<p class="bodytext">The man said to Eli, &#8220;I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!&#8221; Eli<n id="1" /> asked, &#8220;How did things go, my son?&#8221;

But if I say to the boy, &#8220;Look, the arrows are on the other side of you,&#8217;<n id="1" /> get away. For in that case the <sc>Lordsc> has sent you away.

May the <sc>Lordsc> judge between the two of us, and may the <sc>Lordsc> vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you.

Eli<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;What message did he speak to you? Don&#8217;t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely<n id="2" /> if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!&#8221;p>

Why are you<n id="1" /> scorning my sacrifice and my offering that I commanded for my dwelling place?<n id="2" /> 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.&#8217;p>

<p class="bodytext">So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> will do what he pleases.&#8221;<n id="2" />

The Israelites said to Samuel, &#8220;Keep<n id="1" /> crying out to the <sc>Lordsc> our<n id="2" /> God so that he may save us<n id="3" /> from the hand of the Philistines!&#8221;

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

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.p>

<p class="bodytext">When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, &#8220;Come on, let&#8217;s head back before my father quits worrying about the donkeys and becomes anxious about us!&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal<n id="1" /> to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.<n id="2" /> Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

<p class="bodytext">When they<n id="1" /> made themselves known to the Philistine garrison, the Philistines said, &#8220;Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they hid themselves.&#8221;

Samuel said to him, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to one of your colleagues who is better than you!

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand.<n id="2" />

When the servant came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called out to<n id="1" /> the servant, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t the arrow further beyond you?&#8221;

He said to David, &#8220;You are more innocent<n id="1" /> than I, for you have treated me well, even though I have tried to harm you!

The king said to her, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid! What have you seen?&#8221; The woman replied to Saul, &#8220;I have seen one like a god<n id="1" /> coming up from the ground!&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim,<n id="1" /> from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

<p class="bodytext">Even before they burned the fat, the priest&#8217;s attendant would come and say to the person who was making the sacrifice, &#8220;Hand over some meat for the priest to roast! He won&#8217;t take boiled meat from you, but only raw.&#8221;<n id="1" />

Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, &#8220;May the <sc>Lordsc> raise up for you descendants<n id="1" /> from this woman to replace the one that she<n id="2" /> dedicated to the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221; Then they would go to their<n id="3" /> home.