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

Count not your handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I been speaking.

Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant you your petition that you have asked of him.

Therefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seems to you good; tarry until you have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and nursed her son until she weaned him.

Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshiped the LORD there.

They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased to hunger: so that the barren has borne seven; and she that has many children has grown feeble.

Also before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled meat from you, but raw.

Why trample you on my sacrifice and on my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chief of all the offerings of Israel my people?

In that day I will perform against Eli all the things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.

For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever.

Be strong, and conduct yourselves like men, O you Philistines, that you be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: conduct yourselves like men, and fight.

And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for you have borne a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.

Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come down, and bring it up to you.

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

And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you: for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, with which they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto you.

And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you shall have chosen; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is gone from our sacks, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?

And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.

Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come unto me.

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 you, and eat: for unto this time has it been kept for you since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.

And you have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall you say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, Tomorrow, by that time the sun is hot, you shall have help. And the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that you said unto me, and have made a king over you.

And now, behold, the king walks 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 unto this day.

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

And they said, you have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man's hand.

And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.

Now therefore behold the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have desired! and, behold, the LORD has set a king over you.

Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for your servants unto the LORD your God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.

And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: you have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you came not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;

Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I felt compelled therefore, and offered a burnt offering.

And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly: you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you: for now would the LORD have established your kingdom upon Israel forever.

But now your kingdom shall not continue: the LORD has sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept that which the LORD commanded you.

Then said Jonathan, My father has troubled the land: see, I ask you, how my eyes have been brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, you have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.

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

Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be you of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

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 your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD your God in Gilgal.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.

And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with you: for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.

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

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is skillful in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a handsome person, and the LORD is with him.

And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man that has come up? surely to defy Israel has he come up: and it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why came you down here? and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the insolence of your heart; for you are come down that you might see the battle.

And David said, What have I now done? Is it not a word?

And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he attempted to go; for he had not tried it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not tried them. And David put them off him.

Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

And Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?

But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite as his wife.

And Jonathan spoke good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been toward you very good:

And Saul said unto Michal, Why have you deceived me so, and sent away my enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill you?

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 your father, that he seeks my life?

And David swore again, and said, Your father certainly knows that I have found grace in your eyes; and he says, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.

If he say thus, It is well; your servant shall have peace: but if he is very angry, then be sure that evil is determined by him.

Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you: nevertheless, if there be in me iniquity, slay me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?

And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded out my father tomorrow about this time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto you, and show it to you;

And when you have stayed three days, then you shall go down quickly, and come to the place where you did hide yourself when the matter was in hand, and shall remain by the stone Ezel.

And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between you and me forever.

And he said, Let me go, I pray you; for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, and see my brethren. Therefore he comes not unto the king's table.

Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, You son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and unto the shame of your mother's nakedness?

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, since as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king has charged me with a business, and has said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you: and I have directed my young men to such and such a place.

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread on hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us for these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here on hand a spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, you see the man is mad: why then have you brought him to me?

Have I need of mad men, that you have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that shows me that my son has made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or shows unto me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have caused the death of all the persons of your father's house.

And Saul said, Blessed be you of the LORD; for you have compassion on me.

But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste you, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.

Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered you today into my hand in the cave: and some bade me kill you: but my eye spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed.

Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and killed you not, know you and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you; yet you hunt my soul to take it.

And he said to David, you are more righteous than I: for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.

And you have shown this day how that you have dealt well with me: for when the LORD had delivered me into your hand, you killed me not.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? therefore the LORD reward you with good for what you have done unto me this day.

And thus shall you say to him that lives in prosperity, Peace be both to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be unto all that you have.

And now I have heard that you have shearers: now your shepherds which were with us, we hurt not, neither was there anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel.

Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not from where they be?

Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he has repaid me evil for good.

And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you ruler over Israel;

That this shall be no grief unto you, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid.

So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to your house; see, I have hearkened to your voice, and have accepted your person.

And David said to Abner, are not you a valiant man? and who is like to you in Israel? why then have you not kept your lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king your lord.