There was a certain man from Ramathaim Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

Now this man used to go up from his town {year by year} to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of hosts in Shiloh, {where} the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, [were] priests to Yahweh.

But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving.

Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving.

And so he doth year by year, from the time of her going up into the house of Jehovah, so it provoketh her, and she weepeth, and doth not eat.

And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.

Now Hannah was speaking from her heart. Although her lips were moving, her voice was inaudible. Eli therefore thought she was drunk.

And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”

Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you’ve requested from Him.”

{In due time}, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She called his name Samuel, for [she said], "I requested him from Yahweh."

but Hannah did not go up with them. Instead she told her husband, "Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him and appear before the Lord, and he will remain there from then on."

And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast.

I prayed for this boy, and Yahweh has given me my request that I asked from him.

Now I dedicate him to the Lord. From this time on he is dedicated to the Lord." Then they worshiped the Lord there.

Do not increase speaking {very proud} words! Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge [whose] deeds are not weighed.

The Lord gives wealth and takes a man's goods from him: crushing men down and again lifting them up;

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, 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 hath set the world upon them.

The Lord shatters his adversaries; he thunders against them from the heavens. The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth. He will strengthen his king and exalt the power of his anointed one."

or for the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

Also, before they {offered up} the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only {raw}."

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 would bless Elkanah and his wife, and he said, "May Yahweh give you an offspring from this woman in place of the petitioned [one] that she requested from Yahweh." Then they went to their home.

Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel.

He said to them, "Why do you do such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.

No, my sons, the report I hear from the Lord’s people is not good.

And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor all the offerings made by fire by the {Israelites}.

Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded [for my] dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people 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 honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Behold, the days coming and I cut off thy seed and the seed of thy father's house from being old in thy house.

And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, According to that which is in my heart and in my soul, will he do; Therefore will I build for him an assured house, and he shall go to and fro in presence of mine Anointed, all the days.

Meanwhile the boy Samuel was serving the LORD before Eli. A word from the LORD was rare in those days, and visions were infrequent.

On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, {from beginning to end}.

And Samuel kept where he was, not moving till the time came for opening the doors of the house of God in the morning. And fear kept him from giving Eli an account of his vision.

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

And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.

And Samuel will be magnified, and Jehovah was with him, and there fell not from all his words to the earth.

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

The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because he revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by means of messages from the LORD.

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."

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

When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they asked, "What is this noise coming from shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?" Then they realized that the Ark of the LORD had come into the camp,

Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These [are] the [same] gods who struck the Egyptians with all [sorts of] plagues in the desert.

So [the] Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and each man fled to his tent, for the slaughter was very great. Thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell.

A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came [to] Shiloh that same day, and his clothes [were] torn and earth [was] on his head.

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?"

The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

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 brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.

And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.

After they moved it, the hand of Yahweh was against the city, causing a very great confusion, and he struck the men of the city {from the youngest to the oldest}, causing tumors to break out on them.

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

Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

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

And take the ark of Jehovah and set it upon the wagon; and the vessels of gold which ye turned back to him ye shall put a trespass in a box from its side; and send it, and it went.

The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh, and stopped there. In that place there was a large stone. They broke up the wood from the cart, and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

And the gold mice [according to] the number of all the cities of [the] Philistines, for their five rulers, from [the] fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, {where they set} the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua [of] Beth Shemesh.

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

{From} the day the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, {days multiplied and became twenty years} while all the house of Israel mourned after Yahweh.

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

And, when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered themselves together unto Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel, - and, when the sons of Israel heard it, they shrank with fear, from the face of the Philistines.

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

Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued [the] Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car.

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

And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.

He would return to Ramah because his house was there, and judged Israel from there. He also built an altar to the LORD there.

And his sons went not in his way, and they will incline after plunder, and they will take a gift, and they will turn away from judgment.

Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

Like all the deeds they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt until this day, they have forsaken me and have served other gods--so they [are] doing to you also.

So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to the people who [were] requesting a king from him.

And ye cried out in that day from before your king which ye chose to yourselves; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.

Now there was a man from Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjaminite, {a very wealthy man}.

And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

They have come in unto the land of Zuph, and Saul hath said to his young man who is with him, 'Come, and we turn back, lest my father leave off from the asses, and hath been sorrowful for us.'

But the servant said to him, "Look, there is a man of God in this town. He is highly respected. Everything that he says really happens. Now let's go there. Perhaps he will tell us where we should go from here."

So Saul said to his servant, "Look, we may go, but what should we bring to the man? For the bread [is] gone from our bags, and there [is] no present to bring to the man of God. What [do we have] with us?"

(In the past in Israel, when a man went to get directions from God, he said, Come let us go to the Seer, for he who now is named Prophet was in those days given the name of Seer.)

To-morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people from the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to me.

As for the donkeys that wandered away from you three days ago, don’t worry about them because they’ve been found. And who does all Israel desire but you and all your father’s family?”

Saul answered and said, "[Am] I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the humblest of all the families of the tribes of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me {in this way}?"

So the cook picked up the leg and brought it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "What was kept is now set before you! Eat, for it has been kept for you for this meeting time, from the time I said, 'I have invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

And when they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house.

Then Samuel took a small container of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. Samuel kissed him and said, "The Lord has chosen you to lead his people Israel! You will rule over the Lord's people and you will deliver them from the power of the enemies who surround them. This will be your sign that the Lord has chosen you as leader over his inheritance.

When thou hast departed from me to-day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive from their hands.

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 it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

When they went from there to Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.

And it will be all will know him from yesterday the third day, and will see him and behold, he prophesied with the prophets, and the people will say, a man to his neighbor, What was this to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

And a man from there responded and said, "And who [is] their father?" Therefore it became a proverb: "[Is] Saul also among the prophets?"

And he finished from prophesying, and he came to the high place.

and he said to the {Israelites}, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that [were] oppressing you.'

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."

Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen.

So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods.

And they ran and brought him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

But certain worthless fellows said, "How shall this man save us?" They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace. Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was severely oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He put out the right eye of all of them, and he would not allow anyone to rescue Israel. Not one was left of the children of Israel beyond the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, did not put out, except for seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and went to Jabesh Gilead.