Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him. None of his prophecies fell to the ground unfulfilled. ¹ 

So Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.

Now I dedicate him to the Lord. From this time on he is dedicated to the Lord.” Then they ¹  worshiped the Lord there.

Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of ¹  Eli the priest.

Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ¹  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli ¹  asked, “How did things go, my son?”

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.

So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” ¹  for he was at that time wearing the ephod. ² 

David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock,

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

In the morning, when Nabal was sober, ¹  his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. ² 

When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of ¹  the road, for he was very worried ²  about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, ³  the whole city cried out.

But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”

When everyone who had known him previously saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people all asked one another, “What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Does even Saul belong with the prophets?”

¹ Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior ²  for me and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul thought, “There’s no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!”

But if my father intends to do you harm, may the Lord do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don’t let you know ¹  and send word to you so you can go safely on your way. ²  May the Lord be with you, as he was with my father.

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 Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away.

David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”

Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy, ¹  not having eaten anything ²  all that day and night.

The leaders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time? ¹  I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!” ²