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!

Saul<n id="1" /> again replied, &#8220;I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Go back with me so I may worship the <sc>Lordsc> your God.&#8221;

Then the Philistine said, &#8220;I defy Israel&#8217;s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight<n id="1" /> each other!&#8221;

Then David said, &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning<n id="1" /> to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, please inform your servant!&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said, &#8220;He will come down.&#8221;

So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find<n id="1" /> David and his men in the region of<n id="2" /> the rocks of the mountain goats.<n id="3" />

Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea?

<t /><p class="bodytext">Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran.<n id="1" />p>

The <sc>Lordsc> will do for my lord everything that he promised you,<n id="1" /> and he will make<n id="2" /> you a leader over Israel.

So Saul arose andp> <p class="bodytext">went down to the desert of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand select men of Israel, to look for David in the desert of Ziph.

<p class="bodytext">Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown.<n id="1" /> In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums<n id="2" /> and magicians<n id="3" /> from the land.

He would jab it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot, and everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all the Israelites<n id="1" /> when they came there to Shiloh.p>

<p class="bodytext">Now Eli was very old when he heard about everything that his sons used to do to all the people of Israel<n id="1" /> and how they used to have sex with<n id="2" /> the women who were stationed at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

<p class="bodytext">Therefore the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of Israel, says, &#8216;I really did say<n id="1" /> that your house and your ancestor&#8217;s house would serve<n id="2" /> me forever.&#8217; But now the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;May it never be!<n id="3" /> For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!

<p class="bodytext">When the army<n id="1" /> came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, &#8220;Why did the <sc>Lordsc> let us be defeated today by<n id="2" /> the Philistines? Let&#8217;s take with us the ark of the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc> from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us<n id="3" /> from the hand of our enemies.p>

The messenger replied, &#8220;Israel has fled from<n id="1" /> the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli<n id="1" /> fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he<n id="2" /> was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.p>

When the people<n id="1" /> of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, &#8220;The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked<n id="2" /> both us and our god Dagon!&#8221;p>

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.p> <p class="bodytext">But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying, &#8220;They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here<n id="1" /> to kill our<n id="2" /> people!&#8221;

So they assembled<n id="1" /> all the leaders of the Philistines and said, &#8220;Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won&#8217;t kill us<n id="2" /> and our<n id="3" /> people!&#8221; The terror<n id="4" /> of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.<n id="5" />