That man would go up from his town each year to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies at Shiloh, where Eli's two sons Hophni and Phineas served as priests of the LORD.

Now the LORD had closed her womb. Her rival would provoke her severely so that she complained loudly because the LORD had closed her womb.

Elkanah would do this year after year, as often as Hannah went up to the house of the LORD. Likewise, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would cry and would not eat.

Hannah got up after she had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the chair by the doorpost of the tent of the LORD.

Deeply distressed, she prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.

Hannah made a vow: "LORD of the Heavenly Armies, if you just look at the misery of your maid servant, remember me, and don't forget your maid servant. If you give your maid servant a son, then I'll give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and a razor is never to touch his head."

They got up early the next morning and worshipped in the LORD's presence, and then they returned and came to their house at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

By the time of the next year's sacrifice, Hannah had become pregnant and had borne a son. She named him Samuel because she said, "I asked the LORD for him."

Then Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the yearly sacrifice to the LORD and pay his vow.

"Do what you want," Elkanah told her. "Stay until you have weaned him, only may the LORD bring about what you've said." So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

Then, when she had weaned him, she brought him up with her to Shiloh, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh, and the boy was young.

Hannah said, "Sir, as surely as you are alive, I'm the woman who stood before you here praying to the LORD.

I prayed for this boy, and the LORD granted me the request I asked of him.

Now I'm dedicating him to the LORD, and as long as he lives, he will be dedicated to the LORD." Then they worshipped the LORD there.

Then Hannah prayed: "My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is increased by the LORD. I will open my mouth to speak against my enemies, because I rejoice in your deliverance.

Indeed, there is no one holy like the LORD, indeed, there is no one besides you, there is no rock like our God.

Don't continue to talk proudly, and don't speak arrogantly, for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

The LORD kills and gives life, he brings people down to where the dead are and he raises them up.

The LORD makes people poor and he makes people rich, he brings them low, and he also exalts them.

He raises the poor up from the dust, he lifts up the needy from the trash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. Indeed the pillars of the earth belong to the LORD, and he has set the world on them.

The LORD will shatter his enemies those who contend against him. Who is holy? The one who will thunder against them in the heavens. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth, he will give strength to his king, and he will increase the strength of His anointed one."

Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah, while the boy was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest.

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men who did not know the LORD.

Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the LORD give you descendants from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD." Then they would return to their home.

The LORD took note of Hannah, and she became pregnant and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel continued to grow, and the LORD was constantly with him.

If a person sins against another, God will mediate for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?"

But they would not follow the advice of their father; for the LORD wanted to put them to death. But the boy Samuel continued to grow both physically and in favor with the LORD and the people.

A man of God came to Eli, saying to him, "This is what the LORD says: "When they were in Egypt and slaves to the house of Pharaoh, did I not reveal to the family of your ancestor Aaron

"Therefore, the LORD God of Israel has declared, "I did, in fact, say that your family and your ancestor's family would walk before me forever,' but now the LORD declares, "Far be it from me! The one who honors me I'll honor, and the one who despises me is to be treated with contempt.

Meanwhile the boy Samuel was serving the LORD before Eli. A word from the LORD was rare in those days, and visions were infrequent.

The lamp of God had not yet been extinguished, and Samuel was lying down in the tent of the LORD where the Ark of God was.

The LORD called out to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am."

Then the LORD again called out, "Samuel!" So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, "Here I am! You called me."

He said, "I didn't call you, my son. Go back and lie down." Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD and had not yet had the word of the LORD revealed to him.

Then the LORD called out to Samuel again a third time, and he got up, went to Eli, and said, "Here I am! You called me."

Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy, so Eli told Samuel, "Go lie down, and then if he calls you, answer, "Speak, LORD, because your servant is listening.'" Then Samuel went and lay down.

Later, the LORD came and stood there, calling out, "Samuel! Samuel!" as he had before. Samuel said, "Speak, because your servant is listening."

"Look," the LORD told Samuel. "I'm about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears it tingle.

Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD, but he was afraid to report the vision to Eli.

Eli said, "What did the LORD say to you? Please don't conceal anything from me. May God do this to you and even more if you conceal from me one word of all that he spoke to you."

So Samuel told him everything he did not conceal anything from him. Eli said, "He is the LORD. May he do what seems good to him."

As Samuel grew, the LORD was with him and did not let any of Samuel's predictions fail.

The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because he revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by means of messages from the LORD.

When the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why did the LORD defeat us today when we fought the Philistines? Let's take the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so it may go with us and deliver us from the power of our enemies."

So the people sent word to Shiloh and took away from there the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, who sits above the cherubim.

Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. When the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a great shout and the earth reverberated!

When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they asked, "What is this noise coming from shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?" Then they realized that the Ark of the LORD had come into the camp,

When the people of Ashdod got up the next morning, there was Dagon, lying on the ground in front of the Ark of the LORD. They took Dagon and put him back in his place.

But when they got up the next morning, there was Dagon, lying on the ground again in front of the Ark of the LORD. Dagon's head and both of his arms were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left intact.

The LORD heavily oppressed the people of Ashdod, devastating and afflicting Ashdod and its territories with tumors of the groin.

After they moved it, the LORD moved against the town, causing a very great panic. He struck the men of the town, from young to old with tumors of the groin.

The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory for seven months.

The Philistines summoned the priests and diviners and asked, "What should we do about the Ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place."

Take the Ark of the LORD, put it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering in a box beside it. Then send it away and let it go.

Keep watching it. If it goes up along the road to its own territory to Beth-shemesh, it's the LORD who has done this great evil to us. But if it does not, then we will know that he wasn't pressuring us. It happened to us as a natural event."

They put the Ark of the LORD, the box, the gold mice, and the images of their tumors on the cart.

The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh, and stopped there. In that place there was a large stone. They broke up the wood from the cart, and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

The descendants of Levi took down the Ark of the LORD, along with the box that was with it, containing the objects of gold, and they put them on the large stone. The men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD that day.

These are the gold tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron.

The gold mice represented the number of all the Philistine towns belonging to the five lords, both fortified towns and unwalled villages. The large stone, beside which they put the Ark of the LORD, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the Ark of the LORD. He struck down 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the LORD struck down the people with a great slaughter.

The men of Beth-shemesh asked themselves, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? And to whom will the Ark go from here?"

They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, who told them, "The Philistines have returned the Ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you."

The men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the Ark of the LORD. They brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated his son Eleazar to care for the Ark of the LORD.

A long time passed it was twenty years from the time the Ark came to reside in Kiriath-jearim, and all the house of Israel mourned because of the LORD.

Then Samuel told the whole house of Israel, "If you're returning to the LORD with all your heart, then remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, direct your hearts back to the LORD, and serve him only. Then he will deliver you from the control of the Philistines."

So the Israelis removed the Baals and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.

Samuel said, "Bring all Israel together at Mizpah, and I'll pray to the LORD on your behalf."

On that day they fasted there and said, "We have sinned against the LORD." Then Samuel judged the Israelis at Mizpah. When the Philistines heard that the Israelis had gathered at Mizpah, the Philistine lords came up against Israel. When the Israelis heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines.

The Israelis told Samuel, "Don't stop crying out to the LORD our God for us that he may deliver us from the hand of the Philistines."

Then Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Samuel cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him.

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines approached to attack Israel. But that day the LORD thundered against the Philistines and threw them into panic, and they were defeated before Israel.

Then Samuel took a stone, placed it between Mizpah and Shen and named it Ebenezer. He said, "The LORD has helped us this far."

The LORD continued to oppose the Philistines all during Samuel's life time. The towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

He would return to Ramah because his house was there, and judged Israel from there. He also built an altar to the LORD there.

Samuel was displeased when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD.

The LORD told Samuel, "Listen to the people in all that they say to you. In fact, it's not you they have rejected, but rather they have rejected me from being their king.

Samuel reported everything the LORD told him to the people who were asking him for a king.

When all of this comes about, you will cry out because of your king whom you chose for yourselves, but the LORD won't answer you at that time."

So Samuel listened to all the words of the people, and he repeated them directly to the LORD.

The LORD told Samuel, "Listen to them, and appoint a king for them." Then Samuel told the men of Israel, "Each of you go to his own town."

Now one day before Saul's arrival, the LORD had revealed to Samuel:

When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, "Here is the man I told you about. This man will rule over my people."

Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, "The LORD has anointed you Commander-in-Chief over his inheritance, has he not?

Then you'll go on further from there and come to the oak at Tabor. There three men going up to the LORD at Bethel will meet you. One will be herding three young goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a bottle of wine.

The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you'll prophesy with them and be changed into a different person.

When these signs occur, do whatever you want to do, because the LORD is with you.

Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah.

He told the Israelis, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of Egypt and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.'

So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?" The LORD said, "He is here, hiding among the baggage."

Then Samuel told all the people, "Do you see the man whom the LORD has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people." Then all the people shouted, "Long live the king!"

He took a yoke of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers through all the territory of Israel: "This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not come out and join Saul and Samuel!" The fear of the LORD fell on the people and they came out as one man.

But Saul said, "Let no one be put to death this day, because today the LORD has delivered Israel."

He told them, "Today the LORD is testifying, along with his anointed, that you haven't found any bribes in my possession." They said, "He's a witness."

Then Samuel told the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up out of the land of Egypt.

After Jacob went to Egypt, and your ancestors cried out to the LORD, he sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

But they forgot the LORD their God, so he handed them over to the domination of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into domination by the Philistines and by the king of Moab, and Israel fought against them.

"Then they cried out to the LORD: "We have sinned because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.'

Then the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel and he delivered you from the hand of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.

But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming to fight you, you told me, "No, let a king rule over us instead,' even though the LORD your God was your king.