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Suggested translation^1,2:

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¹This translation may have been updated from the original suggested translation as a result of the discussions that follow.
²Click on the {verse number} of a translation to see other good translations of the verse.

I'd only make slight edits to this excellent translation,

{2:246} Did you not see to the mass of the Children of Israel after [the time of] Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs, "Send off to us a king, [then] we would fight in the cause of God"? He said, "Might you, when fighting has been written (ordained) upon you, that you do not fight?" They said, "And why should we not fight in the cause of God when we have been evicted from our homes and [away from] our children?" But when fighting was written upon them, they turned away, except a few of them. And God is All-Knowing of the wrongdoers.

{2:247} And their prophet said to them, "Verily, God has sent to you Taaloot (Saul) as a king." They said, "How can he have kingship over us while we are more worthy of kingship than him and he has not been given a measure of wealth?" He said, "Verily, God has chosen him over you and has added to him an extent of knowledge and body. And God grants [of] His sovereignty to whom He wills. And God is Capacious and All-Knowing."

{2:248} And their prophet said to them, "Verily, the sign of his kingship is that the Taaboot (Ark of the Covenant) comes to you in which is serenity from your Lord and a remnant of what the family of Moses and the family of Aaron had left, carrying it are the angels. Verily, in that is a sign for you, if you have been believers."