Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she asked for which was dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would return to their own home.

And [the time came when] the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant, and was about to give birth; so when she heard the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, because her [labor] pains began.

And about the time of her death [following the sudden birth] the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay any attention.

And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has left Israel,” because the ark of God had been taken and because of [the deaths of] her father-in-law and her husband.

She said, “The glory has left Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.”

Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer (stone of help), saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was [instead] given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare (bad influence, source of trouble) to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David for a second time, “You shall be my son-in-law today.”

And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

(now the man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was a Calebite).

She said to her young men (servants), “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

It happened that as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by [way of] the hidden part of the mountain, that suddenly David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them.

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from the donkey, and kneeled face downward before David and bowed down to the ground [in respect].

Kneeling at his feet she said, “My lord, let the blame and guilt be on me alone. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.

that this [incident] will not cause grief or [bring] a troubled conscience to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember [with favor] your maidservant.”

So David accepted what she had brought to him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and have granted your request.”

Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.

And she stood and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is [ready to be] a maid to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”

Then Abigail quickly got up, and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed with a loud voice; and she said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid respect [to him].

The woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly troubled, and she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to everything you said to me.

The woman had a fattened calf in the house; she quickly killed it, and took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread.

She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that night.

Then, as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter [David’s wife], looked down from the window above and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she felt contempt for him in her heart [because she thought him undignified].

One evening David got up from his couch and was walking on the [flat] roof of the king’s palace, and from there he saw a woman bathing; and she was very beautiful in appearance.

David sent messengers and took her. When she came to him, he lay with her. And when she was purified from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.

When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.

And when the time of mourning was past, David sent word and had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done [with Bathsheba] was evil in the sight of the Lord.

David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. And the Lord loved the child;

Amnon was so frustrated because of his [half-] sister Tamar that he made himself sick, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.

So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was in bed. And she took dough and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked them.

She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Have everyone leave me.” So everyone left him [except Tamar].

Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her [half-] brother Amnon.

When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”

She replied, “No, my brother! Do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this disgraceful thing!

But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.

But she said, “No, because this wrong of sending me away is worse than the other that you have done to me!” But he would not listen to her.

So Tamar put dust on her head [in grief] and tore the long-sleeved robe which she had on, and she put her hand on her head and went away crying out [for help].

When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she bowed with her face to the ground and lay herself down, and said, “Help, O king.”

The king asked her, “What is the matter?” She said, “Truly I am a widow; my husband is dead.

Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And David said, “As the Lord lives, not a single hair [from the head] of your son shall fall to the ground.”

The woman said, “Now why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? For in speaking this word the king is like a guilty man, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.

To Absalom were born three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.

So when he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your maidservant.” He answered, “I am listening.”

Then she said, “In the past people used to say, ‘They will certainly ask advice at Abel,’ and so they settled the dispute.

So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night.

The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king was not intimate with her.

She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’

While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.

Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah [my sister] did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, [both of] whom he murdered; avenging the blood of war in [a time of] peace. And he put the [innocent] blood of war [of Abner and Amasa] on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals on his feet.

Now Adonijah the son of [David and] Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, “Do you come in peace?” And he said, “In peace.”

Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.”

So now I am making one request of you; do not refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.”

Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.”

The king said to him, “Do as he has said. Strike him down and bury him, so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the innocent blood which Joab shed.

Now this woman’s son died during the night, because she lay on him [and smothered him].

So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from [his place] beside me while your maidservant was asleep, and laid him on her bosom, and laid her dead son on my bosom.

Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply moved over her son, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”

Then the king said, “Give the first woman [who is pleading for his life] the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”

Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with riddles.

So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan (entourage), with camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her mind [to discover the extent of his wisdom].

the food on his table, the seating of his servants (court officials), the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, his stairway by which he went up to the house (temple) of the Lord, she was breathless and awed [by the wonder of it all].

Then she told the king, “The report which I heard in my own land about your words and wisdom is true!

She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come in [to Israel] as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

King Solomon [in turn] gave to the queen of Sheba everything that she wanted, whatever she asked, besides what he gave to her from his royal bounty. So she returned to her own country, she and her servants.

Jeroboam’s wife did so. She got up and went [twenty miles] to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.

And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you about her son, because he is sick. You shall say such and such to her, for when she arrives, she will pretend to be another woman.”

So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another woman? For I have been sent to you [by God] with a harsh message.

So Jeroboam’s wife arose and left and came to Tirzah [the king’s residence]. As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child [Abijah] died.

He also deposed his [great-grand]mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid (obscene, vulgar) image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her horrid image, and burned it by the Brook Kidron.

As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”

But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. See, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it [as our last meal] and die.”

She went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.

So she said to Elijah, “What [problem] is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to mind and to put my son to death?”

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.

Now in the letters she wrote, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;

When he turned around and looked at them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore to pieces forty-two of the boys.

Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have [of value] in the house?” She said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a [small] jar of [olive] oil.”

So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing her the containers as she poured [the oil].

When the containers were all full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” And he said to her, “There is not a one left.” Then the oil stopped [multiplying].

Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

She said to her husband, “Behold, I sense that this is a holy man of God who frequently passes our way.

And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her and she stood before him.

Now he said to Gehazi, “Say to her now, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us; what can I do for you? Would you like to be mentioned to the king or to the captain of the army?’” She answered, “I live among my own people [in peace and security and need no special favors].”

Later Elisha said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old.”

He said, “Call her.” So Gehazi called her, and she [came and] stood in the doorway.

Elisha said, “At this season next year, you will embrace a son.” She said, “No, my lord. O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.”

She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door [of the small upper room] behind him and left.

Then she called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may run to the man of God and return.”

He said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It will be all right.”

Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Drive [the animal] fast; do not slow down the pace for me unless I tell you.”

So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman.

Please run now to meet her and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she answered, “It is well.”

When she came to the mountain to the man of God, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is desperate and troubled within her; and the Lord has hidden the reason from me and has not told me.”

Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not give me false hope’?”