Whenever she went up to the Lord’s house, her rival taunted her in this way every year. Hannah wept and would not eat.

Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”

While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her lips.

Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk

“May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.

After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”

Her husband Elkanah replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your word.” So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him.

When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh.

“Please, my lord,” she said, “as sure as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.

Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the Lord.” Then they would go home.

The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her.

As she was dying, the women taking care of her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay attention.

She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.”

When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

“I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped.

Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!”

She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”

Then she said to her male servants, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming toward her and met them.

When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and fell with her face to the ground in front of David.

She fell at his feet and said, “The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant.

Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request.”

Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. Nabal was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn’t say anything to him until morning light.

She stood up, then bowed her face to the ground and said, “Here I am, your servant, to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David’s messengers. And so she became his wife.

When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”

Then Saul asked her, “What does he look like?”

“An old man is coming up,” she replied. “He’s wearing a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed his face to the ground and paid homage.

The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Afterward, they got up and left that night.