The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. ¹  They said, “Too bad for ²  us! We’ve never seen anything like this!

Therefore I swore an oath to the house of Eli, ‘The sin of the house of Eli can never be forgiven by sacrifice or by grain offering.’”

So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart and take their calves from them back to their stalls.

She made a vow saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion ¹  on the suffering of your female servant, ²  remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child ³  to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.” ⁴ 

But the army said to Saul, “Should Jonathan, who won this great victory in Israel, die? May it never be! As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of his head will fall to the ground! For it is with the help of God that he has acted today.” So the army rescued Jonathan from death. ¹ 

Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say ¹  that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve ²  me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be! ³  For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!

They replied, “You have not wronged us or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from the hand of anyone.”

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

It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you.

You will see trouble in my dwelling place! ¹  Israel will experience blessings, ²  but there will not be an old man in your ³  house for all time. ⁴ 

Until the day he ¹  died Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Jonathan said, “Far be it from you to suggest this! If I were at all aware that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together ¹  in the field.

Jonathan ¹  said to him, “By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing ²  large or small without making me aware of it. ³  Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won’t happen!”

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you – this very day – into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity ¹  on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’ ² 

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 

Be strong and act like men, you Philistines, or else you will wind up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you! Act like men and fight!”

While ¹  Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistines’ camp was becoming greater and greater. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!”

Don’t ever cut off your loyalty to my family, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth