'Lord' in the Bible

This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.

But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving.

Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving.

Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears.

Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”

“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord.

The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”

When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to the Lord,

Her husband Elkanah replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your word.” So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him.

“Please, my lord,” she said, “as sure as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.

I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked Him for,

I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” Then he bowed in worship to the Lord there.

Hannah prayed:My heart rejoices in the Lord;my horn is lifted up by the Lord.My mouth boasts over my enemies,because I rejoice in Your salvation.

There is no one holy like the Lord.There is no one besides You!And there is no rock like our God.

Do not boast so proudly,or let arrogant words come out of your mouth,for the Lord is a God of knowledge,and actions are weighed by Him.

The Lord brings death and gives life;He sends some to Sheol, and He raises others up.

The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth;He humbles and He exalts.

Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered;He will thunder in the heavens against them.The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.He will give power to His king;He will lift up the horn of His anointed.

Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord

So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord, because they treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.

Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the Lord.” Then they would go home.

The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him, but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to kill them.

By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men.

A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Didn’t I reveal Myself to your ancestral house when it was in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace?

“Therefore, this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel:‘Although I saidyour family and your ancestral housewould walk before Me forever,the Lord now says, “No longer!”I will honor those who honor Me,but those who despise Me will be disgraced.

The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.

Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.

Then the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”

Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”

Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy.

He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If He calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”Samuel responded, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about it will shudder.

So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. He will do what He thinks is good.”

Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied.

All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord.

The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word. >

When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.

The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp,

When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.

But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. This time, both Dagon’s head and the palms of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained.

The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, terrorizing and afflicting the people of Ashdod and its territory with tumors.

When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,

the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”

Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way.

Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.

The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

The Levites removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord.

As a restitution offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. The large rock on which the ark of the Lord was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.

God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down 70 men out of 50,000 men. The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter.

The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of this holy Lord God? Who should the ark go to from here?”

They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.”

So the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill. They consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the Lord.

Samuel told them, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, dedicate yourselves to the Lord, and worship only Him. Then He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.”

So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths and only worshiped the Lord.

Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.”

When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that day, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, so that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

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

Samuel was offering the burnt offering as the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel. The Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel.

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.”

Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, he judged Israel there, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord.

But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king.

When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you on that day.”

Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the Lord.

“Listen to them,” the Lord told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.”Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”

Now the day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had informed Samuel,

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about; he will rule over My people.”

Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it out on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t the Lord anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

The Spirit of the Lord will control you, you will prophesy with them, and you will be transformed into a different person.

Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah

and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’

But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to Him, ‘You must set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

They again inquired of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”The Lord replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.”

Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among the entire population.”And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

Samuel proclaimed to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll, which he placed in the presence of the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his home.

He took a team of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the land of Israel by messengers who said, “This is what will be done to the ox of anyone who doesn’t march behind Saul and Samuel.” As a result, the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out united.

But Saul ordered, “No one will be executed this day, for today the Lord has provided deliverance in Israel.”

Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged or mistreated? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to overlook something? I will return it to you.”

He said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today that you haven’t found anything in my hand.”“He is a witness,” they said.

Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord, who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt, is a witness.

Now present yourselves, so I may confront you before the Lord about all the righteous acts He has done for you and your ancestors.

“When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

But they forgot the Lord their God, so He handed them over to Sisera commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. These enemies fought against them.

Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the power of our enemies, and we will serve You.’

So the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. He rescued you from the power of the enemies around you, and you lived securely.

But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king rule over us’—even though the Lord your God is your king.

“Now here is the king you’ve chosen, the one you requested. Look, this is the king the Lord has placed over you.

If you fear the Lord, worship and obey Him, and if you don’t rebel against the Lord’s command, then both you and the king who rules over you will follow the Lord your God.

However, if you disobey the Lord and rebel against His command, the Lord’s hand will be against you and against your ancestors.