The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."

And the sons of Israel said, Who was there that came not up, in the convocation, out of all the tribes of Israel, unto Yahweh? For, the great oath, had been taken, as to any who came not up unto Yahweh at Mizpah, saying - He shall be, put to death.

What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn [an oath] by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?”

This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept with a man.”

But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.”

And when their fathers or their brothers come and make trouble, you are to say to them, Give them to us as an act of grace; for we did not take them as wives for ourselves in war; and if you yourselves had given them to us you would have been responsible for the broken oath.

The Benjaminites did as instructed. They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives. They went home to their own territory, rebuilt their cities, and settled down.

During the time of the judges there was a famine in the land of Judah. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons.

Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about 10 years,

Then Naomi's two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. So the woman was left all alone -- bereaved of her two children as well as her husband!

Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah,

And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

But Naomi responded, "Go back, my daughters. Why go with me? Are there still sons to be born to me as future husbands for you?

And they two will go till they came to the house of bread. And it will be as they came to the house of bread, and all the city will be moved at them, and they will say, Is this Naomi?

and she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. And she came, and has continued from the morning until now: her sitting in the house has been little as yet.

Boaz replied to her, "I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband -- how you left your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously.

Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken kindly unto thy handmaid, though I be not as one of thy handmaidens.

Naomi replied, "May the one who hasn't abandoned his gracious love to the living or to the dead be blessed by the LORD." Naomi added, "This man is closely related to us, our related redeemer, as a matter of fact!"

So Ruth worked beside Boaz's female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law.

So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her.

And he said, Who are you? And she answering said, I am your servant Ruth: take your servant as wife, for you are a near relation.

And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

And so then my daughter, do not be afraid. All that you ask I will do for you, for the entire assembly of my people knows that you [are] a worthy woman.

Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.

Then he said, "Hold out the shawl you are wearing and grip it tightly." As she held it tightly, he measured out about sixty pounds of barley into the shawl and put it on her shoulders. Then he went into town,

and, I, thought, I would unveil thine ear, saying - Take it over in presence of such as are here seated, and in presence of the elders of my people. If thou wilt act as kinsman, act as kinsman, but, if thou wilt not so act, only tell me - that I may know, for there is none who can set thee aside as kinsman, but, I, am after thee. And he said, I, will act as kinsman.

Boaz continued, "On the very day you buy the field from Naomi, you're also "buying" Ruth the Moabite woman, the wife of her dead husband, so the family name may be continued as an inheritance."

Then said the kinsman - I cannot act as kinsman for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance, - do, thou, for thyself act as kinsman in my right, for I cannot so redeem.

And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today."

And all the people who are in the gate say -- also the elders -- 'Witnesses! Jehovah make the woman who is coming in unto thy house as Rachel and as Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and do thou virtuously in Ephrathah, and proclaim the Name in Beth-Lehem;

and let thy house be as the house of Pharez (whom Tamar bare to Judah), of the seed which Jehovah doth give to thee of this young woman.'

And he shall be to you as a restorer of life, and one who cheers your old age. For your daughter-in-law who loves you has borne him, she who is better to you than seven sons.

That man would go up from his town each year to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies at Shiloh, where Eli's two sons Hophni and Phineas served as priests of the LORD.

And it fell on a day, as Elkanah had offered, that he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters portions.

but he would give twice as much to Hannah because he loved her.

and her adversity hath also provoked her greatly, so as to make her tremble, for Jehovah hath shut up her womb.

And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

She was very upset as she prayed to the Lord, and she was weeping uncontrollably.

And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

But as for, Hannah, she, was speaking in her heart, only her lips, were moving, but, her voice, could not be heard, - so Eli thought she had been drunken.

Do not regard your maidservant as a wicked and worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and [bitter] provocation.”

And Eli will answer and say, Go with peace: and the God of Israel shall give thine asking which thou didst ask of him.

And she said, Let thy bondwoman find grace in thy sight. And the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more as before.

But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; and then I will bring him, so that he may appear before the Lord and remain there as long as he lives.”

And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast.

When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh.

And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry will become fat. As for the infertile, she will bear seven, but [she who has] many sons withers away.

“He raises up the poor from the dust,
He lifts up the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of honor and glory;
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He set the land on them.

As for Yahweh, - they shall be shattered who contend with him, Over him, in the heavens will he thunder, Yahweh, will judge the ends of the earth, - That he may give strength to his King, And exalt the horn of his Anointed One.

And the custom of the priests with the people [was this]: When any man {brought a sacrifice}, as the meat was boiling, the servant of the priest would take a three-pronged meat fork in his hand

Also, before they {offered up} the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only {raw}."

And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

Now Samuel [was] serving before Yahweh, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

So he said to them, Wherefore should ye do such things as these? for I keep hearing of your wicked doings, from all these people.

And there came a man of God, unto Eli, - and said unto him - Thus, saith Yahweh, I, did indeed reveal myself, unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt, as servants unto the house of Pharaoh;

choosing him out of all the tribes of Israel unto myself, to minister as priest, to offer upon mine altar, to perfume with incense to bear an ephod before me, - Therefore gave I unto the house of thy father all the altar-flames of the sons of Israel.

The only one I will not cut off from my altar [is you]. [Rather], to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, {all the members of your household} will die [as] men.

and I have raised up for Me a stedfast priest; as in My heart and in My soul he doth do; and I have built for him a stedfast house, and he hath walked up and down before Mine anointed all the days;

It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well),

and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord as well; the ark of God was also there.

Now, Samuel, as yet knew not Yahweh, - nor, as yet, had been revealed unto him, the word of Yahweh.

And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

And the LORD said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, that the ears of as many as heareth it, shall tingle.

In that day I will confirm to Eli all that which I have spoken as to his house, beginning and making an end.

As Samuel grew, the LORD was with him and did not let any of Samuel's predictions fail.

All Israel from Dan to Beersheba realized that Samuel was faithful as a prophet to Yahweh.

The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about 4,000 men on the battlefield.

As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.

And the Philisteim will be afraid, for they said, God came into the camp. And they will say, Wo to us! for at was not as this yesterday, the third day.

Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.

When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out.

The messenger answered, "Israel fled from the Philistines and the people suffered a great defeat as well. Moreover, your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead, and the Ark of God was captured."

Just as he mentioned the ark of God, he fell from his chair backwards against the side of the gate. He broke his neck and died, because the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

Now, his daughter-in-law, wife of Phinehas, was with child, ready to give birth, and, when she heard the tidings, as to the taking of the ark of God, and the death of her father-in-law, and her husband, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her pains had seized her.

And as she was dying, the women that stood by her said, Fear not; for thou hast borne a son. But she did not answer, neither did she take it to heart.

But after it had been moved the Lord attacked that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city with sores.

Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, "What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place."

Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart, and the golden jewels, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, put in the coffer by the side thereof; and send it away that it may go.

Keep watching it. If it goes up along the road to its own territory to Beth-shemesh, it's the LORD who has done this great evil to us. But if it does not, then we will know that he wasn't pressuring us. It happened to us as a natural event."

So the men did as instructed. They took two cows that had calves and harnessed them to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls.

And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite, and stood there; and a great stone was there. And they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine as a burnt-offering to Jehovah.

And these are the golden sores which the Philistines returned as a trespass-offering to Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gazah one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;

and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and villages of the peasantry; and they brought them as far as the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, which is to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite.

And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping.

When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that day, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

And Samuel took a sucking-lamb, and offered it as a whole burnt-offering to Jehovah; and Samuel cried to Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answered him.

And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, as far as below Beth-car.

And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even as far as Gath; even the boundaries thereof, did Israel rescue out of the hand of the Philistines, - thus came there to be peace between Israel and the Amorites.

And he went as often as from year to year, and be turned about the House of God, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and he judged Israel in all these places.

When Samuel grew old he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not follow your example. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”

But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king.

As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you.