So her husband Elkanah said to her, "{Do what seems right to you}; stay until you wean him. Only may Yahweh fulfill his word." So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.

and would thrust it into the pan or into the kettle or into the cauldron or into the cooking pot. All that the meat fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This [is] what they used to do to all of the Israelites who came there at Shiloh.

But I will raise up for myself a reliable priest; he will do just according to what [is] in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting house and he will walk continually before my anointed one {forever}.

And he said, "What [is] the message that he spoke to you? Please do not conceal [it] from me. May God {punish you severely} if you conceal anything from me of all the words that he told you."

So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal [anything] from him. And he said, "He [is] Yahweh, he will do {what is} good in his {sight}."

When [the] Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, "What [is] the noise of this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?" Then they learned that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp.

When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, "What [is] the noise of this commotion?" Then the man {came quickly} and told Eli.

And the man said to Eli, "I am the [one] who has come from the battle line! I have fled today from the battle line!" And he said, "{What exactly happened}, my son?"

So they sent and gathered all the rulers of [the] Philistines to them, and they asked, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around toward Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel [to Gath].

and [the] Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, "What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place."

And they said, "What [is] the guilt offering that we should return to him?" They said, "The number of the rulers of [the] Philistines [is] five. Therefore send five gold tumors and five gold mice, because one plague [was] on all of you and all your rulers.

So Saul said to his servant, "Look, we may go, but what should we bring to the man? For the bread [is] gone from our bags, and there [is] no present to bring to the man of God. What [do we have] with us?"

So the cook took up the shank and what was on it and put it before Saul, and he said, "Look, {the saved portion} [is] placed {before you}--eat, because it has been kept for you for the appointed time," {and he said}, "I have invited the people." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

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?'

When these signs come to you, do for yourself what your hand finds [to do], for God [will be] with you.

Then you will go down before me to Gilgal. Look, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings {and to make} fellowship offerings. You must wait seven days until I come to you. Then I will let you know what you should do."

{And when} all who knew him {formerly} saw that he prophesied with prophets, the people said to one another, "What [is] this [that] has happened to the son of Kish? [Is] Saul also among the prophets?"

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

{Just then}, Saul was coming from the field behind the cattle. Saul said, "What [is the matter] with the people, that they [are] weeping?" So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

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.

Only fear Yahweh and serve him faithfully with all of your heart. For consider {what great things he has done for you}.

But Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "Because I saw that the army {was scattering} from me and you did not come {at the appointed time} and [that the] Philistines had gathered at Micmash,

But now, your kingdom will not endure. Yahweh has sought for himself a man according to his [own] heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as leader over his people, because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you."

Then Saul said, "Come here, all [you] leaders of the people, {so that we find out} what the sin was this day.

Then he said to all Israel, "You will be {on one side}, and I and my son Jonathan will be {on the other}." And the army said to Saul, "Do [what is] good in your eyes."

So Saul said, "Tell me what you have done." So Jonathan told him and said, "I {merely tasted} a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die."

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, "Then what [is] this bleating of the sheep [that I hear] in my ears and the lowing of the cattle that I am hearing?"

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stop and let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night." So he said to him, "Speak."

You will invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will make known to you what you must do. You will anoint for me [the one] whom I tell you."

So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, "{Have you come in peace}?"

But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For [God does] not [see] what man sees, for a man {looks on the outward appearance}, but Yahweh {looks on the heart}."

Now David had spoken to the men [who were] standing with him, saying, "What will be done for the man who defeats this Philistine and removes [the] disgrace from Israel? For who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the battle lines of the living God?"

David replied, "What have I done now? {I merely asked a question}!

{Saul became very angry}, and {this saying displeased him}, and he thought, "They have attributed to David ten thousands, but to me they have attributed thousands! {What more can he have but the kingdom}?"

So the servants of Saul informed him, saying, "{This is what David said}."

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.)

Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, "What have I done? What [is] my guilt and what [is] my sin before your father that [he is] {trying to kill me}?

Then David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if what your father answers you [is] harsh?"

But Jonathan answered his father Saul and said to him, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"

Now then, {what do you have at hand}? Give me five [loaves] of bread or {whatever is here}."

And David went up from there to Mizpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother {stay} with you until I know what God will do for me."

For a man has found his enemy but sent him on [his] way safely. Now may Yahweh reward you with good in return for this day, for what you have done for me.

And so then, know and {consider} what you should do, for evil has been decided against our master and against all his household, and he [is such] {a wicked man}, {nobody can reason with him}!"

Then David took from her hand what she had brought for him, and he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice, and I have {granted your request}."

Then he said, "Why [is] my lord pursuing after his servant? For what have I done? And what evil [is] in my hand?

David said to Achish, "Very well, you will know what your servant can do." Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you {my bodyguard} for life."

But the woman said to him, "Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums and the soothsayers from the land! Why [are] you setting a trap for my life to kill me?"

The king said to her, "Do not be afraid! What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up from the ground!"

Then he said to her, "What [is] his appearance?" She said, "An old man [is] coming up, and {he is wrapped in a robe}." Then Saul realized that it was Samuel, and he knelt [with] his face to the ground and bowed down.

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul said, "{I am in distress}! For [the] Philistines [are about] to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not {by the prophets} or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do."

But he refused and said, "I will not eat!" However, his servants urged him, and the woman also. So he listened {to what they said}, and he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

Then the commanders of [the] Philistines said, "What [are] these Hebrews [doing here]?" And Achish said to the commanders of [the] Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me {for days and years}? I have not found anything [threatening] in him from the day of his desertion until this day!"

But the commanders of [the] Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, "Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men?

Then David said to Achish, "But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day that I {entered your service} until this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

But David said to them, "You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the [raiding] band that came against us into our hand.

When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard about it, what [the] Philistines had done to Saul,