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.

I prayed for this child, and LORD has given me my petition which I asked of him.

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, LORD give thee seed by this woman for the petition which was asked of LORD. And they went to their own home.

And he said to them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.

And this shall be the sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: In one day they shall die, both of them.

And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What is the meaning of the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of LORD came into the camp.

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.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.

And watch. If it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he has done to us this great evil, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.

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?

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

And he said, This will be the manner of the king who shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them to him for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and they shall run before his chariots.

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.

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 Saul answered and said, Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then speak thou to me according to this manner?

And it came to pass, when all who knew him formerly saw, that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

but ye have this day rejected your God who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses, and ye have said to him, No, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before LORD by your tribes, and by y

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.

And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out, and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.

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

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 youth to this day.

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

When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to LORD, then LORD sent Moses and Aaron who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

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

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

And Samuel said to the people, Fear not. Ye have indeed done all this evil, yet turn not aside from following LORD, but serve LORD with all your heart.

But if they say thus, Come up to us, then we will go up, for LORD has delivered them into our hand, and this shall be the sign to us.

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.

Then Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land. See, I pray you, how my eyes have been enlightened because I tasted a little of this honey.

Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, ye have dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me this day.

And Saul said, Draw near here, all ye chiefs of the people, and know and see how this sin has been this day.

And the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far from it. As LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has wrought with God this day. So the peop

And Samuel said, What then means this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

Then Samuel said to Saul, Stop, and I will tell thee what LORD has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.

And Samuel said to him, LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and has given it to a neighbor of thine, who is better than thou.

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 he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and fine to look upon. And LORD said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he.

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

And Jesse said to David his son, Take now for thy brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry [them] quickly to the camp to thy brothers.

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

And David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the l

And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that kills him.

And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

And Saul said to David, Thou are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

And David said, LORD who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and LORD shall be with thee.

This day LORD will deliver thee into my hand, and I will smite thee, and take thy head from off thee. And I will give the dead bodies of the armies of the Philistines this day to the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beasts of

and that all this assembly may know that LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.

And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul lives, O king, I cannot tell.

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

And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, Thou shall this day be my son-in-law a second time.

And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner David spoke.

And he said to him, Far from it. Thou shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me, and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.

And David swore moreover, and said, Thy father knows well that I have found favor in thine eyes, and he says, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as LORD lives, and as thy soul lives, there is but a step betwe

And Jonathan said to David, LORD, the God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, [or] the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send to thee, and disclose it to thee?

And, behold, I will send the lad, [saying], Go, find the arrows. If I say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them, and come, for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as LORD lives.

And Saul cast his spear at him to smite him. By this Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.

And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?

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

Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father, for thy servant knows nothing of all this, less or more.

And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain. And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul. For Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about to take them.

And he said to his men, LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, LORD's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, since he is LORD's anointed.

Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that LORD had delivered thee today into my hand in the cave. And some bade me kill thee, but [I] spared thee. And I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is LORD's anoi

And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.

And thou have declared this day how that thou have dealt well with me, inasmuch as when LORD had delivered me up into thy hand, thou killed me not.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away well? Therefore LORD reward thee good for that which thou have done to me this day.

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 to him, and he has returned me evil for good.

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord whom thou sent.

And now this present which thy servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

that this shall be no grief to thee, nor offence of heart to my lord, either that thou have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid

And David said to Abigail, Blessed be LORD, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me,

and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, who have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered up thine enemy into thy hand this day. Now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite him the second time.

This thing is not good that thou have done. As LORD lives, ye are worthy to die because ye have not kept watch over your lord, LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.

And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.

Then Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do thee harm because my life was precious in thine eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.

Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah to this day.

And Saul swore to her by LORD, saying, As LORD lives, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

Because thou obeyed not the voice of LORD, and did not execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore LORD has done this thing to thee this day.

Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What [are] these Hebrews? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these year

Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have thou found in thy servant so long as I have been before thee to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

And David inquired of LORD, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, for thou shall surely overtake [them], and shall without fail recover [all].

And David said to him, Will thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other] cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle so shall his share be who remains by the baggage; they shall share alike.

And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.