Study Desk

Then the Lord called out again, "Samuel!" Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Here I am. Did you call me?" "I didn't call you, my son," Eli said. "Go back to bed."

So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Here I am. Did you call me?" Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy.

Then the Lord said to Samuel, "I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel.

I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end.

But Eli called out to him, "Samuel, my son." "Here I am," Samuel replied.

"I am the seer!" Samuel replied. "Go up to the place of worship ahead of me. We will eat there together, and in the morning I'll tell you what you want to know and send you on your way.

And don't worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel's hopes."

Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul's head. He kissed Saul and said, "I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel, his special possession.

"My father has made trouble for us all!" Jonathan exclaimed. "A command like that only hurts us. See how refreshed I am now that I have eaten this little bit of honey.

"I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command." Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.

Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, "Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him."

Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. "Why are you all coming out to fight?" he called. "I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me!

"Am I a dog," he roared at David, "that you come at me with a stick?" And he cursed David by the names of his gods.

One day Saul said to David, "I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab, as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the Lord 's battles." For Saul thought, "I'll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself."

"Who am I, and what is my family in Israel that I should be the king's son-in-law?" David exclaimed. "My father's family is nothing!"

Then David took an oath before Jonathan and said, "Your father knows perfectly well about our friendship, so he has said to himself, ‘I won't tell Jonathan—why should I hurt him?' But I swear to you that I am only a step away from death! I swear it by the Lord and by your own soul!"

If your father asks where I am, tell him I asked permission to go home to Bethlehem for an annual family sacrifice.

"The king has sent me on a private matter," David said. "He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later.

Then David prayed, "O Lord , God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here.

Then he shouted to Saul, "Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you?