So Elkanah her husband would say to her: "Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat? And {why are you heartsick}? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"

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}."

And [if] the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat completely {first}, then take for yourself as {you} desire," then he would say to him, "No! Give it now! If not, I will take it by force!"

Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: "Thus says Yahweh: 'Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh?

All the remainder of your household will come to bow down {before} him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, "Please assign me to one of the {priestly offices} so that I can eat a morsel of bread." '"

So Eli said to Samuel "Go lie down. {If he calls} to you, then you must say, 'Speak Yahweh, because your servant [is] listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

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.

But he said to him, "Look, a man of God [is] in this town, and the man [is] honored. All that he says certainly comes true. So then let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about our journey on which we have gone."

(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: "Come, let us go up to the seer." For the prophet of today was formerly called a seer.)

As you go from with me {today}, you will find two men near the burial site of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, 'The female donkeys that you went to search for have been found.' Now look, your father {is no longer concerned about} the female donkeys and has begun worrying about you, saying, 'What should I do about my son?'

So Saul's uncle said to him, "Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?"

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.'

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.

If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not be rebellious against {what Yahweh says}, and both you and the king who rules over you will [follow] after Yahweh your God, [all will be well].

But, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you rebel against {what Yahweh says}, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you [as it was] against your ancestors.

If they say to us: 'Wait until we reach you,' {then we will stand as we are} and not go up to them.

But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up, for Yahweh has given them into our hand, and this [will be] the sign for us."

Then Saul said, "Disperse [yourselves] among the troops and say to them, 'Bring to me each [one] his ox and each his sheep and slaughter them in this [place] and eat, but do not sin against Yahweh by eating [the animals] with the blood.'" So all the troops brought [them], each [leading] his ox in his hand that night, and slaughtered [it] there.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'I have observed what Amalek did to Israel, {how he opposed him} when he went up from Egypt.

But Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears, he will kill me." Yahweh said, "You must take a heifer from the herd {with you}, and you must say, 'I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.'

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.)

He also stripped [off] his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, "[Is] Saul also among the prophets?"

If your father misses me at all, then you must say, 'David earnestly asked from me to run to Bethlehem his city, for {the yearly sacrifice} [is] there for all the clan.'

If he says 'Good,' [it will mean] peace for your servant; but if he [is] very angry, know that {he has decided to do me harm}.

{Then} I will send [word to] my servant, 'Go, find the arrows!' If I clearly say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows [are] {on this side of you}; {bring} it,' then come, for [it means] peace for you. And there is no problem, {as Yahweh lives}.

But if I say this to the young man, 'Look, the arrows [are] {beyond you},' go, for Yahweh has sent you away.

Then David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of people who say: 'Look, David [is] {seeking to do you harm}'?

Just as the ancient proverb says, 'From the wicked, wickedness goes out,' but my hand will not be against you!

Then you must say to him, '[Long] life [to you], and {may it go well with you, with your house, and with all that is yours}.