Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited 19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 19:2 However, she got angry at him and went home to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had
Civil War Breaks Out 20:1 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the LORD at Mizpah. 20:2 The leaders of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, which numbered four hundred
600 Brides for 600 Brothers 21:1 The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.” 21:2 So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably. 21:3 They said, “Why, O LORD God of Israel, has this
Hannah Gives Birth to Samuel 1:1 There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 1:2 He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah and
Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer 2:1 Hannah prayed, “My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is exalted high because of the LORD. I loudly denounce my enemies, for I am happy that you delivered me. 2:2 No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one other than you! There is no rock like our God! 2:3 Don’t keep speaking so
The Call of Samuel 3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the LORD under Eli’s supervision. Word from the LORD was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent. 3:2 Eli’s eyes had begun to fail, so that he was unable to see well. At that time he was lying down in his place, 3:3 and the
4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the LORD to all Israel. The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight Israel. As the battle spread out, Israel was defeated
The Ark Causes Trouble for the Philistines 5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 5:2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon. 5:3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the
The Philistines Return the Ark 6:1 When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, 6:2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the LORD? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its
7:1 Then the people of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD; they brought it to the house of Abinadab located on the hill. They consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. Further Conflict with the Philistines 7:2 It was quite a long time – some twenty years in all