for the donkeys.”
9-10. “Great!” Saul replied. “Let's go to the man who can see visions!” He said this because in those days God would answer questions by giving visions to prophets.Saul and his servant went to the town where the prophet lived.
11. As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to get water, and the two men said to them, “We're looking for the man who can see visions. Is he in town?”
12. “Yes, he is,” they replied. “He's in town today because there's going to be a sacrifice and a sacred meal at the place of worship. In fact, he's just ahead of you. Hurry
13. and you should find him just inside the town gate. He's on his way out to the place of worship to eat with the invited guests. They can't start eating until he blesses the sacrifice. If you go now, you should find him.”
14. They went to the town, and just as they were going through the gate, Samuel was coming out on his way to the place of worship.