put not thy handmaid before a daughter of worthlessness, for from the abundance of my meditation, and of my provocation, I have spoken hitherto.'

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}.

And the young Samuel, becoming older, had the approval of the Lord and of men.

Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people?

and put themselves in array against Israel. And in the end of the battle Israel was put to the worse before the Philistines. And the Philistines slew in array along by the fields, about a four thousand men.

And at these words about the ark of God, Eli, falling back off his seat by the side of the doorway into the town, came down on the earth so that his neck was broken and death overtook him, for he was an old man and of great weight. He had been judging Israel for forty years.

When the men of Ashdod saw what had happened, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.”

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people.

Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, 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.

So you shall make replicas of your tumors and of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand [of judgment] on you and your gods and your land.

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

He went on a circuit each year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places.

And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages.

And he shall take the best of your fields, and of your vineyards and of your olive trees, and give them to his servants.

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

And he shall take the best of your menservants and maidservants and young men, and of your asses, and do his work with them.

And of your sheep he will take the tenth: and ye shall be to him for servants.

and, he, had a son, whose name, was Saul, a choice young man and of noble appearance, and there was not a man of the sons of Israel, more noble than he, - from his shoulders and upwards, was he taller than any of the people.

The servant went on to answer Saul, "Look, I happen to have in my hand a quarter shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us where we should go."

Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and on him you are to put the holy oil, making him ruler over my people Israel, and he will make my people safe from the hands of the Philistines: for I have seen the sorrow of my people, whose cry has come up to me.

And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house?

Then said Samuel unto the cook, "Bring forth the portion which I gave thee, and of which I said, 'Keep it with thee.'"

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 shew thee the word of God.

And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

And Saul saith unto his uncle, 'He certainly declared to us that the asses were found;' and of the matter of the kingdom he hath not declared to him that which Samuel said.

and he said to Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought Israel up from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’

Now on the day after, Saul put the people into three bands, and in the morning watch they came to the tents of the Ammonites, and they went on attacking them till the heat of the day: and those who were not put to death were put to flight in every direction, so that no two of them were together.

Lo, here am I; testify against me, over-against Jehovah, and over-against His anointed; whose ox have I taken, and whose ass have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide mine eyes with it? -- and I restore to you.'

But when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, and into the hand of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

For if ye shall not hearken unto the voice of the LORD, but shall disobey the LORD's mouth: then shall the hand of the LORD be upon you and on your fathers.

Samuel called on the Lord, and on that day the Lord sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

then Saul chose for himself three thousand from Israel. Two thousand of these were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And of the rest of the people he sent each man to his tent.

And he went on waiting there for seven days, the time fixed by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were starting to go away from him.

And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.

And Saul abode at the extreme end of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which was in Migron; and the people that were with him were about six hundred men.

And Jonathan goeth up on his hands, and on his feet, and the bearer of his weapons after him; and they fall before Jonathan, and the bearer of his weapons is putting to death after him.

And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.

And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand.

But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.

Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die.

Now Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. The names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger, Michal.

Now therefore go and smite the Amalekites, and only destroy ye all that pertaineth unto them, and see thou have no compassion on them. But slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, and ox, sheep, camel and ass.'"

But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

“But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered. “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites.

And he sendeth, and bringeth him in, and he is ruddy, with beauty of eyes, and of good appearance; and Jehovah saith, 'Rise, anoint him, for this is he.'

And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him.

The Philistines gathered their host to battle, and came together to Socoh in Judah, and pitched between Socoh and Azekah, in the end of Dammim.

David went on to say, "The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!" Then Saul said to David, "Go! The Lord will be with you."

And the Philistine came on and on, and drew near unto David, - and the man carrying the shield was before him.

And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. But David answered, "Seemeth it to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, when I am a poor man and of small reputation?"

And Saul's fear of David became all the greater, and he went on hating him, day by day.

And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

and on the third day thou dost certainly come down, and hast come in unto the place where thou wast hidden in the day of the work, and hast remained near the stone Ezel.

And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.

And of this which thou and I have spoke, behold the LORD is witness between thee and me forever."

And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?

And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master.

And he took them to the king of Moab and they went on living with him while David was in his safe place.

Have I this day begun first to ask counsel of God for him? God forbid that from me: let not the king put such a thing unto his servant and on all the house of my father. For thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, either less or more."

Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn and attack the priests!" So Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests himself, and on that day he killed eighty-five men who wore [the] linen ephod.

and Nob, the city of the priests, he hath smitten by the mouth of the sword, from man even unto woman, from infant even unto suckling, and ox, and ass, and sheep, by the mouth of the sword.

And the two of them made an agreement before the Lord: and David went on living in Horesh, and Jonathan went back to his house.

People from Ziph came up to Saul at Gibeah and informed him, "David is hiding with us in the strongholds in Horesh and on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon, isn't he?

And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.

And on the way he came to a place where sheep were kept, where there was a hollow in the rock; and Saul went in for a private purpose. Now David and his men were in the deepest part of the hollow.

And David's men said to him, Now is the time when the Lord says to you, I will give up your hater into your hands to do with him whatever seems good to you. Then David, getting up, took the skirt of Saul's robe in his hand, cutting off the end of it without his knowledge.

So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

David's men turned and went on their way. They came back and told David everything.

A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs.

Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife.

David went on to say, "As the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away.

He went on to say, "Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What wrong have I done?

Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

And the lords of the Philistines went on with their hundreds and their thousands, and David and his men came after with Achish.

Now it happened when David and his men came [home] to Ziklag on the third day, [they found] that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev (the South country) and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;

And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

And David, with four hundred men, went on: but two hundred of them were overcome with weariness, and not able to go across the stream.

And David said to him, Whose man are you and where do you come from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master went on without me because three days back I became ill.

We made a raid on the South of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire."

And David went on fighting them from evening till the evening of the day after; and not one of them got away but only four hundred young men who went in flight on camels.

and David taketh the whole of the flock, and of the herd, they have led on before these cattle, and they say, 'This is David's spoil.'

The Philistines followed hard on Saul and on his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel’s men had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.