Israel Demands a King

1 When Samuel became old, ^rhe made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways ^sbut turned aside after gain. ^tThey took bribes and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^pRamah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^uNow appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, ^vfor they have not rejected you, ^wbut they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them ^xand show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, ^y“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^zhe will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^ato plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 ^bHe will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men¹ and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ^cbut the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel’s Request

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 ^dthat we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, ^e“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

David Anointed King

1 The Lord said to Samuel, ^r“How long will you grieve over Saul, since ^sI have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^tFill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ^ufor I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ^v‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ^wAnd you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city ^xcame to meet him trembling and said, ^y“Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^zConsecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on ^aEliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ^b“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, ^cbut the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called ^dAbinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made ^dShammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, ^e“There remains yet the youngest,¹ but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, ^f“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^gruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^h“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took ⁱthe horn of oil ^jand anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^kAnd the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David in Saul’s Service

14 ^lNow the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, ^mand a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants ⁿwho are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will ^oplay it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, ^pa man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, ^qand the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, ^rwho is with the sheep.” 20 ^sAnd Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul ^tand entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And ^uwhenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre ^oand played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Hannah’s Prayer

1 And Hannah prayed and said,

11 Then Elkanah went home ^yto Ramah. ^zAnd the boy¹ was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli’s Worthless Sons

12 Now the sons of Eli were ^aworthless men. ^bThey did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, ^cbefore the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great ^din the sight of the Lord, ^efor the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

18 ^fSamuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy ^gclothed with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year ^hwhen she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman ⁱfor the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.

21 ^jIndeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. ^kAnd the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who ^lwere serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, ^mfor it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

26 Now the boy Samuel ⁿcontinued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.

The Lord Rejects Eli’s Household

27 And there came ^oa man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ^p‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 ^qDid I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, ^rto wear an ephod before me? ^sI gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then do you ^tscorn² my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ^v‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ ^wbut now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, ^xthe days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 Then ^yin distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, ^zand there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his³ eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants⁴ of your house shall die by the sword of men.⁵ 34 ^aAnd this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die ^bon the same day. 35 ^cAnd I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. ^dAnd I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before ^emy anointed forever. 36 And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”