And Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to thee than ten sons?

And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk; (now Eli the priest sat upon the seat by the door-post of the temple of Jehovah;)

And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him to Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

And Eli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before Jehovah.

And Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition which thou hast asked of him.

And she said, Let thy bondwoman find grace in thy sight. And the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more as before.

But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, I will wait until the child is weaned; then will I bring him, that he may appear before Jehovah, and there abide for ever.

And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what is good in thy sight: abide until thou hast weaned him; only, may Jehovah fulfil his word. And the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.

And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here to pray to Jehovah.

And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exulteth in Jehovah, my horn is lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth is opened wide over mine enemies; for I rejoice in thy salvation.

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; from the dung-hill he lifteth up the needy, To set him among nobles; and he maketh them inherit a throne of glory; For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's, and he hath set the world upon them.

Even before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, and he will not accept sodden flesh of thee, but raw.

If the man said to him, They will immediately burn the fat entire, then take as thy soul desires; he would say to him, No, but thou shalt give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to Jehovah. And they went to their own home.

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

And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Did I plainly reveal myself to the house of thy father when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh's house,

Wherefore Jehovah the God of Israel saith, I said indeed, Thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever. But now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

that Jehovah called to Samuel. And he said, Here am I.

And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call: lie down again. And he went and lay down.

And Jehovah called again, Samuel! And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call, my son: lie down again.

And Jehovah called again the third time, Samuel! And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah was calling the boy.

And Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at the other times, Samuel, Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant heareth.

And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

And Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here am I.

And he said, What is the word that he has spoken to thee? I pray thee, keep it not back from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou keep back anything from me of all the word that he spoke to thee.

And Samuel told him all the words, and kept nothing back from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what is good in his sight.

And what Samuel had said happened to all Israel. And Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

And the people came into the camp; and the elders of Israel said, Why has Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch ourselves the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of Shiloh, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies.

And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and said, What is the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of Jehovah had come into the camp.

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there has not been such a thing heretofore.

And when he came, behold, Eli was sitting upon the seat by the way-side watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out.

And Eli heard the noise of the crying, and said, What is the noise of this tumult? And the man came hastily, and told Eli.

Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, that he could not see.

And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the battle, and I have fled to-day out of the battle. And he said, What has taken place, my son?

And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

And it came to pass, when he mentioned the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died; for the man was old, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

And as she was dying, the women that stood by her said, Fear not; for thou hast borne a son. But she did not answer, neither did she take it to heart.

And she said, The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.

And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

And when they of Ashdod arose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is severe upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they said, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.

And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it kill us not, and our people. For there was deadly alarm throughout the city: the hand of God was very heavy there;

And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; ye must at any rate return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

Then they said, What is the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague is upon them all, and upon your lords.

and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart, and the golden jewels, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, put in the coffer by the side thereof; and send it away that it may go.

and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and villages of the peasantry; and they brought them as far as the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, which is to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite.

And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray Jehovah for you.

And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Jehovah, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against Jehovah. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.

And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry to Jehovah our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

And Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, and said, Hitherto Jehovah has helped us.

and said to him, Behold, thou art become old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now appoint us a king to judge us, like all the nations.

And the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Jehovah.

And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, on his chariot and among his horsemen, and they shall run before his chariots;

And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his chamberlains and to his servants.

And the people refused to hearken to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,

And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go ye every man to his city.

And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost; and Kish said to Saul his son, Take, I pray, one of the young men with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

They had come to the land of Zuph when Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come and let us return; lest my father give up the asses, and be anxious about us.

And he said to him, Behold now, a man of God is in this city, and the man is held in honour; all that he says comes surely to pass. Let us now go thither: perhaps he will shew us the way that we should go.

And Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and we have no present to give to the man of God: what have we?

And the servant answered Saul again and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver; that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.

(In former time in Israel, when a man went to ask counsel of God, he said, Come and let us go to the seer; for he that is now called a Prophet was in former time called a Seer.)

And Saul said to his servant, Well said: come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was.

As they went up the ascent to the city, they met maidens going forth to draw water; and they said to them, Is the seer here?

And they answered them and said, He is; behold, he is before thee: make haste now, for he came to-day to the city; for the people have a sacrifice to-day in the high place.

And Saul drew near to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is.

And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer: go up before me to the high place, and ye shall eat with me to-day; and to-morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thy heart.

And as for the asses that thou didst lose three days ago, set not thy heart on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel set? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house?

And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjaminite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? and why dost thou speak such words to me?

And Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion that I gave thee, of which I said to thee, Set it by thee.

And the cook took up the shoulder, and what was on it, and set it before Saul. And he said, Behold that which has been reserved! set it before thee, eat; for against the set time has it been kept for thee, since I said, I will invite the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

As they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Tell the servant to pass on before us (and he passed on), but stand thou still now, that I may cause thee to hear the word of God.

Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has anointed thee prince over his inheritance?

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

And a man of that place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

And Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that they were nowhere, we went to Samuel.

And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said to you.

And Saul said to his uncle, He told us for certain that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he told him not.

And he said to the children of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you;

but ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your troubles, and have said unto him, Nay, but a king shalt thou set over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes, and by your thousands.

And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Jehovah has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted and said, May the king live.

But the children of Belial said, How should this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no gifts. But he was as one deaf.

And Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh-Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

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

And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Allow us seven days, and we will send messengers into all the districts of Israel; and if there be no man to deliver us, we will come out to thee.

And behold, Saul came after the oxen from the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

And they said to the messengers that had come, Thus shall ye say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: To-morrow ye shall have deliverance when the sun is hot. And the messengers came and informed the men of Jabesh-Gilead; and they were glad.

And the men of Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out to you, and ye may do with us according to all that is good in your sight.

And it came to pass the next day that Saul set the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and smote Ammon until the heat of the day: and it came to pass that they who remained were scattered, and not two of them were left together.

And the people said to Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.

But Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day; for to-day Jehovah has wrought deliverance in Israel.

And Samuel said to the people, Come and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.

And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that ye said to me, and have made a king over you.

And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, and thou hast not injured us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.

And he said to them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand! And the people said, He is witness!