but Hannah did not go up with them.<n id="1" /> Instead she told her husband, &#8220;Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him and appear before the <sc>Lordsc>, and he will remain there from then on.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the <sc>Lordsc> under the supervision of<n id="1" /> Eli the priest.p>

Now the priests would always treat the people in the following way:<n id="1" /> Whenever anyone was making a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest&#8217;s attendant would come with a three-pronged fork<n id="2" /> in his hand.

<p class="bodytext">The sin of these young men was very great in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s sight, for they<n id="1" /> treated the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s offering with contempt.p>

So the <sc>Lordsc> graciously attended to Hannah, and she was able to conceive and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel grew up at the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s sanctuary.<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now the boy Samuel continued serving the <sc>Lordsc> under Eli&#8217;s supervision.<n id="1" /> Word from the <sc>Lordsc> was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.p>

<p class="bodytext">She named the boy Ichabod,<n id="1" /> saying, &#8220;The glory has departed from Israel,&#8221; referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

<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;

So Saul said to his servant, &#8220;That&#8217;s a good idea!<n id="1" /> Come on. Let&#8217;s go.&#8221; So they went to the town where the man of God was.p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Samuel brought<n id="1" /> Saul and his servant into the room and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. There were about thirty people present.

<p class="bodytext">Saul&#8217;s uncle asked him and his servant, &#8220;Where did you go?&#8221; Saul<n id="1" /> replied, &#8220;To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost,<n id="2" /> we went to Samuel.&#8221;

When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy.

Saul said to him, &#8220;Whose son are you, young man?&#8221; David replied, &#8220;I am the son of your servant Jesse in Bethlehem.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him. He said to him, &#8220;Go, take these things back to the city.&#8221;p>

David said to the young man<n id="1" /> who was telling him this, &#8220;How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?&#8221;<n id="2" />

The young man who was telling him this<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

<p class="bodytext">David said to the young man who told this to him, &#8220;Where are you from?&#8221; He replied, &#8220;I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner.&#8221;<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul&#8217;s attendant, and said to him, &#8220;Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master&#8217;s grandson.

Then David prayed to<n id="1" /> God for the child and fasted.<n id="2" /> He would even<n id="3" /> go and spend the night lying on the ground.

He called his personal attendant and said to him, &#8220;Take this woman out of my sight<n id="1" /> and lock the door behind her!&#8221;