Study Desk

How terrible it will be for us! Who can save us from these powerful gods? They are the ones who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of disasters in the desert.

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.

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.

Then they called for their priests and magicians and said, "What should we do with the Ark of the Lord ? Tell us how to send it back home!"

Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart and the gold models for the penalty offering in a box beside the Ark. Then send the cart straight on its way.

The Philistines had sent these gold models of the growths as penalty offerings to the Lord . They sent one model for each Philistine town: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the Ark of the Lord to Abinadab's house on a hill. There they made Abinadab's son Eleazar holy for the Lord so he could guard the Ark of the Lord .

Samuel said, "All Israel must meet at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you."

They said to Samuel, "Don't stop praying to the Lord our God for us! Ask him to save us from the Philistines!"

Then Samuel took a baby lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He called to the Lord for Israel's sake, and the Lord answered him.

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

So Samuel told those who had asked him for a king what the Lord had said.

The king will make some of your sons commanders over thousands or over fifties. He will make some of your other sons plow his ground and reap his harvest. He will take others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

He will take your daughters to make perfume and cook and bake for him.

He will take your male and female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them all for his own work.

Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will judge for us and go with us and fight our battles."

Now the donkeys of Saul's father, Kish, were lost. So Kish said to Saul, his son, "Take one of the servants, and go and look for the donkeys."

So the cook took the thigh and put it on the table in front of Saul. Samuel said, "This is the meat saved for you. Eat it, because it was set aside for you for this special time. As I said, ‘I had invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

As Saul, his servant, and Samuel were getting near the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay, because I have a message from God for you."

After you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you were looking for have been found. But now your father has stopped thinking about his donkeys and is worrying about you. He is asking, "What will I do about my son?"'