Israel lives in safety, the fountain of Jacob is quite secure, in a land of grain and new wine; indeed, its heavens rain down dew.

Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it, but you will not cross over there.”

That day the Lord brought honor to Joshua before all Israel. They respected him all his life, just as they had respected Moses.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.

Gideon said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, then give me a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me.

But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today!”

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison.

When he looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?”

Ruth knelt before him with her forehead to the ground and said to him, “Why are you so kind and so attentive to me, even though I am a foreigner?”

She said, “You really are being kind to me, sir, for you have reassured and encouraged me, your servant, even though I am not one of your servants!”

She said, “May I, your servant, find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and got something to eat. Her face no longer looked sad.

Any one of you that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and will cause you grief. All of those born to your family will die in the prime of life.

So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.”

Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight.

But this request displeased Samuel, for they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.

But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!”

Then Jonathan said, “My father has caused trouble for the land. See how my eyes gleamed when I tasted just a little of this honey.

Samuel said, “Is it not true that when you were insignificant in your own eyes, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord chose you as king over Israel.

So Jesse had him brought in. Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!”