Eli replied, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request that you have asked of him.”

Why are you scorning my sacrifice and my offering that I commanded for my dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than you have me by having made yourselves fat from the best parts of all the offerings of my people Israel.’

You will see trouble in my dwelling place! Israel will experience blessings, but there will not be an old man in your house for all time.

When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the ground shook.

So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle.

It was quite a long time – some twenty years in all – that the ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim. All the people of Israel longed for the Lord.

The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep crying out to the Lord our God so that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines!”

So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.

Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.

So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places.

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

The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they say and install a king over them.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go back to his own city.”

He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people.

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!”

Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done everything you requested. I have given you a king.

The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, and cisterns.

A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.”

So all Israel had to go down to the Philistines in order to get their plowshares, cutting instruments, axes, and sickles sharpened.

So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” for he was at that time wearing the ephod.