And this man went up out of his city from year to year, to worship and to sacrifice to Jehovah of Hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of Jehovah, were there.

And the time came that Elkanah offered, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters.

And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. And Eli the priest sat on the seat by the side post of the temple of Jehovah.

And she vowed a vow and said, O, Lord of Hosts, if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your handmaid and remember me, and not forget Your handmaid, but will give to Your handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

And it happened as she continued praying before Jehovah, Eli noticed her mouth.

Now Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. And Eli thought she had become drunk.

And Eli said to her, How long will you be drunken? Put away your wine from you!

And Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant to you your petition that you have asked of Him.

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

But Hannah did not go up. For she said to her husband, Until the child is weaned, and then I will bring him so that he may appear before Jehovah and stay there forever.

And they killed a bull, and brought the child to Eli.

They that were full have hired themselves out for bread, and they that were hungry ceased; yea, while the barren has borne seven, and she who had many sons has languished.

And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child served Jehovah before Eli the priest.

And the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They did not know Jehovah.

And the priests' custom with the people was: If any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand.

And he stuck it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. All that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites that came there.

Yea, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man who sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest. For he will not have boiled flesh from you, but raw!

And if any man said to him, Let them not fail to burn the fat at once, and then take as your soul desires, then he would answer him, No! But you shall give now! And if not, I will take it by force.

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, May Jehovah give you seed of this woman for the loan which is loaned to Jehovah. And they went to their own home.

And Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who gathered at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And he said to them, Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all the people.

And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, So says Jehovah: Did I plainly appear to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

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 to the house of your father all the offerings made by fire from the sons of Israel?

Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering, which I have commanded in My house? Do you honor your sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?

And Jehovah, the God of Israel says, I said indeed, Your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever. But now Jehovah says, Be it far from Me! For those who honor Me I will honor, and those that think little of Me shall be lightly regarded.

Behold, the days come when I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that no old man shall be in your house.

And you shall see an adversary in My house, in all the good which he does with Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

And that man of yours whom I shall not cut off from My altar, shall be left in order to make your eyes fail, and to grieve your heart. And all the increase of your house shall die young men.

And I will raise up a faithful priest to Myself, one who shall do according to what 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 the child Samuel served Jehovah before Eli. And the Word of Jehovah was rare in those days. There was no open vision.

And it happened at that time, when Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes began to become dim so that he could not see.

And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I. For you called me. And he said, I did not call. Go and lie down again. And he went to lie down.

And Jehovah called again, Samuel! And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for you called me. And he answered, I did not call, my son. Go back, lie down.

And Jehovah called Samuel again, the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for you called me. And Eli saw that Jehovah had called the child.

And Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if One calls you, you shall say, Speak, Jehovah, for Your servant hears. And Samuel went to lie down in his place.

And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone who hears 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.

For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them.

And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever.

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

And Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.

And he said, What is the word which He has said to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide a thing from me of all the words that He said to you.

And Samuel told him all the words, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is Jehovah; let Him do what seems good to Him.

And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah.

And the word of Samuel was revealed to all Israel. And Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer. And the Philistines pitched in Aphek.

And the people sent to Shiloh in order to bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of Hosts from there, the ark which dwells between the cherubs. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

And it happened when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came into camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

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

And he came in, and behold, Eli sat on a seat by the wayside watching. For his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out.

And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What is the noise of this tumult? And the man hurried in and told Eli.

And Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were set so that he could not see.

And the man said to Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, How did the matter go, my son?

And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them. And they 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 around to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel around.

And they sent and gathered 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, so that it does not kill us and our people. For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there.

And they said, What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him? And they answered, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines. For one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

And you shall make images of your hemorrhoids, and images of your mice which mar the land. And you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps He will lighten His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

And the golden mice were according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines for the five lords, of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great meadow on which they set down the ark of Jehovah to this day, in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite.

And it happened from the day the ark began to dwell in Kirjath-jearim, the days became many; yea, they were twenty years. And all the house of Israel yearned after Jehovah.

And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel saying, If you return to Jehovah with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts to Jehovah, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you to Jehovah.

And the sons of Israel said to Samuel, Do not cease from crying to Jehovah our God for us, so that He will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

And Samuel took a suckling lamb, and offered a whole burnt offering to Jehovah. And Samuel cried to Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answered him.

And the Philistines were beaten, and they did not come any more into the border of Israel. And the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

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

And his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after ill gain and took bribes and perverted judgment.

And all the elders of Israel gathered themselves and came to Samuel to Ramah.

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

And Jehovah said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

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

And Samuel told all the Words of Jehovah to the people who asked a king of him.

And he said, This will be the privilege of the king who shall reign over you. He shall take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and his horsemen. And they shall run before his chariots.

And he will appoint commanders over thousands, and commanders over fifties, and some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and weapons for his chariots.

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

And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your olive-yards, the best, and give them to his servants.

And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give it to his eunuchs and to his servants.

And he will take your male slaves and your slave girls, and your finest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

He will take the tenth of your sheep, and you shall be his servants.

And you shall cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, No, but we will have a king over us.

And we shall be, also we, like all the nations, so that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.

And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the ears of Jehovah.

And he said to him, Behold now, in this city is a man of God, and an honorable man. All that he says surely comes to pass. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can declare our way to us, how to go.

And the young man answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have found the fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.

As you come to the city, you shall immediately find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the feast. Afterwards those who have been invited eat. And now go up, for about this time you shall find him.

Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin. And you shall anoint him to be leader over My people Israel, so that he may save My people out of the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked on My people because their cry has come to Me.

And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place. For you shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let you go, and will tell you all that is in your heart.

And as to the asses which were lost to you three days ago, do not set your mind on them. For they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and on all your father's house?

And Saul answered and said, Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And is not my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak so to me?

And Samuel took a vial of oil and poured on his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has anointed you for a leader over His inheritance?

When you have departed from me today, then you shall find two men by Rachel's tomb in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. And they will say to you, The asses which you went to seek are found. And, lo, your father has quit caring for the asses and sorrows for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall take from their hand.

After that you shall come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. And it will happen to you when you come there to the city, even you shall meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp and a tambourine and a flute and a lyre before them. And they shall prophesy.

And the spirit of Jehovah will come powerfully on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.

And it will be when these signs have come to you, you will do for yourself what your hand finds; for God is with you.

And you shall go down before me to Gilgal. And, behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. You shall stay seven days until I come to you and make known to you what you shall do.

And it happened when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God changed him with another heart. And all those signs came on that day.

And it happened when all who knew him before saw him, behold, he prophesied among the prophets. And the people said to one another, What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

And he said to the sons of Israel, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, of those who oppressed you.