Finally her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep and not eat? Why are you so sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"

So he said to her, "How often do you intend to get drunk? Put away your wine!"

She said, "May I, your servant, find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and got something to eat. Her face no longer looked sad.

So her husband Elkanah said to her, "Do what you think best. Stay until you have weaned him. May the Lord fulfill his promise." So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

She said, "Just as surely as you are alive, my lord, I am the woman who previously stood here with you in order to pray to the Lord.

He lifts the weak from the dust; he raises the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.

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!"

The sin of these young men was very great in the Lord's sight, for they treated the Lord's offering with contempt.

He said to them, "Why do you behave in this way? For I hear about these evil things from all these people.

A man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: 'Did I not plainly reveal myself to your ancestor's house when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh?

Then he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back and lie down." So he went back and lay down.

The Lord again called, "Samuel!" So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But Eli said, "I didn't call you, my son. Go back and lie down."

Then the Lord called Samuel a third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me!" Eli then realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy.

So Eli said to Samuel, "Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

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.

However, Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son!" He replied, "Here I am."

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.

When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, "What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?" Then they realized that the ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp.

The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. They said, "Too bad for us! We've never seen anything like this!

When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out.

When Eli heard the outcry, he said, "What is this commotion?" The man quickly came and told Eli.

The man said to Eli, "I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!" Eli asked, "How did things go, my son?"

As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, "Don't be afraid! You have given birth to a son!" But she did not reply or pay any attention.

She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured."

When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day, Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place.

When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked both us and our god Dagon!"

So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and said, "Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won't kill us and our people!" The terror of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.

Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight.

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."

The Israelites said to Samuel, "Keep crying out to the Lord our God so that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines!"

They said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons don't follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead us, just like all the other nations have."

But this request displeased Samuel, for they said, "Give us a king to lead us." So Samuel prayed to the Lord.

The Lord said to Samuel, "Do everything the people request of you. For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king.

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

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

So Samuel listened to everything the people said and then reported it to the Lord.

The Lord said to Samuel, "Do as they say and install a king over them." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Each of you go back to his own city."

The donkeys of Saul's father Kish wandered off, so Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys."

When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, "Come on, let's head back before my father quits worrying about the donkeys and becomes anxious about us!"

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."

So Saul said to his servant, "All right, we can go. But what can we bring the man, since the food in our bags is used up? We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?"

So Saul said to his servant, "That's a good idea! Come on. Let's go." So they went to the town where the man of God was.

As they were going up the ascent to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water. They said to them, "Is this where the seer is?"

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

As Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, he said, "Please tell me where the seer's house is."

Samuel said to the cook, "Give me the portion of meat that I gave to you -- the one I asked you to keep with you."

So the cook picked up the leg and brought it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "What was kept is now set before you! Eat, for it has been kept for you for this meeting time, from the time I said, 'I have invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

While they were going down to the edge of town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us." So he did. Samuel then said, "You remain here awhile, so I can inform you of God's message."

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.

Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you."

Saul said to his uncle, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But Saul did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

He said to the Israelites, "This is what the Lord God of Israel says, 'I brought Israel up from Egypt and I delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.

But today you have rejected your God who saves you from all your trouble and distress. You have said, "No! Appoint a king over us." Now take your positions before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.'"

So they inquired again of the Lord, "Has the man arrived here yet?" The Lord said, "He has hidden himself among the equipment."

Then Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the one whom the Lord has chosen? Indeed, there is no one like him among all the people!" All the people shouted out, "Long live the king!"

Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.

But some wicked men said, "How can this man save us?" They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it.

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."

He took a pair of oxen and cut them up. Then he sent the pieces throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, who said, "Whoever does not go out after Saul and after Samuel should expect this to be done to his oxen!" Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out as one army.

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!"

Samuel said to the people, "Come on! Let's go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there."

Samuel said to all Israel, "I have done everything you requested. I have given you a king.

He said to them, "The Lord is witness against you, and his chosen king is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me." They said, "He is witness!"

Samuel said to the people, "The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt.

"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!

"So now, take your positions and watch this great thing that the Lord is about to do in your sight.

All the people said to Samuel, "Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of us -- your servants -- so we won't die, for we have added to all our sins by asking for a king."

Then Samuel said to the people, "Don't be afraid. You have indeed sinned. However, don't turn aside from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart.

So Saul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings." Then he offered a burnt offering.

But Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul replied, "When I saw that the army had started to abandon me and that you didn't come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash,

Then Samuel said to Saul, "You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed the commandment that the Lord your God gave you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!

Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

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."

They charged two-thirds of a shekel to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments, and a third of a shekel to sharpen picks and axes, and to set ox goads.

Then one day Jonathan son of Saul said to his armor bearer, "Come on, let's go over to the Philistine garrison that is opposite us." But he did not let his father know.

Now there was a steep cliff on each side of the pass through which Jonathan intended to go to reach the Philistine garrison. One cliff was named Bozez, the other Seneh.

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."

His armor bearer said to him, "Do everything that is on your mind. Do as you're inclined. I'm with you all the way!"

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

When they made themselves known to the Philistine garrison, the Philistines said, "Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they hid themselves."

Then the men of the garrison said to Jonathan and his armor bearer, "Come on up to us so we can teach you a thing or two!" Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come up behind me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel!"

So Saul said to the army that was with him, "Muster the troops and see who is no longer with us." When they mustered the troops, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

So Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring near the ephod," for he was at that time wearing the ephod.

While Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistines' camp was becoming greater and greater. So Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand!"

The Hebrews who had earlier gone over to the Philistine side joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

Then Jonathan said, "My father has caused trouble for the land. See how my eyes gleamed when I tasted just a little of this honey.

Now it was reported to Saul, "Look, the army is sinning against the Lord by eating even the blood." He said, "All of you have broken the covenant! Roll a large stone over here to me."

Then Saul said, "Scatter out among the army and say to them, 'Each of you bring to me your ox and sheep and slaughter them in this spot and eat. But don't sin against the Lord by eating the blood." So that night each one brought his ox and slaughtered it there.

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."

Then Saul said, "All you leaders of the army come here. Find out how this sin occurred today.

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.