Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill-country of Ephraim. And his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, and Ephraimite.

And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to LORD, were there.

And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but will give to thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to LORD all t

And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with strength.

He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness, for by strength no man shall prevail.

Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not LORD.

And the custom of the priests with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand,

And before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not have boiled flesh from thee, but raw.

And if the man said to him, They will surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as thy soul desires, then he would say, No, but thou shall give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force.

And the sin of the young men was very great before LORD, for the men despised the offering of LORD.

If one man sins against another, God shall judge him, but if a man sins against LORD, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they did not hearken to the voice of their father, because LORD intended to kill them.

And the child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with LORD, and also with men.

And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, Thus says LORD, Did I reveal myself to the house of thy father when they were in Egypt [in bondage] to Pharaoh's house?

Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.

And thou shall see an enemy [in my] habitation, in all that I shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house forever.

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

And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they killed of the army in the field about four thousand men.

Be strong, and strengthen yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight.

And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent. And there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with dirt upon his head.

And when he came, lo, Eli was sitting upon his seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What does the noise of this tumult mean? And the man hastened, and came and told Eli.

And the man said to Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, How did the matter go, my son?

And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli] fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate. And his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty year

And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is hard upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of LORD was against the city with a very great discomfiture. And he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out upon them.

And the men who did not die were smitten with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

And the men did so, and took two milk cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

And the Levites took down the ark of LORD, and the coffer that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same d

And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of LORD. He smote of the people fifty thousand and seventy men. And the people mourned, because LORD had smitten the people with a great slaughter.

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

And the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of LORD.

And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them until they came under Beth-car.

And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

And LORD said to Samuel, Hearken to their voice, and make for them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go ye every man to his city.

Now there was a man of 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 Benjamite, a mighty man of valor.

And he had a son whose name was Saul, a young man and fine looking. And there was not among the sons of Israel a man better looking than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people.

And he said to him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man who is held in honor. All that he says comes surely to pass. Now let us go there, perhaps he can tell us concerning our journey on which we go.

Then Saul said to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our vessels, 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 in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.

(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come, and let us go to the seer, for he who is now called a Prophet was formerly called a Seer.)

Then Saul said to his servant, Well said. Come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was.

Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. And he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines, for I have looked upon my pe

And when Samuel saw Saul, LORD said to him, Behold, the man of whom I spoke to thee! This man shall have authority over my people.

And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the guest-chamber, and made them sit in the chief place among those who were bidden, who were about thirty men.

When thou are departed from me today, then thou shall find two men by Rachel's sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. And they will say to thee, The donkeys which thou went to seek are found, and, lo, thy father has left of

Then thou shall go on forward from there, and thou shall come to the oak of Tabor. And there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and anothe

And the Spirit of LORD will come mightily upon thee, and thou shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.

And a man from the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

Therefore they asked of LORD further, Is there yet a man to come here? And LORD answered, Behold, he has hid himself among the baggage.

Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah, and mighty men went with him, whose hearts God had touched.

But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

And, behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field, and Saul said, What troubles the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

And he numbered them in Bezek, and the sons of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

And they said to the messengers who came, Thus ye shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have deliverance. And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.

Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and ye shall do with us all that seems good to you.

And the people said to Samuel, Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men that we may put them to death.

And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day, for today LORD has wrought deliverance in Israel.

And all the people went to Gilgal. And there they made Saul king before LORD in Gilgal, and there they offered sacrifices of peace-offerings before LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

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

Saul chose for him three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash, and on the mount of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin, and the rest of the people he sent every man to

When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits.

but now thy kingdom shall not continue. LORD has sought for him a man after his own heart, and LORD has appointed him to be prince over his people, because thou have not kept that which LORD commanded thee.

And Samuel arose, and got up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.

Now it fell upon a day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on yonder side. But he did not tell his father.

And Saul abode in the outermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about six hundred men,

And Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that LORD will work for us, for there is no limitation to LORD to save by many or by few.

Then Jonathan said, Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them.

And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me, for LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel

And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.

And Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle. And, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, [and there was] a very great discomfiture.

Likewise all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed close after them in the battle.

And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food.

And when the people came to the forest, behold, the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.

Then one of the people answered, and said, Thy father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food this day, and the people were faint.

And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and kill them here, and eat. And sin not against LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people broug

And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatever seems good to thee. Then the priest said, Let us draw n

For, as LORD lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.

And there was great war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him to him.

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is not a man that he should repent.

But LORD said to Samuel, Do not look on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For [LORD sees] not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but LORD looks on the heart.

Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has LORD chosen this man.

Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither has LORD chosen this man.

And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, LORD has not chosen these men.

Let our lord now command thy servants, who are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp. And it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou sh

And Saul said to his servants, Provide for me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.

Then one of the young men answered, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely man, and LORD is with him

And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the vale of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

And he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why have ye come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-judah, whose name was Jesse. And he had eight sons, and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken [in years] among men.

Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were greatly afraid.

And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man who has come up? Surely to defy Israel he has 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 m