And there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim from the hills of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.

And he had two wives, the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the second, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Jehovah, and wept sorely.

Now Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. And Eli thought she had become drunk.

And she said, Let your handmaid find grace in your sight. So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls and one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of Jehovah in Shiloh. And the child was young.

For this boy I was praying, and Jehovah has given me my petition which I asked of Him.

And the priests' custom with the people was: If any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand.

And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah. For men despised the offering of Jehovah.

And Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who gathered at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And the child Samuel served Jehovah before Eli. And the Word of Jehovah was rare in those days. There was no open vision.

And it happened at that time, when Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes began to become dim so that he could not see.

And the lamp of God had not gone out. And Samuel was lying down in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was.

And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah.

And the word of Samuel was revealed to all Israel. And Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer. And the Philistines pitched in Aphek.

And the Philistines put themselves in order against Israel. And the battle was joined. And Israel was beaten before the Philistines. And they killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.

And the Philistines fought, and Israel was beaten, and each one of them fled into his tent. And there was a very great slaughter, for there fell thirty thousand footmen of Israel.

And the ark of God was taken. And Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were slain.

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

And it happened when he spoke of the ark of God, he fell backward off the seat, by the side of the gate. And his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, ready to be delivered. And when she heard the report that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed, for her pains came upon her.

And when they arose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. And the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands, were cut off upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

And the hand of Jehovah was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He destroyed them and struck them with hemorrhoids, Ashdod and its borders.

And the men of Ashdod saw that it was so. And they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us. For His hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god.

And it happened after they had carried it around, the hand of Jehovah was against the city with a very great destruction. And He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and hemorrhoids broke forth in them.

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, so that it does not kill us and our people. For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there.

And the ark of Jehovah was in the field of the Philistines seven months.

And they said, What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him? And they answered, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines. For one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

And watch. If it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us. It was a chance that happened to us.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there and there was a great stone. And they cut the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

And it happened as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But Jehovah thundered with a great noise on that day on the Philistines, and troubled them. And they were beaten before Israel.

And the Philistines were beaten, and they did not come any more into the border of Israel. And the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were given back to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath. And Israel delivered its borders out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

And his return was to Ramah, for his house was there. And he judged Israel there. And he built an altar there to Jehovah.

And it happened when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

And the name of his first-born was Joel, and the name of his second was Abiah, judges in Beer-sheba.

But the thing was evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Jehovah.

And there was a man of Benjamin, and his name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

And he had a son named Saul, a young and handsome one. And there was not a man among the sons of Israel more handsome than he, being taller than any of the people from his shoulder and upward.

And they came to the land of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant who was with him, Come and let us return lest my father quit caring for the asses, and be anxious about us.

(In the old days in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said this: Come, let us go to the seer, for the prophet of today was before called a seer.)

And Saul said to his young man, Your word is good. Come, let us go. So they went into the city where the man of God was.

And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken. And they looked for him, but he could not be found.

And they ran and brought him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than all of the people from the shoulders and upward.

But the sons of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no present. But he was silent.

And the Spirit of God came powerfully on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly.

And it was so on the next day, Saul put the people in three companies, and they came into the middle of the army at the morning watch. And they killed the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And the ones who remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

And when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, even though Jehovah your God was your King.

But if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah, but rebel against the command of Jehovah, then the hand of Jehovah shall be against you as it was against your fathers.

And the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. And Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling.

And there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel. For the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.

And there was the charge of a pim for the plowshares, and for the mattocks, and for the three-pronged forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the plowshares.

And it happened in the day of battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan. But with Saul and with his son Jonathan there was found sword and spear.

And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, Jehovah's priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan was gone.

And between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. And the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

The one crag was a pillar on the north in front of Michmash, and the other southward in front of Gibeah.

And this was the first blow, when Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck about twenty men in about half of a furrow of an acre of a field.

And there was trembling in the army, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the spoilers also trembled, and the earth quaked, and it was a very great trembling.

And Saul said to Ahiah, Bring the ark of God here. For the ark of God was at that time with the sons of Israel.

And Saul and all the people with him gathered, and they went to the battle. And, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, a very great panic.

And all the men of the land came into a forest, and there was honey on the ground.

And Saul built an altar to Jehovah. The same was the first altar that he built to Jehovah.

For, as Jehovah lives, He who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered.

And Saul said, Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan. And Jonathan was taken.

And the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchishua. And the names of his two daughters: the first-born's name was Merab, and the name of the younger, Michal.

And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

And Kish was the father of Saul. And Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

And the war was heavy against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any brave man, he took him to himself.

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not completely destroy them. But everything that was vile and feeble they completely destroyed.

And when Samuel rose up early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told to Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a place for himself, and has gone around and passed on and gone down to Gilgal.

And he sent and brought him in. And he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and good form. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him. For this is he.

And it happened when the spirit from God was on Saul, that David took a harp and played with his hand. And there was relief for Saul, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.

And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side. And there was a valley between them.

And a champion named Goliath came out of the Philistines camp; he was from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.

And a bronze helmet was on his head, and he was armed with scaled armor. And the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.

And greaves of bronze were on his legs, and a bronze javelin was between his shoulders.

And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam. And his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And the shield bearer went in front of him.

And David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem-judah named Jesse. And to him were eight sons. And the man was old among men in the days of Saul.

And David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul.

And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and got up and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the barricade, and to the army which was going out to fight, and shouted for the battle.

And he was speaking with them. And, behold, the champion man, named Goliath, the Philistine of Gath, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to these words. And David heard.

And his oldest brother Eliab heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David. And he said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the naughtiness of your heart. For you have come down to see the battle.

And David said, What have I done now? Was it not only a word?

And he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones out of the brook for himself, and put them in a shepherd's vessel which he had, even in a bag. And his sling was in his hand. And he drew near the Philistine.

And the Philistine came on and drew near David. And the man who bore the shield was before him.

And the Philistine looked and saw David, and disdained him. For he was only a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.

And David was stronger than the Philistine with a sling and with a stone. And he struck the Philistine, and killed him. But no sword was in the hand of David.

And David ran and stood on the Philistine, and took out his sword and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and fled.

And it happened when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as he did his own soul.

And Jonathan stripped off the robe was on him and gave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle.

And David went out wherever Saul sent him, behaving himself wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and it was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

And Saul was very angry, and this thing was evil in his eyes. And he said, They have given David ten thousands, and to me they have given only thousands. And what more can he have but the kingdom?

And it happened on the next day the evil spirit from God came on Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David played with his hand, as at other times. And a spear was in Saul's hand.

And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him and had departed from Saul.

And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways. And Jehovah was with him.

And when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

And it happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to be his wife.

And when his servants told David these words, it was right in the eyes of David to be the king's son-in-law. And the days were not fulfilled.