He had two wives; the name of the first [was] Hannah, and the name of the second [was] Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

But to Hannah he would give {a double portion}, because he loved Hannah, though Yahweh had closed her womb.

(Now her rival wife would provoke her severely in order to upset her because Yahweh had closed her womb.)

She {made a vow} and said: "O Yahweh of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the misery of your female servant, and will remember me, and not forget your female servant, and will give to your female servant {a male child} then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor will never pass over his head."

Now Hannah had been speaking in her heart; her lips [were] moving, but her voice could not be heard, so Eli considered her [to be] drunk.

Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before Yahweh {and returned} to their house at Ramah. Then Elkanah {had sexual relations with} Hannah his wife, and Yahweh remembered her.

Then she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, [along] with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of Yahweh at Shiloh while the boy [was still] young.

{And then} one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun [to grow] weak so that he was not able to see)

and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of God [was].

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

When [the] Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, "What [is] the noise of this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?" Then they learned that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp.

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.

When he came, {there was} Eli sitting on his chair {by the side of the road} watching, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. Now the man had come {to give his report} in the city, and all the city cried out.

Just as he mentioned the ark of God, he fell from his chair backwards against the side of the gate. He broke his neck and died, because the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, [was] pregnant and [about] to give birth. When she heard the news concerning the capture of the ark of God and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she {went into labor} and gave birth, because her labor pains came upon her.

Now [the] Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

When they got up early in the morning the next day, {there was} Dagon fallen [again] with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! The head of Dagon and the palms of his two hands were cut off, lying at the threshold; only [the body] of Dagon was left.

Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of [the] Philistines [for] seven months,

So then, {prepare} one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them, and you must harness the cows to the utility cart and then turn their calves from following them to their stall.

He struck seventy men among the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of Yahweh. So the people mourned because Yahweh had struck a great blow among the people.

[Now] when [the] Philistines heard that the {Israelites} had gathered at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the {Israelites} heard [of it], {they were afraid of the Philistines}.

The towns which [the] Philistines had taken from Israel [were] returned to Israel from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of [the] Philistines. Then there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

He had a son whose name was Saul, a young and handsome man. There was not a man from the {Israelites} more handsome than he [was]; from his shoulders up, he was taller than all the people.

Now Yahweh {had revealed this to} Samuel the day before Saul arrived, saying,

So Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them to a room in the building and gave them a place at the head of {the invited guests}. There were about thirty men.

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, "{Has not} Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance?

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.

And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah, and the troops whose hearts God had touched went with him.

They said to the messengers who had come, "Thus you will say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: 'Tomorrow deliverance for you will come {when the sun is hot}.'" When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced.

{And the} next day Saul placed the people [in] three divisions. Then they came into the middle of the camp {at the early morning watch} and struck down {the Ammonites} until the heat of the day. It happened that the remainder were scattered {so that no two among them remained together}.

When the men of Israel saw that [it was] {too difficult} for them, because the army was hard pressed, the people hid themselves in the caves, in the thorn bushes, in the cliffs, in the vaults and in the wells.

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,

Now no skilled craftsman could be found in all the land of Israel, for [the] Philistines had said, "So that the Hebrews cannot make swords or spears for themselves."

{So} on [the] day of battle, there was not a sword or a spear found in the hands of all the army that was with Saul and Jonathan, but {Saul and his son Jonathan had them}.

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.

The Hebrews who had been for [the] Philistines {previously}, who had gone up with them into the camp all around, even they {joined the Israelites} who were with Saul and Jonathan.

All the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that [the] Philistines had fled, so even they pursued them closely in the battle.

Now the men of Israel were hard pressed on that day, because Saul had made the army take an oath, saying, "Cursed be the man who eats [any] food until evening, when I will have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the army tasted [any] food.

However, Jonathan had not heard about the oath of his father with the army, so he extended the end of the staff which was in his hand, and he dipped it into the honeycomb. Then he put his hand to his mouth and his eyes gleamed.

{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."

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.

Samuel said, "Even though you [are] small in your [own] eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh has anointed you as king over Israel.

Then Samuel said, "Is there [as much] delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices as [there is] in {obeying} Yahweh? Look! {To obey} [is] better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams.

But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For [God does] not [see] what man sees, for a man {looks on the outward appearance}, but Yahweh {looks on the heart}."

Then {a champion} went out from the camps of [the] Philistines, whose name was Goliath from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.

A bronze helmet was on his head, and he was clothed with scale body armor; the weight of the body armor was five thousand bronze shekels.

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite. This [man was] from Bethlehem of Judah, and his name was Jesse. {He had} eight sons; in the days of Saul this man was old, [yet] he [still] walked among the men.

The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone and {followed} Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, his second [oldest] was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.

David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took [the provisions] and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment while the troops [were] going to the battle line, and they raised the war cry.

David left the baggage [he had] with him in the {care} of the baggage keeper, ran to the battle line, and came and {asked how his brothers were doing}.

While he [was] speaking to them, {the champion}, whose name was Goliath the Philistine from Gath, [was] coming up from the caves of [the] Philistines. He spoke {just as he had previously}, and David heard [his words].

Now David had spoken to the men [who were] standing with him, saying, "What will be done for the man who defeats this Philistine and removes [the] disgrace from Israel? For who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the battle lines of the living God?"

And the troops had spoken to him according to this word, saying, "So it will be done for the man who defeats him."

Now the words which David had spoken were heard and they reported [them] {to} Saul, and he summoned him.

Then Saul clothed David with his [own] fighting attire and put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him [with] body armor.

This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down {and cut off your head}! Then I will give [the] corpses of the army of [the] Philistines this day to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God [who is] for Israel.

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.

And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem and placed his weapons in his tent.

So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. The head of the Philistine [was] in his hand.

{When they were coming back} after David had returned from striking down the Philistine, the women went out from all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments.

{Now Saul was threatened by the presence of David} because Yahweh was with him, but had departed from Saul.

Then Saul said, "This [is] what you must say to David: '{The king desires no bride price} except for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.'" (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of [the] Philistines.)

So his servants told David these words, and the matter {pleased David} to become the son-in-law of the king [as] {the specified time had not expired}.

Then Michal took the household god and put it on the bed and put a quilt of goat's hair at its head and covered [it] with the clothes.

When the messengers came, {to their surprise} the idol [was] on the bed [with] the quilt of goat's hair at the head.

So David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.

And he said to him, "Far from it! You will not die! Look, my father does not do {anything large or small unless he reveals it to me}. Why should my father hide this thing or anything from me?"

David said to Jonathan, "Look, tomorrow [is] the new moon, and I should certainly sit with the king to eat. You must send me away so that I can hide myself in the field until the third evening.

On the third day you must go down quickly and go to the place where you hid yourself {on the day all this started} and remain beside the stone Ezel.

So David hid himself in the field. {When the new moon came}, {the king was seated at the feast}.

Then Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew {that his father had decided} to kill David.

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.

When the boy came up to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, "[Is] not the arrow {beyond you}?"

So the priest gave him [the] holy [bread], for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which was removed from before Yahweh, in order to set hot bread [there] on the day when it was taken away.

Every man in distress and every man who had a creditor and every embittered man gathered to him, and he became {their commander}. Now there [were] about four hundred men with him.

Now Saul heard that David and the men who [were] with him had been located. Saul [was] sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk [tree] at Ramah. Now his spear [was] in his hand and all his servants [were] stationed around him.

For all of you have conspired against me, and {no one discloses to me} the {making} [of an agreement] between my son and the son of Jesse! None of you have had sympathy for me or {disclosed to me} [that] {my son commissioned my servant against me to ambush me} as [has been done] this day!"

Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of Yahweh.

When it was told to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, Saul said, "God {has given him} into my hand, because he has shut himself in by going into a city [with] {two barred gates}.

So David and his men got up, about six hundred men, and went out from Keilah and wandered wherever they could go. When it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, {he stopped his pursuit}.

When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.

{And then} afterward David {felt guilty}, because he had cut {the hem of Saul's robe}.

Now David had said, "Surely {in vain} I guarded all that this fellow had in the desert. And nothing was missed of all that [was] his, but he returned evil against me in place of good!

But {as Yahweh lives}, the God of Israel who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been {one male} left alive for Nabal by the light of morning!"

Then David took from her hand what she had brought for him, and he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice, and I have {granted your request}."

{And then} in the morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these words. Then his heart died {within him}, and he became like a stone.

When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Blessed be Yahweh who has vindicated the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and he has kept back his servant from evil; but Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his [own] head." Then David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for his wife.

David had also taken Ahinoam from Jezreel, and both of them became his wives.

(Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who [was] from Gallim.)

Now Saul was on the hill of Hakilah, which [is] opposite Jeshimon by the road, but David was staying in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had come to the wilderness after him,

David sent spies, and he learned that Saul had come {for certain}.

Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul [was] lying down, {as well as} Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul [was] lying in the encampment, and the army [was] encamping around him.)

So David and Abishai came to the army [by] night, and {there was} Saul lying asleep in the encampment with his spear thrust into the ground near his head, and Abner and the army [were] lying all around him.

{Yahweh forbid me} from stretching out my hand against Yahweh's anointed one! So then, please take the spear that [is] near his head and the jar of water, and let us go."

So David took the spear and the jar of water from [near] Saul's head, and they went [away]. {No one saw, no one knew, and no one awakened}, for all of them [were] sleeping because a deep sleep of Yahweh had fallen upon them.

This thing that you have done [is] not good. {As Yahweh lives}, {surely you people deserve to die} since you have not kept watch over your lord, over Yahweh's anointed one! So then, see where the king's spear [is] and the jar of water that [was] near his head!"

And it was reported to Saul that David had fled [to] Gath, so {he no longer searched for him}.

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living [in] the land for a long time {in the direction of} Shur and {as far as} the land of Egypt.

(Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and they had buried him in Ramah, his [own] city. And Saul had expelled the mediums and the soothsayers from the land.)

{Then Saul immediately fell prostrate} to the ground, and he was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was no more strength in him, for he had not eaten food all day and all night.