Study Desk

Every year Elkanah went with his whole family to Shiloh to offer sacrifices and to keep the promise he had made to God.

Now I give him back to the Lord . He will belong to the Lord all his life." And he worshiped the Lord there.

The Lord destroys his enemies; he will thunder in heaven against them. The Lord will judge all the earth. He will give power to his king and make his appointed king strong."

When Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, he would say, "May the Lord repay you with children through Hannah to take the place of the boy Hannah prayed for and gave back to the Lord ." Then Elkanah and Hannah would go home.

Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites and how his sons had sexual relations with the women who served at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.

Eli said to his sons, "Why do you do these evil things that the people tell me about?

I will choose a loyal priest for myself who will listen to me and do what I want. I will make his family continue, and he will always serve before my appointed king.

At that time I will do to Eli and his family everything I promised, from beginning to end.

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.

And the Lord continued to show himself at Shiloh, and he showed himself to Samuel through his word.

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.

That same day a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle. He tore his clothes and put dust on his head to show his great sadness.

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.

When the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, they found that Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord . So they put Dagon back in his place.

The next morning when they rose, they again found Dagon fallen on the ground before the Ark of the Lord . His head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only his body was still in one piece.

So, even today, Dagon's priests and others who enter his temple at Ashdod refuse to step on the doorsill.

Samuel continued as judge of Israel all his life.

But Samuel always went back to Ramah, where his home was. There he judged Israel and built an altar to the Lord .

When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges for Israel.

His first son was named Joel, and his second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba.