Now Samuel [was] serving before Yahweh, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor all the offerings made by fire by the {Israelites}.

Therefore,' {declares} Yahweh the God of Israel, 'though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor would walk before me forever, but now,' {declares} Yahweh, 'far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt!

But I will raise up for myself a reliable priest; he will do just according to what [is] in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting house and he will walk continually before my anointed one {forever}.

All the remainder of your household will come to bow down {before} him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, "Please assign me to one of the {priestly offices} so that I can eat a morsel of bread." '"

Then Yahweh came and stood [there] and called out {as before}, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, because your servant [is] listening."

[The] Philistines lined up for the battle to meet Israel, and the battle was prolonged until Israel was defeated before [the] Philistines, {who} killed about four thousand men {on the battlefield}.

When the army came [back] to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why has Yahweh defeated us today before [the] Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to us from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and deliver us from the hand of our enemies."

So [the] Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come to the camp." And they said, "Woe to us, {for this has never happened before!}

Then the messenger answered and said, "Israel has fled before [the] Philistines. There has been a great defeat among the troops. Also, your two sons have died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God has been captured."

Just before the time of her death, those {attending her} said, "Do not fear, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer, or {pay any attention}.

When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, {there was} Dagon fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.

When they got up early in the morning the next day, {there was} Dagon fallen [again] with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! The head of Dagon and the palms of his two hands were cut off, lying at the threshold; only [the body] of Dagon was left.

Then the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who [is] able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom shall it go up from us?"

So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.

{While} Samuel [was] sacrificing the burnt offering, [the] Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against [the] Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel.

He said, "This will be the custom of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots.

so that we {also} may be like all the nations, and our king may rule us and go out before us and fight our battles."

As soon as you enter the town, you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. Then afterward the invited [guests] will eat. So then, go up, because you will find him today!"

Now Yahweh {had revealed this to} Samuel the day before Saul arrived, saying,

So the cook took up the shank and what was on it and put it before Saul, and he said, "Look, {the saved portion} [is] placed {before you}--eat, because it has been kept for you for the appointed time," {and he said}, "I have invited the people." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to pass on before us. When he has passed, you stand here {a while}, so that I can make known to you [the] word of God."

After this, you will come to the Gibeah of God, where there are sentries of [the] Philistines. {Just as you enter} the town there, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place, with harp, tambourine, flute, and zither before them, and they will be prophesying.

Then you will go down before me to Gilgal. Look, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings {and to make} fellowship offerings. You must wait seven days until I come to you. Then I will let you know what you should do."

But you today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, 'No, but you must appoint a king over us!' So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans."

Then Samuel told the people the custom of the kingship, and he wrote [the rules] down on a scroll and laid [it] before Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house.

So all the people went to Gilgal and they made Saul king there before Yahweh in Gilgal. They sacrificed fellowship offerings there before Yahweh. Then Saul rejoiced there greatly [along with] all the men of Israel.

And so then here [is] the king walking about before you. Now I am old and gray, but my sons (look at them!) [are] with you; and I have walked about before you from my youth until this day.

Here I am! Testify against me before Yahweh and before his anointed one! Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe, that I may shut my eyes {regarding} him?-then I will restore it to you."

So then take your stand, so that I may judge you before Yahweh with [regard to] all the [deeds of] justice of Yahweh that he performed with both you and your ancestors.

So then take your stand again and see this great thing that Yahweh [is going to] do before your eyes.

So Jonathan went up on his hands and his feet, with {his armor bearer} after him. They fell before Jonathan and then {his armor bearer} would kill them after him.

Then he said, "I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me {so that I can worship} Yahweh your God."

{When they came}, he saw Eliab and said, "Surely his anointed one [is] before Yahweh!"

Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, "This one also Yahweh has not chosen."

So Jesse made Shammah pass [before Samuel], but he said, "Yahweh also has not chosen this one."

And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, "Yahweh has not chosen any of these."

Please, let our lord command your servants [who are] before you! Let them seek a man skilled in playing on the lyre. {When} the evil spirit from God [is] upon you, he can play {on it} and {you will feel better}."

Then Saul sent [word] to Jesse, saying, "Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor {in my sight}."

He turned around from him to another opposite [him] and {he spoke to him in the same way}, and the people {answered him as before}.

So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. The head of the Philistine [was] in his hand.

Jonathan called to David and told him all of these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was before him as {formerly}.

War came again, so David went out and fought against [the] Philistines and {defeated them thoroughly} so that they fled before him.

He also stripped [off] his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, "[Is] Saul also among the prophets?"

Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, "What have I done? What [is] my guilt and what [is] my sin before your father that [he is] {trying to kill me}?

The king sat at his seat {as before}, the seat by the wall, and Jonathan got up, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David's place was empty.

David answered the priest and said to him, "Indeed, women [were] held back from us {as it has been when I've gone out before}. And the things of the young men are holy when it [is] an ordinary journey. {How much more} {today} will the things be holy?"

So the priest gave him [the] holy [bread], for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which was removed from before Yahweh, in order to set hot bread [there] on the day when it was taken away.

Now there was a man from the servants of Saul on that day, detained before Yahweh, whose name [was] Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds.

So he changed his behavior {before them} and pretended to be mad {in their presence}. He made scratches on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down into his beard.

Do I lack madmen that you have brought this one to act like a madman before me? Should this one enter my household?"

So {he brought them before the king of Moab}, and they stayed with him all the days David was in the stronghold.

Then the two of them {made} a covenant before Yahweh. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went to his house.

Then they got up and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon.

Then she said to her servants, "Go ahead before me; look, I am coming after you," but she did not tell her husband Nabal.

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell on her face before {David's anger}, and she bowed down to the ground.

And so then, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant: If Yahweh has incited you against me, may he delight in an offering; but if {it is mortals}, [may] they be accursed {before} Yahweh, for they have driven me away today from sharing in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, 'Go, serve other gods!'

So then, you also please listen to the voice of your female servant, and let me set before you a morsel of bread, and [you] eat so that {you will have strength} in you when you go on your way."

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

Now [the] Philistines [were] fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before [the] Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

Then the battle {became increasingly fierce} on that day, and Abner and the men of Israel [were] defeated before the servants of David.

So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner {when} the sun went down. And they came to the hill [country] of Ammah, which [is] {before Giah} [on] the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

When David heard this afterwards, he said: "I and my kingdom [are] innocent {before Yahweh} forever [for] the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

David said to Joab and to all the people who [were] with him, "Tear your clothing and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." Now King David [was] following after the bier.

Your hands [were] not tied and your feet [were] not in contact with bronze fetters. You have fallen as one who falls before sons of wickedness." Then {all the people wept over him again}.

Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down."

So David came to Baal Perazim and defeated them there; and David said, "Yahweh has burst through my enemies before me like the bursting of water." Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

{And it shall be} that when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then pay attention, for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike down the army of [the] Philistines."

So they brought it out from the house of Abinadab, which [was] on the hill with the ark of God, and Ahio [was] going before the ark.

Now David and all the house of Israel [were] dancing before Yahweh, with all kinds of [musical instruments made from] ash trees, and with zithers, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

Now David [was] dancing with all [his] might before Yahweh, and David [was] wearing a linen ephod.

It happened that when the ark of Yahweh came [into] the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahweh, and she despised him in her heart.

When David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David. She said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today {by uncovering himself} before the eyes of the maids of his servants, {as the total exposure of a worthless one}."

So David said to Michal, "[In the] presence of Yahweh who chose me {over} your father and {over} his household, to appoint me [as] leader over the people of Yahweh, over Israel, I have celebrated before Yahweh.

But my loyal love shall not depart from him as I took [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before you; your throne shall be established forever." '"

Then King David went and sat before Yahweh and said, "Who [am] I, my lord Yahweh, and what [is] my house that you have brought me up to {this place}?

Your name shall be great forever, {and they will say}, 'Yahweh of hosts [is] God over Israel'; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you.

Joab and all the people who [were] with him moved forward into the battle against Aram, and they fled from before him.

When the {Ammonites} saw that Aram had fled, they fled from before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from [fighting] against the {Ammonites} and came to Jerusalem.

When the Arameans saw that they [were] defeated before Israel, they gathered themselves together.

And Aram fled before Israel, and David killed from [the] Arameans seven hundred chariot teams and forty thousand horsemen. He struck down Shobach, the commander of his army, and he died there.

When all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that he had been defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them, and Aram [was] afraid to help the {Ammonites} any longer.

Thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I [am] going to raise up evil against you from [within] your house, and I will take your women before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor, and he shall sleep with your wives {in broad daylight}.

Though you did this in secret, I will do this thing before all of Israel {in broad daylight}!'"

Then Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed and appear ill. If your father comes to see you, you shall say to him, 'Please let Tamar my sister come and give me food to eat, and let her prepare the food before my eyes, in order that I may see it and eat from her hand.'"

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, "Please let Tamar my sister come, and let her bake two cakes before my eyes that I may eat from her hand."

Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother. Now he [was] lying down, and she took the dough and kneaded [it] and made cakes before his eyes, and she baked the cakes.

Then she took the pan and poured it out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, "Let all [the] men go out from me." So all [the] men went out from him.

So Joab went to the king and he told him. Then he summoned Absalom, and he came to the king, and he bowed down to him with his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed Absalom.

It happened afterward that Absalom made himself a chariot with horses and fifty men running before him.

All his servants [were] passing {by him}: all of the Kerethites and all of the Pelethites and all of the Gittites--six hundred men {who had followed him} from Gath--passing {before the king}.

{Furthermore}, for whom have I served? [Is] it not in the presence of his son that I have served before your father? {So shall I serve you}!"

Then they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he went [in] to the concubines of his father before the eyes of all Israel.

The army of Israel [was] defeated there before the servants of David, and the defeat there was great on that day: twenty thousand.

So the king got up and he sat in the gate, and they told all the army, "Look, the king [is] sitting in the gate." Then all the army came before the king; [whereas] all of Israel had fled, each to his tent.

To Amasa you shall say: '[Are] you not my bones and my flesh? {May God punish me} if you [are] not the commander of my army before me forever, in place of Joab.'"

and a thousand men [were] with him from Benjamin. Too, Ziba the servant of the household of Saul and fifteen of his sons and twenty of his servants [were] with him, and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

{The crossing took place} to bring the household of the king over and to do good in his eyes. Then Shimei the son of Gera fell before the king when he crossed over the Jordan,

For there [was no one] in all the house of my father {who were not doomed to death} before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. Do I have any righteousness any longer except to cry out to the king?"