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

And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drank neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

And they rose 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.

But Hannah went not up; for she said to her husband, I will not go up until the child is weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.

And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of thee, but raw.

Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

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 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 thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

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 for ever.

And the child Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why hath the LORD smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies.

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

And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon had 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 on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon had 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 threshhold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

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

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

And as Samuel was offering 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 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 will run before his chariots.

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

And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to-day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to-day in the high place:

As soon as ye shall enter the city, ye will straightway find him, before he goeth up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he cometh, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now therefore go up: for about this time ye will find him.

Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,

And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me to the high place; for ye shall eat with me to-day, and to-morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thy heart.

And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat; for to this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may show thee the word of God.

After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou hast come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp before them; and they will prophesy:

And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to thee, to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do.

And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities, and your tribulations; and ye have said to him, No, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal: and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and gray-headed; and behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.

Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed; whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or from whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes with it? and I will restore it you.

Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.

And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor-bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor-bearer slew after him.

Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the country around, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.

Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.

And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

And it came to pass when they had come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him.

Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.

Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.

Let our lord now command thy servants, who are before thee, to seek a man who is a skillful player on a harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he will play with his hand, and thou wilt be well.

And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor-bearer.

And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight.

And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

And when the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

And the Philistine advanced and drew near to David; and the man that bore the shield went before him.

And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is my iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?

So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the show-bread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.

And she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.

And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?

And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD hath stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they are the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel hath come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.

And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.