Study Desk

Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you have called me." Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy.

Then the LORD said to Samuel, "I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.

but Eli called to him and said, "Samuel, my son." "Here I am," answered Samuel.

"I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. And when I send you off in the morning, I will tell you all that is in your heart.

Saul replied, "Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing to me?"

Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.

Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Testify against me, and I will restore it to you.

His armor-bearer replied, "Do all that is in your heart. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself."

Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him."

And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.

David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not used to all this armor. "I cannot walk in these," David said to Saul. "I am not used to them." So David took them off.

"Am I a dog," he said to David, "that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

"Whose son are you, young man?" asked Saul. "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem," David replied.

And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?"

But when Saul's servants relayed these words to David, he replied, "Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed."

So David told him, "Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now.

Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?"

"Listen now, son of Ahitub," said Saul. "Here I am, my lord," he replied.

Then David said to Abiathar, "I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day, and that he was sure to tell Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father's house.