When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to the Lord,

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.

or for the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

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.

A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Didn’t I reveal Myself to your ancestral house when it was in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace?

“‘Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestral family, so that none in your family will reach old age.

When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.

The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp,

When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road watching, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate, and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel 40 years.

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.

When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.

But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. This time, both Dagon’s head and the palms of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained.

When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because His hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.”

The Gittites then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it got there, the Ekronites cried out, “They’ve moved the ark of Israel’s God to us to kill us and our people!”

When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,

Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?

The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it.

When the five Philistine rulers observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that day, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord.

When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you on that day.”

When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the attendant who was with him, “Come on, let’s go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

So they went up toward the city.

Saul and his attendant were entering the city when they saw Samuel coming toward them on his way to the high place.

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about; he will rule over My people.”

“I am the seer,” Samuel answered. “Go up ahead of me to the high place and eat with me today. When I send you off in the morning, I’ll tell you everything that’s in your heart.

Today when you leave me, you’ll find two men at Rachel’s Grave at Zelzah in the land of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went looking for have been found, and now your father has stopped being concerned about the donkeys and is worried about you, asking: What should I do about my son?’

“After that you will come to the Hill of God where there are Philistine garrisons. When you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place prophesying. They will be preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres.

When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances require because God is with you.

When Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all the signs came about that day.

When Saul and his attendant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God took control of him, and he prophesied along with them.

Saul’s uncle asked him and his attendant, “Where did you go?”

“To look for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we saw they weren’t there, we went to Samuel.”

Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they searched for him, they could not find him.

They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else.

When the messengers came to Gibeah, Saul’s hometown, and told the terms to the people, all wept aloud.

When Saul heard these words, the Spirit of God suddenly took control of him, and his anger burned furiously.

“When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king rule over us’—even though the Lord your God is your king.

Saul was 30 years old when he became king, and he reigned 42 years over Israel.

and Samuel asked, “What have you done?”

Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash,

When Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction.

When all the Israelite men who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle.

When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath.

However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy.

When Saul assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies in every direction: against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he caused havoc.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt.

He warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, go on and leave! Get away from the Amalekites, or I’ll sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites.

When Samuel came to him, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you. I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore.

Samuel did what the Lord directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Certainly the Lord’s anointed one is here before Him.”

When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul admired him greatly, and David became his armor-bearer.

When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were.

When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome.

When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran.

When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.

When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?”

“My king, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.

When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.

When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan committed himself to David, and loved him as much as he loved himself.

When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him.

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

Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him.

When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,

I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and talk to him about you. When I see what he says, I’ll tell you.”

He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such a great force that they fled from him.

When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”

When the messengers arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head.

When it was reported to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah,

he sent agents to seize David. However, when they saw the group of prophets prophesying with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s agents, and they also started prophesying.

When they reported to Saul, he sent other agents, and they also began prophesying. So Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents, and even they began prophesying.

don’t ever withdraw your faithful love from my household—not even when the Lord cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell with his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.

Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the Lord when we said: The Lord will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.” Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city.

David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle. The young men’s bodies are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.”

So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from the presence of the Lord. When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.

So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there.

That’s why all of you have conspired against me! Nobody tells me when my own son makes a covenant with Jesse’s son. None of you cares about me or tells me that my son has stirred up my own servant to wait in ambush for me, as is the case today.”

When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.”

When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”

So David and his men, numbering about 600, left Keilah at once and moved from place to place. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition.

David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in Horesh when he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.

and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.

When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.”

When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. David and his men were staying in the back of the cave,

After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed to the ground in homage.

When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud

You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me.

When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed? May the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.

so David sent 10 young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him in my name.

I hear that you are shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

David’s men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words.

The men treated us well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them.

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