And she said, "May your female slave find favor in your sight." Then the woman went on her way and ate [something], and {her face did not look sad any longer}.

But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "Once the boy [is] weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear before Yahweh; and he will remain there forever."

Now the sons of Eli [were] {worthless scoundrels}; they did not know Yahweh.

If a man sins against a man, then God can intercede for him. But if a man sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?" But they did not {obey} their father, because Yahweh wanted to kill them.

Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: "Thus says Yahweh: 'Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh?

And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, because you called me." But he said, "I did not call [you]. Go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.

And Yahweh called Samuel again, so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, because you called me." And he said, "I did not call you, my son. Go back [and] lie down."

Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him.

I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons [were] bringing curses on themselves, but he did not rebuke them.

So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal [anything] from him. And he said, "He [is] Yahweh, he will do {what is} good in his {sight}."

And Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him. {He did not allow any of his prophecies to go unfulfilled}.

When the army came [back] to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why has Yahweh defeated us today before [the] Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to us from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and deliver us from the hand of our enemies."

And the man said to Eli, "I am the [one] who has come from the battle line! I have fled today from the battle line!" And he said, "{What exactly happened}, my son?"

Just before the time of her death, those {attending her} said, "Do not fear, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer, or {pay any attention}.

The men who did not die were struck with [the] tumors, so that the cry of the city for help went up [to] heaven.

So the men did so; they took two milking cows and harnessed them to the utility cart, but they shut up their calves in the stall.

The cows went straight on the way on the road to Beth Shemesh, on the one main road, {lowing as they went}. They did not turn aside to the right or to the left, and the rulers of [the] Philistines [were] walking after them up to the border of Beth Shemesh.

So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come into the territory of Israel again, and the hand of Yahweh was against [the] Philistines all the days of Samuel.

But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.

So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim; he passed through the land of Shalisha but they did not find [them]. They passed through the land of Shaalim but they were not there. He passed through the land of Benjamin but did not find [them].

(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: "Come, let us go up to the seer." For the prophet of today was formerly called a seer.)

They answered them and said, "There is. Look, [he is] just in front of you! Hurry now, because he has come to the town today, because there [is] a sacrifice for the people today at the high place.

As soon as you enter the town, you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. Then afterward the invited [guests] will eat. So then, go up, because you will find him today!"

Samuel answered Saul and said, "I [am] the seer. Go up {ahead of me} to the high place, and you will eat with me today; then I will send you away in the morning. I will tell you all that [is] {on your mind}.

As you go from with me {today}, you will find two men near the burial site of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, 'The female donkeys that you went to search for have been found.' Now look, your father {is no longer concerned about} the female donkeys and has begun worrying about you, saying, 'What should I do about my son?'

Then Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, "Where did you go?" And he said, "To search [for] the female donkeys; and when we saw none, we went to Samuel."

So Saul's uncle said to him, "Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?"

Then Saul said to his uncle, "He told us for certain that the female donkeys had been found." But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingship [of] which Samuel had spoken.

But you today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, 'No, but you must appoint a king over us!' So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans."

So they inquired again of Yahweh, "{Did the man come here}?" And Yahweh said, "Look, he [is] hiding himself among the baggage."

But Saul said, "No one will be put to death on this day, because {today} Yahweh has provided deliverance in Israel."

[Is] the wheat harvest not today? I will call out to Yahweh so that he still sends thunder and rain, so that you will know and will see that your wickedness [is] great that you have done in the eyes of Yahweh by asking for a king for yourselves."

And all Israel did hear, saying, "Saul has defeated the garrison of [the] Philistines; and also, Israel has become a stench among [the] Philistines!" So the people were called out after Saul at Gilgal.

He waited seven days according to the appointed time Samuel determined, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and {the army started to slip away from him}.

But Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "Because I saw that the army {was scattering} from me and you did not come {at the appointed time} and [that the] Philistines had gathered at Micmash,

{One day} Jonathan the son of Saul said to {his armor bearer}, "Come and let us go over to the garrison of [the] Philistines which [is] over there." But he did not tell his father.

Now Ahijah, the son of Ahitub (the brother of Ichabod), the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of Yahweh at Shiloh, was carrying an ephod. The troops did not know that Jonathan had gone.

Then a man from the army informed [him] and said, "Your father made the army swear a solemn [oath], saying, 'Cursed be the man who eats food today,'" so the army [is] exhausted.

{How much more could have been done} if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder of their enemies that they had found! For now the loss among [the] Philistines [is] not great."

So they reported [it] to Saul, saying, "Look! The troops [are] sinning against Yahweh by eating [the animals] with the blood!" And he said, "You have dealt treacherously! Roll to me a large stone {today}!"

So Saul inquired of God, "Should I go down after [the] Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?" But he did not answer him on that day.

Then Saul said, "So may God do [to me] and {more}, you will certainly die today, Jonathan!"

But the army said to Saul, "Must Jonathan die, who accomplished this great victory in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, not a hair from his head will fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day." So the army ransomed Jonathan and he did not die.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'I have observed what Amalek did to Israel, {how he opposed him} when he went up from Egypt.

Why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh and fall with shouting on the plunder? You have done evil in the sight of Yahweh!"

Then Samuel said to him, "Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor {who is better than you}.

Samuel {did not see Saul again} until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned over Saul, and Yahweh regretted that he made Saul king over Israel.

So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, "{Have you come in peace}?"

Then the Philistine said, "I hereby defy the battle lines of Israel today! Give me a man so that we may fight each other!"

And the men of Israel said, "Did you see this man who has come up? For he [is] going up to defy Israel! It will be [that] the man who defeats him, the king will make him very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and will make his father's house free in Israel."

His oldest brother Eliab heard while he was speaking to the men, {and Eliab became very angry against David} and said, "Why have you come down today, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumptuousness and the evil of your heart! For you have come down in order to see the battle!"

Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Saul took him on that [very] day and did not allow him to return to his father's house.

And Saul thought, "I will give her to him, so that she may be a snare for him and the hand of [the] Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "For a second [time] you can become my son-in-law today."

{And then} on the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David's place was empty. So Saul asked Jonathan his son, "Why did the son of Jesse not come either yesterday or today to the feast?"

Jonathan got up from the table {enraged}, and did not eat on the second day of the new moon because he was upset about David, because his father had disgraced him.

But the boy did not know anything [about this]; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

David answered the priest and said to him, "Indeed, women [were] held back from us {as it has been when I've gone out before}. And the things of the young men are holy when it [is] an ordinary journey. {How much more} {today} will the things be holy?"

Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see a madman! Why did you bring him to me?

Then Saul said to him, "Why did you conspire against me, you and the son of Jesse, when you gave to him bread and a sword, and by inquiring of God for him so that he might arise against me to ambush [me] as [has been done] this day?"

[Only] today I began to inquire of God for him. Far be it from me that {the king should impute anything against his servant} or against my father's household, for your servant has not known any of this matter, little or much."

So the king said to the runners [who were] stationed around him, "Turn and kill the priests of Yahweh, because {they also support David} and because they knew that he was fleeing and {did not disclose it to me}." But the servants of the king [were] not willing to raise their hand to attack the priests of Yahweh.

David remained in the wilderness, in the strongholds, and in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him {continually}, but God did not give him into his hand

And David's men said to him, "Look, today [is] the day about which Yahweh said to you, 'See, I am giving your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him {whatever seems good to you}.'" So David got up and secretly cut the hem of Saul's robe.

So David rebuked his men with the words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave, and he went on his way.

Look, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh gave you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you. But {I took pity} on you and said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, because he [is] Yahweh's anointed one.'

Now, my father, see, yes, see, the hem of your robe in my hand! For {when I cut} the hem of your robe I did not kill you. Know and {realize} that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I did not sin against you, but you [are] hunting down my life to take it.

After whom did the king of Israel go out? After whom are you pursuing? After a dead dog? After one flea?

You have explained to me today that you have dealt well with me, how Yahweh delivered me into your hand but you did not kill me.

Now I have heard that {you have shearers}. Now while your shepherds [were] with us, we did not mistreat them, and nothing of theirs [was] missing, all the days they were in Carmel.

But Nabal answered David's servants and said, "Who [is] David? And who [is] the son of Jesse? Today, [there] are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters.

even though the men [were] very good to us; we were not mistreated and did not miss anything all the days we went about with them {while we were} in the field.

Then she said to her servants, "Go ahead before me; look, I am coming after you," but she did not tell her husband Nabal.

Please do not let my lord set his heart against {this worthless man}, Nabal; for as his name, so [is] he. Nabal [is] his name, and stupidity [is] with him! But I, your female servant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

Then Abigail went to Nabal, and look, {he was holding a feast} in his house like the feast of the king. {Nabal was enjoying himself}, and he [was] very drunk, so she did not tell him a thing, {nothing at all}, until the light of morning.

Then Abishai said to David, "God has handed over your enemy into your hand today! So then, {please let me pin him to the ground with the spear} {one time}, and {I will not strike him twice}."

So David said to Abner, "[Are] you not a man? And who [is] like you in Israel? Why did you not keep watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy your lord the king.

And so then, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant: If Yahweh has incited you against me, may he delight in an offering; but if {it is mortals}, [may] they be accursed {before} Yahweh, for they have driven me away today from sharing in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, 'Go, serve other gods!'

Yahweh repays to each [one] his righteousness and his faithfulness, for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but I was not willing to stretch out my hand against Yahweh's anointed.

So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish.

And Achish said, "Against whom have you raided today?" David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites."

And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring [them back] to Gath, thinking, "So that they will not report about us, saying, 'David did thus and so.'" Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of [the] Philistines.

And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.

But the woman said to him, "Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums and the soothsayers from the land! Why [are] you setting a trap for my life to kill me?"

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, "Why did you deceive me? You [are] Saul!"

Because you {did not obey} Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his {wrath} against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today.

They took captive the women who were in it, {from the youngest to the oldest}. They did not kill anyone, but carried [them] off and went on their way.

Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them [anything] from the plunder which we recovered, {except} each [man may take] his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!"

And when {his armor bearer} saw that Saul [was] dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.

And when the men of Israel who [were] on the other side of the valley and [those] who were beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled. Thus [the] Philistines came and lived in them.

{And then} the next day, [the] Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying [dead] on Mount Gilboa.