Lexham English Bible

1 Samuel 9:1-7 Lexham English Bible (LEB)

1. Now there was a man from Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjaminite, a very wealthy man.

2. He had a son whose name was Saul, a young and handsome man. There was not a man from the Israelites more handsome than he was; from his shoulders up, he was taller than all the people.

3. Now the female donkeys of Kish the father of Saul got lost, and Kish said to Saul his son, “Please take one of the servants with you and get up; go and seek the female donkeys.”

4. So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim; he passed through the land of Shalisha but they did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim but they were not there. He passed through the land of Benjamin but did not find them.

5. When they entered the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the female donkeys and worry about us!”

6. But he said to him, “Look, a man of God is in this town, and the man is honored. All that he says certainly comes true. So then let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about our journey on which we have gone.”

7. So Saul said to his servant, “Look, we may go, but what should we bring to the man? For the bread is gone from our bags, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have with us?”