She made a vow saying, "O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the suffering of your female servant, remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut."

but Hannah did not go up with them. Instead she told her husband, "Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him and appear before the Lord, and he will remain there from then on."

The Lord shatters his adversaries; he thunders against them from the heavens. The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth. He will strengthen his king and exalt the power of his anointed one."

If the individual said to him, "First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish," he would say, "No! Hand it over right now! If you don't, I will take it forcibly!"

If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the Lord, who then will intercede for him?" But Eli's sons would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'I really did say that your house and your ancestor's house would serve me forever.' But now the Lord says, 'May it never be! For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!

In fact, days are coming when I will remove your strength and the strength of your father's house. There will not be an old man in your house!

You will see trouble in my dwelling place! Israel will experience blessings, but there will not be an old man in your house for all time.

Any one of you that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and will cause you grief. All of those born to your family will die in the prime of life.

This will be a confirming sign for you that will be fulfilled through your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: in a single day they both will die!

Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what is in my heart and soul. I will build for him a secure dynasty and he will serve my chosen one for all time.

Everyone who remains in your house will come to bow before him for a little money and for a scrap of bread. Each will say, 'Assign me to a priestly task so I can eat a scrap of bread.'"

The Lord said to Samuel, "Look! I am about to do something in Israel; when anyone hears about it, both of his ears will tingle.

On that day I will carry out against Eli everything that I spoke about his house -- from start to finish!

Eli said, "What message did he speak to you? Don't conceal it from me. God will judge you severely if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!"

So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli said, "The Lord will do what he pleases."

When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let's take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies.

Be strong and act like men, you Philistines, or else you will wind up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you! Act like men and fight!"

They replied, "If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel back, don't send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you."

You should make images of the sores and images of the mice that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land.

But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident."

The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"

Samuel said to all the people of Israel, "If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines."

Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf."

So now do as they say. But seriously warn them and make them aware of the policies of the king who will rule over them."

He said, "Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot.

He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties, as well as those who plow his ground, reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment.

He will take your daughters to be ointment makers, cooks, and bakers.

He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants.

He will demand a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards and give it to his administrators and his servants.

He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best cattle and your donkeys, and assign them for his own use.

He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will be his servants.

In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won't answer you in that day."

But the people refused to heed Samuel's warning. Instead they said, "No! There will be a king over us!

We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles."

But the servant said to him, "Look, there is a man of God in this town. He is highly respected. Everything that he says really happens. Now let's go there. Perhaps he will tell us where we should go from here."

The servant went on to answer Saul, "Look, I happen to have in my hand a quarter shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us where we should go."

When you enter the town, you can find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people won't eat until he arrives, for he must bless the sacrifice. Once that happens, those who have been invited will eat. Now go on up, for this is the time when you can find him!"

"At this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. You must consecrate him as a leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked with favor on my people. Their cry has reached me!"

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, "Here is the man that I told you about! He will rule over my people."

Samuel replied to Saul, "I am the seer! Go up in front of me to the high place! Today you will eat with me and in the morning I will send you away. I will tell you everything that you are thinking.

Then Samuel took a small container of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. Samuel kissed him and said, "The Lord has chosen you to lead his people Israel! You will rule over the Lord's people and you will deliver them from the power of the enemies who surround them. This will be your sign that the Lord has chosen you as leader over his inheritance.

When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin's border. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! He is asking, "What should I do about my son?"'

"As you continue on from there, you will come to the tall tree of Tabor. At that point three men who are going up to God at Bethel will meet you. One of them will be carrying three young goats, one of them will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and one of them will be carrying a container of wine.

They will ask you how you're doing and will give you two loaves of bread. You will accept them.

Afterward you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine officials. When you enter the town, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

Then the spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person.

"When these signs have taken place, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God will be with you.

You will go down to Gilgal before me. I am going to join you there to offer burnt offerings and to make peace offerings. You should wait for seven days, until I arrive and tell you what to do."

Nahash the Ammonite marched against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, "Make a treaty with us and we will serve you."

But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!"

The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Leave us alone for seven days so that we can send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If there is no one who can deliver us, we will come out voluntarily to you."

They said to the messengers who had come, "Here's what you should say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: 'Tomorrow deliverance will come to you when the sun is fully up.'" When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh Gilead, they were happy.

The men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will come out to you and you can do with us whatever you wish."

Then the people said to Samuel, "Who were the ones asking, 'Will Saul reign over us?' Hand over those men so we may execute them!"

But Saul said, "No one will be killed on this day. For today the Lord has given Israel a victory!"

Here I am. Bring a charge against me before the Lord and before his chosen king. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe so that I would overlook something? Tell me, and I will return it to you!"

"When you saw that King Nahash of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, 'No! A king will rule over us' -- even though the Lord your God is your king!

If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him and not rebelling against what he says, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well.

But if you don't obey the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king.

Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the Lord so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by asking for a king for yourselves."

The Lord will not abandon his people because he wants to uphold his great reputation. The Lord was pleased to make you his own people.

As far as I am concerned, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the way that is good and upright.

But if you continue to do evil, both you and your king will be swept away."

I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering."

But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him and the Lord has appointed him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you."

A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, "This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears."

Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come on, let's go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will intervene for us. Nothing can prevent the Lord from delivering, whether by many or by a few."

If they say to us, 'Stay put until we approach you,' we will stay right there and not go up to them.

But if they say, 'Come up against us,' we will go up. For in that case the Lord has given them into our hand -- it will be a sign to us."

Now the men of Israel were hard pressed that day, for Saul had made the army agree to this oath: "Cursed be the man who eats food before evening! I will get my vengeance on my enemies!" So no one in the army ate anything.

Saul said, "Let's go down after the Philistines at night; we will rout them until the break of day. We won't leave any of them alive!" They replied, "Do whatever seems best to you." But the priest said, "Let's approach God here."

So Saul asked God, "Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?" But he did not answer him that day.

For as surely as the Lord, the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!" But no one from the army said anything.

Then he said to all Israel, "You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side." The army replied to Saul, "Do whatever you think is best."

Saul said, "God will punish me severely if Jonathan doesn't die!"

But the army said to Saul, "Should Jonathan, who won this great victory in Israel, die? May it never be! As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of his head will fall to the ground! For it is with the help of God that he has acted today." So the army rescued Jonathan from death.

Saul said to the Kenites, "Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.

Samuel said to Saul, "I will not go back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel!"

Samuel said, "Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!" Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the Lord.

Samuel replied, "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!" But the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.'

Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you should do. You will anoint for me the one I point out to you."

Let our lord instruct his servants who are here before you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then whenever the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he can play the lyre and you will feel better."

If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us."

The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so to defy Israel. But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father's house exempt from tax obligations in Israel."

David asked the men who were standing near him, "What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?"

The soldiers told him what had been promised, saying, "This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down."

David said to Saul, "Don't let anyone be discouraged. Your servant will go and fight this Philistine!"

Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. For he has defied the armies of the living God!"

David went on to say, "The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!" Then Saul said to David, "Go! The Lord will be with you."

The Philistine said to David, "Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!"

This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand! I will strike you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land. Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God

and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves! For the battle is the Lord's, and he will deliver you into our hand."

Saul said, "I will give her to him so that she may become a snare to him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "Today is the second time for you to become my son-in-law."

I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I will speak about you to my father. When I find out what the problem is, I will let you know."

Saul accepted Jonathan's advice and took an oath, "As surely as the Lord lives, he will not be put to death."

Saul sent messengers to David's house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David's wife Michal told him, "If you do not save yourself tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!"

Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me this way by sending my enemy away? Now he has escaped!" Michal replied to Saul, "He said to me, 'Help me get away or else I will kill you!'"

Taking an oath, David again said, "Your father is very much aware of the fact that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, 'Don't let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.' But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!"

David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"