Year after year ¹  this man would go up from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. It was there that the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, served as the Lord’s priests.

Her rival wife used to upset her and make her worry, ¹  for the Lord had not enabled her to have children.

They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with ¹  his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered ²  her.

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

He lifts the weak ¹  from the dust; he raises ²  the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. ³  The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.

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.

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

Then the Lord again appeared in Shiloh, for it was in Shiloh that the Lord had revealed himself to Samuel ¹  through the word of the Lord. ² 

Samuel revealed the word of the Lord ¹  to all Israel.Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. ²  They camped at Ebenezer, ³  and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

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.

So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.

When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come on, let’s head back before my father quits worrying about the donkeys and becomes anxious about us!”

Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. ¹  He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.

The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry.

However, Saul and the army spared Agag, along with the best of the flock, the cattle, the fatlings, ¹  and the lambs, as well as everything else that was of value. ²  They were not willing to slaughter them. But they did slaughter everything that was despised ³  and worthless.

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel:

For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and presumption is like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as ¹  king.”

Now please forgive my sin! Go back with me so I can worship ¹  the Lord.”

Samuel said to Saul, “I will not go back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel!”

The Preeminent One ¹  of Israel does not go back on his word ²  or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.” ³