David went on to say, &#8220;As the <sc>Lordsc> lives, the <sc>Lordsc> himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away.

So let my lord the king now listen to the words of his servant. If the <sc>Lordsc> has incited you against me, may he take delight in<n id="1" /> an offering. But if men have instigated this,<n id="2" /> may they be cursed before the <sc>Lordsc>! For they have driven me away this day from being united with the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s inheritance, saying, &#8216;Go on, serve other gods!&#8217;

She made a vow saying, &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc> of hosts, if you will look with compassion<n id="1" /> on the suffering of your female servant,<n id="2" /> remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child<n id="3" /> to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the <sc>Lordsc> all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<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" />

If the individual said to him, &#8220;First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish,&#8221; he would say, &#8220;No!<n id="1" /> Hand it over right now! If you don&#8217;t, I will take it forcibly!&#8221;p>

So Eli said to Samuel, &#8220;Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, &#8220;Speak, <sc>Lordsc>, for your servant is listening.&#8221; So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.p>

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>

<p class="bodytext">They replied, &#8220;If you are going to send the ark of<n id="1" /> the God of Israel back, don&#8217;t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you.&#8221;

Samuel said to all the people of Israel, &#8220;If you are really turning to the <sc>Lordsc> with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth.<n id="1" /> Give your hearts to the <sc>Lordsc> and serve only him. Then he will deliver you<n id="2" /> from the hand of the Philistines.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">The elders of Jabesh said to him, &#8220;Leave us alone for seven days so that we can send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If there is no one who can deliver us, we will come out voluntarily to you.&#8221;p>

If you fear the <sc>Lordsc>, serving him and obeying him<n id="1" /> and not rebelling against what he says,<n id="2" /> and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the <sc>Lordsc> your God, all will be well.<n id="3" />

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army, &#8220;Whose son is this young man, Abner?&#8221; Abner replied, &#8220;As surely as you live, O king, I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">Saul sent messengers to David&#8217;s house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David&#8217;s wife Michal told him, &#8220;If you do not save yourself<n id="1" /> tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!&#8221;

If your father happens to miss me, you should say, &#8216;David urgently requested me to let him go<n id="1" /> to his city Bethlehem,<n id="2" /> for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.&#8217;

You must be loyal<n id="1" /> to your servant, for you have made a covenant with your servant in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s name.<n id="2" /> If I am guilty,<n id="3" /> you yourself kill me! Why bother taking me to your father?&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Jonathan said, &#8220;Far be it from you to suggest this! If I were at all aware that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn&#8217;t I tell you about it?&#8221;

When I send a boy after them, I will say, &#8220;Go and find the arrows.&#8221; If I say to the boy, &#8216;Look, the arrows are on this side of you;<n id="1" /> get them,&#8217; then come back. For as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives, you will be safe and there will no problem.

He said, &#8216;Permit me to go,<n id="1" /> for we are having a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother urged<n id="2" /> me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go<n id="3" /> to see my brothers.&#8217; For that reason he has not come to the king&#8217;s table.&#8221;p>

David said to the priest, &#8220;Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers&#8217;<n id="1" /> equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the <sc>Lordsc> in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.