The Book of I-Samuel

001	Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.	1:1
002	And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.	1:2
003	This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.	1:3
004	But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb.	1:5
005	Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”	1:11
006	Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”	1:20
007	“The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.	2:6
008	Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.	2:12
009	Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”  And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”	2:15-16
010	Therefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.	2:17
011	Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.	2:22
012	So, he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. If one-man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless, they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.	2:23-25
013	And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favour both with the Lord and men.	2:26
014	But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.	2:30
015	Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.	2:34-35
016	that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!”	3:4
017	So, Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground	3:19
018	Also, the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.	4:11
019	That Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.	4:18
020	Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.	6:19
021	Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.	7:1
022	Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”	7:3
023	So, the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.	7:13
024	Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.	8:1
025	But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.	8:3
026	Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”	8:4-5
027	And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.	8:7
028	There was a man of Benjamin whose 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.	9:1
029	And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.	9:2
030	(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.)	9:9
031	Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying,  “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to me.”	9:15-16
032	Then Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.	12:20
033	Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.	12:24
034	Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.	13:8-9
035	And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.	13:13
036	But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”	13:14
037	Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.  Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”	15:1-3
038	But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.	15:9
039	Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,  “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.	15:10-11
040	Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.	15:22
041	Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”	15:23
042	Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.  Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.	15-:24-27
043	For He (God) is not a man, that He should relent.”	15:29
044	And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.	15:35
045	And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’	16:2
046	For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”	16:7
047	Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So, Samuel arose and went to Ramah.	16:13
048	And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.	17:4
049	Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul.	17:12
050	For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”	17:26
051	But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,  I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.	17:34-35
052	Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.	17:40
053	So, the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.	17:43
054	And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”	17:44
055	Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.	17:45
056	Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”	17:46
057	Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.	17:49
058	So, David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David.	17:50
059	Therefore, David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.	17:51
060	Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.	18:1
061	So, the women sang as they danced, and said: “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.”	18:7
062	Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”	18:8
063	So, Saul eyed David from that day forward.	18:9
064	And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.	18:11
065	Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul	18:12
066	And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him.	18:14-15
067	So, David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”	18:18
068	So, Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?”  And the servants of Saul told him, saying, “In this manner David spoke.”  Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.  So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; Therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.	18:23:25
069	Thus, Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you.  For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”  So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.”	19:4-6
070	And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore, they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”	19:24
071	And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening.	20:5
072	Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?  For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”	20:30-31
073	And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?”  Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.	20:32-33
074	David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so.	20:41
075	So, the priest (Ahimelech) gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.	21:6
076	So, he (David) changed his behaviour before them, feigned madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard.	21:13
077	Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord.	22:17
078	And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So, Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod.	22:18
079	Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.  And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests.	22:20-21
080	Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand	23:14
081	Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.	24:4
082	Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe.	24:5
083	Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’	24:10
084	Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it.	24:11
085	Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you.	24:12
086	As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you.	24:13
087	So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.	24:16
088	Then he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.	24:17
089	For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore, may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.  And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.	24:19-20
090	Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.	25:1
091	Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master.	25:10
092	Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good.	25:21
093	May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”	25:22
094	Now when Abigail saw David, she hastened to dismount from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground.	25:23
095	Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days.	25:28
096	but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling.	25:29
097	But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”	25:31
098	Then it came about, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.	25:38
099	So, when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife.	25:39
100	So, Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.	25:42
101	Then Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph.	26:2
102	So, David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him.	26:7
103	Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”	26:8
104	And David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?”	26:9
105	So, David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul’s head, and they got away; and no man saw it or knew it or awoke. For they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.	26:12
106	And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Do you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you, calling out to the king?” So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king.	26:14-15
107	Then Saul knew David’s voice, and said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”  And he said, “Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand?	26:17-18
108	Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed, I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”	26:21
109	Then Samuel said: “Why then do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy?	28:16
110	And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbour, David.	28:18
111	Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”	28:19
112	Then Achish called David and said to him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and yours going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day, I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless, the lords do not favour you.	29:6
113	So, David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.	30:18
114	Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.”  But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us.	30:22-23
115	But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.”	30:24
116	So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.	30:25
117	Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.	31:2
118	The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.  Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore, Saul took a sword and fell on it.	31:3-4
119	So, Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.	31:6