And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

And her adversary also provoked her severely to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.

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

Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weep you? and why eat you not? and why is your heart grieved? am not I better to you than ten sons?

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

And they rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

Therefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seems to you good; tarry until you have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and nursed her son until she weaned him.

And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

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

They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased to hunger: so that the barren has borne seven; and she that has many children has grown feeble.

The LORD kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up.

He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the rubbish, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he has set the world upon them.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.

Also before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled meat from you, but raw.

And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat first, and then take as much as your soul desires; then he would answer him, Nay; but you shall give it to me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give you offspring of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.

And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

And he said unto them, Why do you such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all these people.

Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: you make the LORD's people to transgress.

If one man sins against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sins against the LORD, who shall intercede for him? Nevertheless they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to slay them.

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of your father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

Why trample you on my sacrifice and on my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chief of all the offerings of Israel my people?

And any man of yours, whom I shall not cut off from my altar, shall consume your eyes, and grieve your heart: and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

And this shall be a sign unto you, that shall come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall both of them die.

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed forever.

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray you, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes had begun to grow dim, that he could not see;

And before the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was lying down to sleep;

And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.

And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle.

In that day I will perform against Eli all the things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.

And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to tell Eli the vision.

And he said, What is the thing that the LORD has said unto you? I pray you hide it not from me: God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he said unto you.

And Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seems to him good.

And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

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

And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn, and with earth upon his head.

And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.

And when they of Ashdod arose early the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

And when they arose early the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel there.

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.

So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us how we shall send it to its place.

And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but by all means return him a trespass offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

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

Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milk cows, on which there has come no yoke, and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:

And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you return to him for a trespass offering, in a box by the side of it; and send it away, that it may go.

And see, if it goes up by the way of its own land to Bethshemesh, then he has done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us: it was by chance that it happened to us.

And the men did so; and took two milk cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:

And the cows took the straight way to the road to 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 they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the box that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD.

And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, on which they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remains unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.

And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall it go up from us?

And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come down, and bring it up to you.

And the men of Kiriathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kiriathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

And Samuel spoke unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.

And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

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 brought confusion upon them; and they were routed before Israel.

And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and their territory did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places.

And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

And said unto him, Behold, you are old, and your sons walk not in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, with which they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto you.

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

And he will appoint himself captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his weapons of war, and equipment for his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

And he will take the tenth of your grain, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you shall have chosen; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go you every man unto his city.

And the donkeys of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go seek the donkeys.