Study Desk

Then their national leaders said: All the women of the Benjamin tribe were killed. How can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are left?

Wait there for the young women of Shiloh to come out and perform their dances. Then rush out and grab one of the young women, then take her home as your wife.

If the fathers or brothers of these women complain about this, we'll say, "Be kind enough to let those men keep your daughter. After all, we couldn't get enough wives for all the men of Benjamin in the battle at Jabesh. And because you didn't give them permission to marry your daughters, you won't be under the curse we earlier agreed on.

But she replied, "My daughters, why don't you return home? What good will it do you to go with me? Do you think I could have more sons for you to marry?

would you wait for them to become old enough to marry? No, my daughters! Life is harder for me than it is for you, because the Lord has turned against me."

Boaz went over to Ruth and said, "I think it would be best for you not to pick up grain in anyone else's field. Stay here with the women

I pray that the Lord God of Israel will reward you for what you have done. And now that you have come to him for protection, I pray that he will bless you."

Be sure to pull out some stalks of grain from the bundles and leave them on the ground for her. And don't speak harshly to her!"

You have been picking up grain alongside the women who work for Boaz, and you know he is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be threshing the grain.

Boaz replied: The Lord bless you! This shows how truly loyal you are to your family. You could have looked for a younger man, either rich or poor, but you didn't.

She also said, "Boaz gave me this grain, because he didn't want me to come back without something for you."

" Lord All-Powerful, I am your servant, but I am so miserable! Please let me have a son. I will give him to you for as long as he lives, and his hair will never be cut."

Hannah prayed silently to the Lord for a long time. But her lips were moving, and Eli thought she was drunk.

"Sir, thank you for being so kind to me," Hannah said. Then she left, and after eating something, she felt much better.

with a son. She named him Samuel because she had asked the Lord for him.

But Hannah stayed home, because she had told Elkanah, "Samuel and I won't go until he's old enough for me to stop nursing him. Then I'll give him to the Lord , and he can stay there at Shiloh for the rest of his life."

to give me a child. Here he is! The Lord gave me just what I asked for.

Now I am giving him to the Lord , and he will be the Lord 's servant for as long as he lives." Elkanah worshiped the Lord there at Shiloh, and

People who once had plenty to eat must now hire themselves out for only a piece of bread. But you give the hungry more than enough to eat. A woman did not have a child, and you gave her seven, but a woman who had many was left with none.

Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the Lord very angry.