Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:

So Hannah rose after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drank. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

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

And if any man said to him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, No; but thou shalt give it to me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did to all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

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 honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.

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

Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.

And said to him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

Now therefore hearken to their voice: yet protest solemnly to them, and show them the manner of the king that will reign over them.

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a mighty man of power.

And the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

And he said to him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; it may be he can show us our way that we should go.

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

And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to-day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to-day in the high place:

As soon as ye shall enter the city, ye will straightway find him, before he goeth up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he cometh, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now therefore go up: for about this time ye will find him.

Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,

And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities, and your tribulations; and ye have said to him, No, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

And now, behold, the king walketh 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 to this day.

Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

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

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

Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.

Therefore said I, the Philistines will now come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD; I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt-offering.

And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: (for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:)

Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man that bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.

Then said Saul to the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.

How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?

Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchi-shua: and the names of his two daughters were these; the name of the first-born Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:

Samuel also said to Saul, the LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou to the voice of the words of the LORD.

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

Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.

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

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and also of a beautiful countenance, and a good appearance. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

And Saul's servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

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

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

Now the Philistines collected their armies to battle, and were assembled at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and encamped between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

And Jesse said to David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

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

And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son-in-law.

But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now, therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:

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

For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.

And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow, beyond him.

Now therefore what is under thy hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or what there is present.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;)

Then Saul said to his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjaminites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;

And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.

Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand.

And now, behold, I know well that thou wilt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in thy hand.

Swear now therefore to me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house.

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.

And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missing to them, all the while they were in Carmel.

Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do: for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

(Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this man hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withheld thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thy own hand, now let thy enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

And now this blessing which thy handmaid hath brought to my lord, let it even be given to the young men that follow my lord.

Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thy enemy into thy hand this day; now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.

The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the LORD liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master the LORD'S anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD hath stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they are the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel hath come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in any border of Israel; so shall I escape from his hand.

And David said to Achish, If I have now found grace in thy eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.

Now the Philistines collected all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel.

Therefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.

Wherefore now rise early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye shall have risen early in the morning, and have light, depart.

Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.