1 Samuel narrates the transition of Israel from a group of tribes to a unified kingdom. It introduces Samuel, the last judge and a prophet, who anoints Saul as the first king. Saul's reign is marked by disobedience to God, leading to his downfall. David, a young shepherd, rises to prominence by defeating Goliath and earns God's favor as Saul's successor. Themes of faith, obedience, and leadership are explored, illustrating the importance of trusting in God's plan and the consequences of failing to do so.
1. Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:2. And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.3. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. ¶
1. And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the LORD, my horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies; because I rejoice in your salvation.2. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside you: neither is there any rock like our God.3. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
1. And the child Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.2. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;3. And before the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
1. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.2. And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. ¶3. And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, that, when it comes among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
1. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.2. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. ¶3. And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
1. And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.2. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us with which we shall send it to his place.3. And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
1. And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.2. And it came to pass, while the ark stayed in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. ¶3. And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts to the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
1. And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.2. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.3. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
1. Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.2. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.3. And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go seek the asses.
1. Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD has anointed you to be captain over his inheritance?2. When you are departed from me to day, then you shall find two men by Rachel’s sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went to seek are found: and, see, your father has left the care of the asses, and sorrows for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?3. Then shall you go on forward from there, and you shall come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet you three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:
1. Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.2. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach on all Israel.3. And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to you. ¶
1. And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.2. And now, behold, the king walks before you: and I am old and gray headed; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.3. Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
1. Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,2. Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.3. And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
1. Now it came to pass on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.2. And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;3. And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. ¶
1. Samuel also said to Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words of the LORD.2. Thus says the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.3. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
1. And the LORD said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.2. And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with you, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.3. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do: and you shall anoint to me him whom I name to you.
1. Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongs to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.2. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.3. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. ¶
1. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.2. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house.3. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
1. And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.2. But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill you: now therefore, I pray you, take heed to yourself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide yourself:3. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will commune with my father of you; and what I see, that I will tell you. ¶
1. And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is my iniquity? and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?2. And he said to him, God forbid; you shall not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.3. And David swore moreover, and said, Your father certainly knows that I have found grace in your eyes; and he says, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.
1. Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said to him, Why are you alone, and no man with you?2. And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know any thing of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.3. Now therefore what is under your hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or what there is present.
1. David therefore departed there, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.2. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves to him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. ¶3. And David went there to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.
1. Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing floors.2. Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said to David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.3. And David’s men said to him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
1. And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.2. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats.3. And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
1. And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.2. And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.3. Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. ¶
1. And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?2. Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.3. And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
1. And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.2. And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.3. And David dwelled with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.
1. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, Know you assuredly, that you shall go out with me to battle, you and your men.2. And David said to Achish, Surely you shall know what your servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make you keeper of my head for ever. ¶3. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
1. Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel.2. And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rear guard with Achish.3. Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which has been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell to me to this day?
1. And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;2. And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. ¶3. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.
1. Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.2. And the Philistines followed hard on Saul and on his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons.3. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
