There is no Tsur like our Elohim.

3 "Do not boast or let arrogance come out of your mouth because Yahweh is an El of knowledge, and he weighs our actions.

4 "The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumble are armed with strength.

5 Those who were well-fed hire themselves out for a piece of bread, but those who were hungry hunger no more.

Even the woman who was childless gives birth to seven children, but the mother of many children grieves all alone.

6 "Yahweh kills, and he gives life.

He makes people go down to the grave, and he raises them up again.

7 Yahweh causes poverty and grants wealth.

He humbles people; he also promotes them.

8 He raises the poor from the dust.

He lifts the needy from the trash heap in order to make them sit with nobles and even to make them inherit a glorious throne.

"The pillars of the earth are Yahweh's.

He has set the world on them.

9 He safeguards the steps of his faithful ones, but wicked people are silenced in darkness because humans cannot succeed by their own strength.

10 "Those who oppose Yahweh are broken into pieces.

He thunders at them from the heavens.

Yahweh judges the ends of the earth.

He gives strength to his King and lifts the head of his Messiah."a 11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy Samuel served Yahweh under the priest Eli.

The Sins of Eli's Sons 12 Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were good-for-nothing priests; they had no faith in Yahweh. 13 Now, this was how the priests dealt with the people who were offering sacrifices: While the meat was boiling, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand. 14 Then he would stick it into the pot, kettle, cauldron, or pan. Whatever the fork brought up from the pot belonged to the priest. This is what the priests did in Shiloh to all the people of Israel who came there to sacrifice. 15 But in the case of Eli's sons, even before the people burned the fat, their servants would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the meat to the priest to roast. He doesn't want boiled meat from you. He wants it raw."

16 If the man said to the servant, "First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you want," the servant would say to him, "Give it to me now, or I'll take it by force." 17 The sin of Eli's sons was a serious matter to Yahweh, because these men were treating the offerings made to Yahweh with contempt.

The Faithfulness of Samuel's Family 18 Meanwhile, Samuel continued to serve in front of Yahweh. As a boy he was already wearing a linen ephod.b 19 His mother would make him a robe and bring it to him every year when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

20 Eli would bless Elkanah (and his wife) and say, "May Yahweh give you children from this woman in place of the one which she has given to Yahweh." Then they would go home.

21 Yahweh came to Hannah. She became pregnant five times and had three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in front of Yahweh.

Eli's Family Condemned 22 Now, Eli was very old, and he had heard everything that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were sleeping with the women who served at the gate of the tent of meeting. 23 So he asked them, "Why are you doing such things? I hear about your wicked ways from all these people. 24 Sons, the report that I hear the people of Yahweh spreading isn't good! 25 If one person sins against another, Elohim will take care of him. However, when a person sins against Yahweh, who will pray for him?" But they wouldn't listen to their father's warning-Yahweh wanted to kill them.

26 The boy Samuel continued to grow and gained the favor of Yahweh and the people.

27 Then a man of Elohim came to Eli and said to him, "This is what Yahweh says: I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were under Pharaoh's control in Egypt. 28 I chose one of your ancestors out of all the tribes of Israel to serve as my priest, to sacrifice burnt offerings on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the ephod in my presence. And I gave your ancestors the right to keep portions of the sacrifices that the people of Israel burned on the altar. 29 Why do you show no respect for my sacrifices and grain offerings that I have commanded people to make in my dwelling place? Why do you honor your sons more than me by making yourselves fat on the best of all the sacrifices offered by my people Israel?

30 "Therefore, Yahweh Elohim of Israel declares: I certainly thought that your family and your father's family would always live in my presence.

"But now Yahweh declares: I promise that I will honor those who honor me, and those who despise me will be considered insignificant. 31 The time is coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that no one will grow old in your family. 32 You will see distress in my dwelling place. In spite of the good that I do for Israel, no one in your family will live to an old age. 33 Any man in your family whom I do not remove from my altar will have his eyes fail, and hea will be heartbroken. And all your descendants will die in the prime of life. 34 What is going to happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you: Both of them will die on the same day. 35 Then I will appoint a faithful priest to serve me. He will do everything I want him to do. I will give him faithful descendants, and he will always live as my anointed one. 36 Then anyone who is left from your household will bow down in front of him to get a coin or a loaf of bread and say, 'Please appoint me to one of the priestly classes so that I may eat a piece of bread.'"

The LORD Calls Samuel 3 1 The boy Samuel was serving Yahweh under Eli. In those days a prophecy from Yahweh was rare; visions were infrequent. 2 One night Eli was lying down in his room. His eyesight had begun to fail so that he couldn't see well. 3 The lamp in Elohim's templeb hadn't gone out yet, and Samuel was asleep in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of Elohim was kept.

4 Then Yahweh called Samuel. "Here I am," Samuel responded. 5 He ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me."

"I didn't call you," Eli replied. "Go back to bed." So Samuel went back and lay down.

6 Yahweh called Samuel again. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, "Here I am. You called me."

"I didn't call you, son," he responded. "Go back to bed." 7 Samuel had no experience with Yahweh, because the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him.

8 Yahweh called Samuel a third time. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, "Here I am. You called me."

Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy. 9 "Go, lie down," Eli told Samuel. "When he calls you, say, 'Speak, Yahweh. I'm listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his room.

10 Yahweh came and stood there. He called as he had called the other times: "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel replied, "Speak. I'm listening."

11 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "I am going to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it ring. 12 On that day I am going to do to Eli and his family everything I said from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I would hand down a permanent judgment against his household because he knew about his sons' sin-that they were cursing Goda-but he didn't try to stop them. 14 That is why I have taken an oath concerning Eli's family line: No offering or sacrifice will ever be able to make peace for the sins that Eli's family committed."

15 Samuel remained in bed until morning. Then he opened the doors of Yahweh's house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.

16 Then Eli called Samuel. "Samuel, my son!" he said.

"Here I am," he responded.

17 "What did Yahweh tell you?" he asked. "Please don't hide anything from me. May Elohim strike you dead if you hide anything he told you from me."

18 So Samuel told Eli everything.

Eli replied, "He is Yahweh. May he do what he thinks is right."

19 Samuel grew up. Yahweh was with him and didn't let any of his words go unfulfilled. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew Samuel was Yahweh's appointed prophet. 21 Yahweh continued to appear in Shiloh, since Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh . And Samuel spoke to all Israel.b The Army Sends for the Ark 4 1 Israel went to fight against the Philistines and camped near Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines organized their troops to meet Israel in battle. As the battle spread,c the Philistines defeated Israel and killed about 4,000 soldiers in the field.

3 When the troops came back to the camp, the leaders of Israel asked, "Why has Yahweh used the Philistines to defeat us today? Let's get the ark of Yahweh's promise from Shiloh so that he may be with us and save us from our enemies." 4 The troops sent some men who brought back the ark of the promise of Yahweh Tsebaoth -who is enthroned over the angels.d Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with Elohim's ark. 5 When Yahweh's ark came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth rang with echoes.

6 As the Philistines heard the noise, they asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" The Philistines found out that Yahweh's ark had come into the camp. 7 Then they were frightened and said, "A god has come into their camp." They also said, "Oh no! Nothing like this has ever happened before. 8 We're in trouble now! Who can save us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the desert. 9 Be strong, Philistines, and act like men, or else you will serve the Hebrews as they served you. Act like men and fight."

The Ark Captured 10 The Philistines fought and defeated Israel. Every Israelite soldier fled to histent. It was a major defeat in which 30,000 Israelite foot soldiers died. 11 The ark of Elohim was captured. Both of Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front line of the battle. He went to Shiloh that day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.a 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a chair beside the road, watching. He was worried about the ark of Elohim. The man went into the city to tell the news. The whole city cried out. 14 Hearing the cry, Eli asked, "What is this commotion?" So the man went quickly to tell Eli the news. 15 (Eli was 98 years old, and his eyesight had failed so that he couldn't see.) 16 The man told Eli, "I'm the one who came from the battle. I fled from the front line today."

"What happened, son?" Eli asked.

17 "Israel fled from the Philistines," the messenger answered. "Our troops suffered heavy casualties. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also are dead, and the ark of Elohim has been captured."

18 When the messenger mentioned the ark of Elohim, Eli fell from his chair backwards toward the gate. He broke his neck, and he died. (The man was old and heavy.) He had judgedb Israel for 40 years.

19 His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was pregnant. When she heard the news that the ark of Elohim had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor prematurely and gave birth to a son. 20 As she was dying, the women helping her said, "Don't be afraid. You've given birth to a son." But she didn't answer or pay attention.

21 She called the boy Ichabod [No Glory], saying, "Israel's glory is gone," because the ark of Elohim had been captured and because her father-in-law and her husband died. 22 "Israel's glory is gone because the ark of Elohim has been captured," she said.

The Ark in Philistia 5 1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of Elohim, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 They brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. 3 Early the next day the people of Ashdod saw that Dagon had fallen forward on the ground in front of Yahweh's ark. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the next morning they saw that Dagon had again fallen forward on the ground in front of Yahweh's ark. Dagon's head and his two hands were cut off and were lying on the temple's threshold. The rest of Dagon's body was intact.c 5 This is why the priests of Dagon and everyone else who comes into Dagon's temple in Ashdod still don't step on the temple's threshold.

6 Yahweh dealt harshly with the people of Ashdod. He destroyed them by striking the people in the vicinity of Ashdod with tumors. 7 When the people of Ashdod realized what was happening, they said, "The ark of the Elohim of Israel must not stay with us, because their Elohim is dealing harshly with us and our god Dagon." 8 The people of Ashdod called together all the Philistine rulers. "What should we do with the ark of the Elohim of Israel?" they asked.

"The ark of the Elohim of Israel must be taken to Gath," the rulers said.a So the people took the ark of the Elohim of Israel there.

9 But after they had moved it,bYahweh threw the city into a great panic: He struck all the important and unimportant people in the city, and they were covered with tumors. 10 So the people of Gath sent the ark of Elohim to Ekron. But when the ark of Elohim came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, "They brought the ark of the Elohim of Israel here to kill us." 11 They called together all the Philistine rulers. "Send the ark of the Elohim of Israel away," they said. "Let it go back to its own place so that it won't kill us or our people." There was a fear of death throughout the city, where Elohim dealt with them very harshly. 12 The people who didn't die were struck with tumors. So the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Ark Is Returned to Israel 6 1 The ark of Yahweh had been in Philistine territory seven months 2 when the Philistines called for priests and people skilled in explaining omens. The Philistines asked, "What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Tell us how to return it to its proper place."

3 The priests answered, "If you're returning the ark of the Elohim of Israel, don't send it away empty, but by all means return it to its proper place with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will know why he would not turn his anger away from you."

4 The Philistines asked, "What kind of guilt offering should we give him?"

The priests answered, "Five gold tumors and five gold mice for the five Philistine rulers because all of you and your rulers suffer from the same plague. 5 Make models of your tumors and your mice which are destroying the country, and give glory to the Elohim of Israel. Maybe he will no longer be so hard on you, your gods, and your country. 6 Why should you be as stubborn as the Egyptians and their Pharaoh were? After he toyed with the Egyptians, didn't they send the Israelites on their way? 7 Now get a new cart ready for two dairy cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart. Take their calves away, and leave them in their stall. 8 Take the ark of Yahweh, and put it on the cart. Put the gold objects which you're giving him as a guilt offering in a box beside the ark. Send the cart on its way, 9 but then watch where it goes. If it goes up the road to its own country toward Beth Shemesh, then this disaster is Yahweh's doing. But if not, we'll know it wasn't his hand that struck us, but what happened to us was an accident."

10 The people did this. They took two dairy cows, hitched them to a cart, and shut the calves in the stall. 11 They put the ark of Yahweh and the box containing the gold mice and the models of their hemorrhoids on the cart. 12 The cows went straight up the road to Beth Shemesh. Continually mooing, they stayed on the road and didn't turn right or left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

13 The people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there by a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 15 (The Levites had already taken down from the cart the ark of Yahweh and the box which contained the gold objects and put them on the large rock.) The people of Beth Shemesh presented burnt offerings and sacrifices to Yahweh that day. 16 After the five rulers of the Philistines saw this, they went back to Ekron that same day.

17 The gold hemorrhoids which the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to Yahweh were for the cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 And the number of gold mice was the same as the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers, including walled cities and farm villages. The large rock on which they put the ark of Yahweh is a witness.a It is still there today in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

19 Elohim struck down some of the people from Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the ark of Yahweh. He struck down 70 people.b The people mourned because Yahweh struck them with such a great blow. 20 The people of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand before Yahweh, this holy Elohim ? And to which people will he go when he leaves us?" 21 They sent messengers to the people living at Kiriath Jearim to say, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of Yahweh . Come and take it back with you."

7 1 The men of Kiriath Jearim came to take Yahweh's ark and brought it into Abinadab's house on the hill. They gave Abinadab's son Eleazar the holy occupation of guarding Yahweh's ark.

Israel Admits It Has Sinned 2 A long time passed after the ark came to stay at Kiriath Jearim. For 20 years the entire nation of Israel mournfully sought Yahweh.

3 Samuel told the entire nation of Israel, "If you are returning to Yahweh wholeheartedly, get rid of the foreign gods you have, including the statues of the goddess Astarte. Make a commitment to Yahweh, and serve only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines."

4 So the Israelites got rid of the statues of Baal and Astarte and served only Yahweh.

5 Then Samuel said, "Gather all the Israelites together at Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you." 6 So the Israelites gathered together at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of Yahweh, and fasted that day. They confessed, "We have sinned against Yahweh." So Samuel judged Israel in Mizpah.

The Philistines Defeated 7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the Philistine rulers came to attack Israel. The Israelites heard about the Philistine plan and were afraid of them. 8 The Israelites said to Samuel, "Don't turn a deaf ear to us! Don't stop crying to Yahweh our Elohim for us! Ask him to save us from the Philistines!"

9 Then Samuel took a lamb, one still feeding on milk, and sacrificed it as a burnt offering to Yahweh. Samuel cried to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him. 10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines came to fight against Israel. On that day Yahweh thundered loudly at the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel. 11 Israel's soldiers left Mizpah, pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as Beth Car.

12 Then Samuel took a rock and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer [Rock of Help] and said, "Until now Yahweh has helped us."

13 The power of the Philistines was crushed, so they didn't come into Israel's territory again. Yahweh restrained the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. 14 The cities between Ekron and Gath which the Philistines took from Israel were returned to Israel. And Israel recovered the territory controlled by these cities from the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

15 Samuel judged Israel as long as he lived. 16 Every year he went around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah in order to judge Israel in all those places. 17 Then he would return home to Ramah. There, too, he judged Israel. And in Ramah he built an altar to Yahweh .

Samuel

Israel's last judge was literally called by God as a boy. A prophet as well as judge, he anointed Israel's first king, Saul, as well as his successor, David. Samuel called God Yahweh (1 Sam. 7:3) Elohim (1 Sam. 12:9) Yahweh Tsebaoth (1 Sam. 15:2)

Israel Rejects the LORD as King 8 1 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel; the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 3 The sons didn't follow their father's example but turned to dishonest ways of making money. They took bribes and denied people justice.

4 Then all the leaders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They told him, "You're old, and your sons aren't following your example. Now appoint a king to judge us so that we will be like all the other nations."

6 But Samuel considered it wrong for them to request a king to judge them. So Samuel prayed to Yahweh. 7 Yahweh told Samuel, "Listen to everything the people are saying to you. They haven't rejected you; they've rejected me. 8 They're doing just what they've done since I took them out of Egypt-leaving me and serving other gods. 9 Listen to them now, but be sure to warn them and tell them about the rights of a king."

10 Then Samuel told the people who had asked him for a king everything Yahweh had said. 11 Samuel said, "These are the rights of a king: He will draft your sons, make them serve on his chariots and horses, and make them run ahead of his chariots.

12 He will appoint them to be his officers over 1,000 or over 50 soldiers, to plow his ground and harvest his crops, and to make weapons and equipment for his chariots.

13 He will take your daughters and have them make perfumes, cook, and bake.

14 He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his officials.

15 He will take a tenth of your grain and wine and give it to his aids and officials.