And she made a vow and said, “Lord of armies, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your bond-servant and remember me, and not forget Your bond-servant, but will give Your bond-servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

Behold, the days are coming when I will eliminate your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

The Prophetic Call to Samuel

Now the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days; visions were infrequent.

So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

Samuel’s Ministry

Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

And as for your donkeys that wandered off three days ago, do not be concerned about them, for they have been found. And for whom is everything that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?”

And you shall go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will be coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and inform you of what you should do.”

So the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Allow us seven days to send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”

Now he waited for seven days, until the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him.

Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any warrior or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff.

Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, the man whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons. And Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.

And the Philistine came forward morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.

When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain beside the stone Ezel.

Now then, I have heard that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, nor has anything of theirs gone missing all the days they were in Carmel.

Please forgive the offense of your slave; for the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in you all your days.

About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

Saul and the Spirit Medium

Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Know for certain that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.”

Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found nothing at all suspicious in him since the day he deserted to me to this day?”

They also gave him a slice of fig cake and two cakes of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master abandoned me when I became sick three days ago.

And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.