Study Desk

Hannah prayed: "The Lord has filled my heart with joy; I feel very strong in the Lord . I can laugh at my enemies; I am glad because you have helped me!

The Lord saw that the sin of the servants was very great because they did not show respect for the offerings made to the Lord .

If you sin against someone, God can help you. But if you sin against the Lord himself, no one can help you!" But Eli's sons would not listen to him, because the Lord had decided to put them to death.

I will not totally cut off your family from my altar. But your eyes will cry and your heart be sad, because all your descendants will die.

I told Eli I would punish his family always, because he knew his sons were evil. They acted without honor, but he did not stop them.

So the Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, and every Israelite soldier ran away to his own home. It was a great defeat for Israel, because thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed.

When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was by the side of the road. He was sitting there in a chair, watching, because he was worried about the Ark of God. When the Benjaminite entered Shiloh, he told the bad news. Then all the people in town cried loudly.

When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He fell beside the gate, broke his neck, and died, because he was old and fat. He had led Israel for forty years.

She named the baby Ichabod, saying, "Israel's glory is gone." She said this because the Ark of God had been taken and her father-in-law and husband were dead.

She said, "Israel's glory is gone, because the Ark of God has been taken away."

So they called all the kings of the Philistines together and said, "Send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its place before it kills us and our people!" All the people in the city were struck with terror because God was so hard on them there.

The priests and magicians answered, "If you send back the Ark of the God of Israel, don't send it back empty. You must give a penalty offering. If you are then healed, you will know that it was because of the Ark that you had such trouble."

The Philistines asked, "What kind of penalty offering should we send to Israel's God?" They answered, "Make five gold models of the growths on your skin and five gold models of rats. The number of models must match the number of Philistine kings, because the same sickness has come on you and your kings.

But some of the men of Beth Shemesh looked into the Ark of the Lord . So God killed seventy of them. The people of Beth Shemesh cried because the Lord had struck them down.

When that time comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose. But the Lord will not answer you then."

But the servant answered, "A man of God is in this town. People respect him because everything he says comes true. Let's go into the town now. Maybe he can tell us something about the journey we have taken."

The young women answered, "Yes, he's here. He's ahead of you. Hurry now. He has just come to our town today, because the people will offer a sacrifice at the place of worship.

As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the place of worship to eat. The people will not begin eating until the seer comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. After that, the guests will eat. Go now, and you should find him."

Don't worry about the donkeys you lost three days ago, because they have been found. Soon all the wealth of Israel will belong to you and your family."

So the cook took the thigh and put it on the table in front of Saul. Samuel said, "This is the meat saved for you. Eat it, because it was set aside for you for this special time. As I said, ‘I had invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day.