Study Desk

But Ruth said, "Don't force me to leave you! Don't force me to go back to my own people. Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you sleep, I will sleep. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.

But Naomi told the people, "Don't call me Naomi; call me Marah. Use this name because God All-Powerful has made my life very sad.

I had everything I wanted when I left, but now, the Lord brings me home with nothing. The Lord has made me sad, so why should you call me ‘Happy'? God All-Powerful has given much trouble to me."

The Lord will reward you for all the good things you have done. The Lord , the God of Israel, will pay you in full. You have come to him for safety, and he will protect you."

She made a special promise to God and said, " Lord All-Powerful, you can see how sad I am. Remember me. Don't forget me. If you will give me a son, I will give him to you. He will be yours his whole life, and as a Nazirite, he will not drink wine or strong drink, and no one will ever cut his hair."

Eli answered, "Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you asked for."

Hannah said, "My heart is happy in the Lord . I feel very strong in my God. I laugh at my enemies. I am very happy in my victory.

There is no holy God like the Lord . There is no God but you. There is no Rock like our God.

Don't continue bragging. Don't speak proud words, because the Lord God knows everything. He leads and judges people.

The Lord destroys his enemies. God Most High will thunder in heaven against people. The Lord will judge even the lands that are far away. He will give power to his king. He will make his chosen king strong."

If you sin against other people, God might protect you. But who can help you if you sin against the Lord ?" Eli's sons refused to listen to him, so the Lord decided to kill them.

A man of God came to Eli and said, "The Lord says, ‘I appeared to your ancestors when they were slaves of Pharaoh.

"The Lord , the God of Israel, promised that your father's family would serve him forever. But now the Lord says, ‘That will never be! I will honor people who honor me, but bad things will happen to those who refuse to respect me.

I told Eli I would punish his family forever. I will do this because Eli knew his sons were saying and doing bad things against God. But he failed to control them.

Eli asked, "What did God say to you? Don't hide it from me. God will punish you if you hide anything from the message he spoke to you."

The rest of the Israelite soldiers went back to their camp. The elders of Israel asked, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us? Let's bring the Lord 's Box of the Agreement from Shiloh. God will go with us into battle and save us from our enemies."

They saw what was happening and said, "The Holy Box of the God of Israel can't stay here. God is punishing us and Dagon our god."

The people of Ashdod called the five Philistine rulers together and asked them, "What must we do with the Holy Box of the God of Israel?" The rulers answered, "Move the Holy Box of the God of Israel to Gath." So the Philistines moved God's Holy Box.

But after the Philistines had moved God's Holy Box to Gath, the Lord punished that city. The people became very frightened. God caused many troubles for all the people—young and old. He caused the people in Gath to have tumors.

So the Philistines sent God's Holy Box to Ekron. But when God's Holy Box came into Ekron, the people of Ekron complained. They said, "Why are you bringing the Box of the God of Israel to our city Ekron? Do you want to kill us and our people?"