Yahweh’s chest stayed at the house of Obed Edom the Gittite for three months. Yahweh blessed Obed Edom and his entire household, and it was told King David, ‘Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed Edom and all that belongs to him on account of God’s chest’, so David went and brought up God’s chest from Obed Edom’s house to David’s Town with rejoicing.
When the people carrying Yahweh’s chest had taken six steps he sacrificed a bull and a fatling, with David whirling before Yahweh with all his vigour, and David wrapped round in a linen chasuble, and David and all the household of Yisra’el bringing up Yahweh’s chest with a shout and with the sound of a horn.
Yahweh’s chest was coming into David’s Town as Mikal, Sha’ul’s daughter, was looking out through the window. She saw King David jumping and whirling before Yahweh, and she despised him inside.
Michal Despises David
They brought in Yahweh’s chest and put it in its place inside the tent that David had spread for it. David offered up burnt offerings and well-being sacrifices before Yahweh. David finished offering up the burnt offering and the well-being sacrifices, blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of Armies, and shared out to the entire people, to the entire Yisra’elite horde, both men and women, to each individual, a round of bread, a date block and a raisin block.
Goldingay, John. The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
O Lord Jesus Christ, stay beside me to defend me, within me to guide me, before me to lead me, and above me to bless me, that with you and in you, I may live, and move and have my being, for ever and ever. Amen.
Then all the Yisra’elite clans came to David at Hebron and said, ‘Here, we are your flesh and blood. Further, in previous days, when Sha’ul was king over us, you were the one who took Yisra’el out and brought Yisra’el in. Yahweh said to you, “You’re the one who will shepherd my people Yisra’el. You’re the one who will be ruler over Yisra’el.”’ So all Yisra’el’s elders came to the king at Hebron, King David solemnized a pact to them at Hebron before Yahweh, and they anointed David as king over Yisra’el. David was a man of thirty years when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years: in Hebron he reigned over Yehudah for seven years and six months, and in Yerushalaim he reigned for thirty-three years over all Yisra’el and Yehudah.
The king and his men went to Yerushalaim against the Yebusites, the inhabitants of the region. They said to David, ‘You won’t come in here. Actually, the blind and the lame could have removed you’ (saying, ‘David won’t come in here’). But David captured the Zion stronghold (i.e. David’s Town). David said on that day, ‘Anyone striking down the Yebusites (the blind and the lame, treated with hostility by David himself – that’s why they say, “A blind or lame person will not come into the house”) should take possession of the conduit.’ David lived in the stronghold and named it ‘David’s Town’. David built it up all round from the Fill to the house. David went on getting bigger and bigger, as Yahweh the God of Armies was with him. Hiram king of Tsor [Tyre] sent envoys to David with cedar wood, crafsmen in wood and craftsmen in stone for walls, and they built a house for David.
God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
Goldingay, John; The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
When Sha’ul came back from following the Pelishtites, they told him, ‘There, David’s in the Gedi Spring Wilderness.’ Sha’ul got 3,000 picked men from all Yisra’el and went to look for David and his men in the direction of Ibex Rocks. He came to sheepfolds by the road and a cave there, and Sha’ul came in to relieve himself, while David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
David’s men said to him, ‘Here, it’s the day that Yahweh said to you, “Here, I’m giving your enemy into your hand and you can do to him as seems good in your eyes.”’ David got up and cut off the corner of Sha’ul’s coat quietly, but afterwards, David’s heart struck him because he’d cut the corner off that belonged to Sha’ul. He said to his men. ‘Far be it from me by Yahweh, if I should do this thing to my lord, to Yahweh’s anointed, in putting out my hand against him, when he’s Yahweh’s anointed!’ David tore his men apart with the words and didn’t let them rise up against Sha’ul.
David and Saul in the Cave
When Sha’ul set off from the cave and went on his way, David set off afterwards and went out of the cave. He called after Sha’ul, ‘My lord king!’ Sha’ul looked behind him and David bent his head, face to the ground, and bowed low. David said to Sha’ul, ‘Why do you listen to people’s words, saying “There, David is seeking something bad for you”? Here, this day your eyes have seen the fact that Yahweh gave you into my hand today in the cave, and they said to kill you, but I had pity on you. I said I wouldn’t put out my hand against my lord, because he is Yahweh’s anointed.
My father, look and look some more at the corner of your coat in my hand, because when I cut off the corner of your coat, I didn’t kill you. Acknowledge and see that there’s nothing bad and no rebellion in my hand. I haven’t wronged you, but you’re hunting down my life so as to take it. May Yahweh decide between me and you! May Yahweh take redress from you, whereas my hand will not be against you. As the old aphorism says, “It’s from faithless people that faithlessness comes.” Given that my hand will not be against you, after whom has the king of Yisra’el gone out? After whom are you pursuing? After a dead dog? After a single flea? May Yahweh be judge and may he decide between me and you. May he look and settle my argument and decide for me from your hand.’
When David finished speaking these words to Sha’ul, Sha’ul said, ‘Is this your voice, my son David?’ Sha’ul lifted up his voice and wailed. He said to David, ‘You’re more faithful than me, because you’ve dealt me good things but I’ve dealt you bad things. Today you yourself have told of the good that you did to me, the fact that Yahweh delivered me into your hand and you didn’t kill me. When someone finds his enemy and sends him off on his way with good . . . Yahweh himself will make good to you with good in return this day for what you’ve done for me. And now, here, I acknowledge that you will definitely reign as king and Yisra’el’s kingdom will rise up in your hand. So now, swear to me by Yahweh, if you cut off my offspring after me, if you annihilate my name from my father’s household . . .’
David swore to Sha’ul, and Sha’ul went home, while David and his men went up to the stronghold.
Goldingay, John The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art – Thou my best thought, by day or by night; Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
David said to Sha’ul, ‘No one’s heart should fail him. Your servant himself will go and battle with this Pelishtite.’ Sha’ul said to David, ‘You can’t succeed in going to this Pelishtite to battle with him, because you’re a boy and he’s been a strong man from his boyhood.’
And David said, ‘Yahweh who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear: he will rescue me from the hand of this Pelishtite.’ Sha’ul said to David, ‘Go, and Yahweh be with you.’
So David took his stick in his hand, chose five smooth stones for himself from the wadi, put them in the shepherds’ bag which he had, in the pouch, with his sling in his hand, and went up to the Pelishtite.
The Pelishtite kept walking and drawing near to David, with the shield-bearer before him. The Pelishtite looked out and saw David, and despised him because he was a boy, tanned and lovely in appearance. The Pelishtite said to David, ‘Am I a dog that you’re coming against me with sticks?’ And the Pelishtite slighted David by his gods. The Pelishtite said to David, ‘Come to me, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and to the animals of the wild.’
David said to the Pelishtite, ‘You’re coming against me with sword, with lance and with javelin, but I’m coming against you in the name of Yahweh of Armies the God of Yisra’el’s lines, whom you’ve reviled. This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand and I shall strike you down and remove your head from you. I shall give the carcases of the Pelishtites’ camp this day to the birds of the heavens and to the creatures of the earth. All the earth will acknowledge that Yisra’el has a God, and this entire congregation will acknowledge that it is not by sword or by lance that Yahweh delivers, because the battle belongs to Yahweh and he will give you people into our hand.’
David slays Goliath
When the Pelishtite got up and walked and drew near to meet David, David hurried and ran to the line to meet the Pelishtite. David put his hand into the bag, got a stone from there, slung it and struck the Pelishtite on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead. He fell on his face to the ground. So David was stronger than the Pelishtite with sling and with stone. He struck the Pelishtite down and put him to death. There was no sword in David’s hand, so David ran, stood over the Pelishtite, got his sword, pulled it from its sheath and put him to death. He cut off his head with it. The Pelishtites saw that their strong man was dead, and they fled.
Goldingay, John;The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Lord, you have given me so much, I ask for one more thing – a grateful heart.
But Yahweh said to Shemu’el, ‘How long are you going to take up grieving for Sha’ul, when I myself have rejected him from being king over Yisra’el? Fill your horn with oil and go: I shall send you to Yishay [Jesse] the Bet-lehemite because I’ve seen a king for myself among his sons.’ Shemu’el said, ‘How can I go? Sha’ul will hear and kill me.’ Yahweh said, ‘You’re to take a heifer in your possession and say “It’s to sacrifice for Yahweh that I’ve come”, and invite Yishay to the sacrifice. I myself will let you know what you’re to do and you’re to anoint for me the one that I say to you.’
Shemu’el did what Yahweh spoke. He came to Bet Lehem, and the town’s elders trembled to meet him and said, ‘Does your coming mean things are well?’ He said, ‘Things are well. It’s to sacrifice for Yahweh that I’ve come. Make yourselves sacred and come with me to the sacrifice.’ He made Yishay and his sons sacred and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he saw Eli’ab and said, ‘Surely his anointed is in front of Yahweh!’ But Yahweh said to Shemu’el, ‘Don’t look at his appearance or at the loftiness to which he stands, because I’ve rejected him, because it’s not what a human being sees, because a human being sees what appears to the eyes, but Yahweh sees into the mind.’
Yishay called Abinadab and had him pass before Shemu’el, but he said, ‘Yahweh has not chosen this one either.’ Yishay had Shammah pass, but he said, ‘Yahweh has not chosen this one either.’ Yishay had his seven sons pass before Shemu’el, but Shemu’el said to Yishay, ‘Yahweh has not chosen these.’
Shemu’el said to Yishay, ‘Have the boys come to an end?’ He said, ‘The little one still remains, but there, he’s tending the flock.’ Shemu’el said to Yishay, ‘Send and get him, because we won’t sit down till he comes here.’
David Presented to Samuel
So he sent and brought him. He was tanned, with lovely eyes, good-looking. Yahweh said, ‘Get up, anoint him, because this is the one.’ Shemu’el got the horn of oil and anointed him among his brothers. Yahweh’s spirit thrust itself on to David from that day onwards. And Shemu’el set off and went to The Height.
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Be thou a bright flame before me, Be thou a guiding star above me Be thou a smooth path below me Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me Today – tonight -forever Amen.
Shemu’el said to Sha’ul, ‘Slow down, and I shall tell you what Yahweh spoke to me last night.’
He said to him, ‘Speak.’
Shemu’el said, ‘Though you were small in your eyes, you’re the head of Yisra’el’s clans. Yahweh anointed you as king over Yisra’el and Yahweh sent you on a journey. He said to you, “Go and devote the wrongdoers, Amaleq. Do battle against them until you’ve finished them off.” Why didn’t you listen to Yahweh’s voice but pounce on the spoil and do what was bad in Yahweh’s eyes?’ Listening is better than sacrificing
Sha’ul said to Shemu’el, ‘I listened to Yahweh’s voice! I went on the journey that Yahweh sent me on. I brought Agag king of Amaleq, but Amaleq I devoted. The company took flock and herd from the spoil, the first of what was to be devoted, to sacrifice for Yahweh your God at Gilgal.’
Shemu’el said,
Are burnt offerings and sacrifices as pleasing to Yahweh as listening to Yahweh’s voice? Here, listening is better than sacrificing, heeding than the fat of rams. Because rebellion [is as bad as] the wrongdoing that comes from divination, arrogance [is as bad as] the trouble that comes from effigies. Since you rejected Yahweh’s word, he has rejected you from being king.
Goldingay, John;The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
From the day the chest lived at Ye’arim Township time went on; twenty years passed. The entire household of Yisra’el grieved after Yahweh, and Shemu’el said to the entire household of Yisra’el, ‘If with your entire heart you’re coming back to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtars from among you. Direct your heart firmly towards Yahweh and serve him alone, and he will rescue you from the hand of the Pelishtites.’ So the Yisra’elites removed the Masters and the Ashtars and served Yahweh alone.
Shemu’el said, ‘Gather all Yisra’el at The Watchtower and I’ll plead with Yahweh on your behalf.’ They gathered at The Watchtower and drew water and poured it out before Yahweh. They fasted that day and said there, ‘We have done wrong against Yahweh.’ So Shemu’el exercised authority for the Yisra’elites at The Watchtower. The Pelishtites heard that the Yisra’elites had gathered at The Watchtower and the Pelishtites’ lords went up against Yisra’el. The Yisra’elites heard and were afraid of the Pelishtites.
So the Yisra’elites said to Shemu’el, ‘Don’t be deaf to us and not cry out to Yahweh our God so he may deliver us from the hand of the Pelishtites.’ So Shemu’el got a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering for Yahweh. Shemu’el cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Yisra’el, and Yahweh answered him. As Shemu’el was offering up the burnt offering, the Pelishtites were coming up for battle against Yisra’el, but Yahweh thundered with a loud voice that day against the Pelishtites and threw them into a turmoil, and they took a beating before Yisra’el. The Yisra’elites went out from The Watchtower, pursued the Pelishtites and struck them down as far as below Bet Kar.
Shemu’el got a stone and put it between The Watchtower and The Tooth, and named it ‘Help Stone’. He said, ‘As far as this Yahweh helped us.’ The Pelishtites bowed down and didn’t any more come within Yisra’el’s border again. Yahweh’s hand was against the Pelishtites all the days of Shemu’el. The towns that the Pelishtites had taken from Yisra’el came back to Yisra’el, from Eqron as far as Gat. Yisra’el rescued their border from the hand of the Pelishtites, and there was peace between Yisra’el and the Amorites.
Samuel at Ramah
Shemu’el exercised authority for Yisra’el all the days of his life. 16He went year by year and travelled round to Bet-el, Gilgal and The Watchtower and exercised authority for Yisra’el at all these sites; then his return to The Height, because his home was there. He exercised authority for Yisra’el there and built an altar for Yahweh there.
Goldingay, John The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Yisra’el went out to meet the Pelishtites [Philistines] in battle, and camped at Help Stone [Eben Ha’ezer], while the Pelishtites camped at Apheq. The Pelishtites lined up to meet Yisra’el and the battle spread, and Yisra’el took a beating before the Pelishtites. They struck down some 4,000 men in their line in the fields.
The company came to the camp and Yisra’el’s elders said, ‘Why did Yahweh defeat us today before the Pelishtites? Let’s get Yahweh’s pact chest from Shiloh for ourselves, so he will come among us and deliver us from our enemies’ fist.’ So the company sent to Shiloh and carried from there the pact chest of Yahweh of Armies, who sits above the sphinxes. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Pinhas, were with God’s pact chest there. When Yahweh’s pact chest came into the camp, all Yisra’el gave a great shout, and the earth resounded. The Pelishtites heard the sound of the shout and said, ‘What’s this sound of a great shout in the Hebrews’ camp?’ They came to know that Yahweh’s chest had come into the camp. The Pelishtites were afraid, because they said, ‘A god has come into the camp’, and they said, ‘Alas for us! A thing like this has not happened to us in previous days. Alas for us! Who will rescue us from the hand of these august gods? These are the gods that struck down the Misrayimites (Egyptians) in total defeat in the wilderness. Summon up your strength, be men, Pelishtites, so you don’t serve the Hebrews as they served you. Be men! Do battle!’
So the Pelishtites did battle and Yisra’el took a beating. They fled, each one to his tents. The rout was very great, and from Yisra’el 30,000 men on foot fell, while God’s chest was taken, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Pinhas, died.
Goldingay, John; The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Grant, Lord, that we may hold to you without parting, worship you without wearying, serve you without failing; faithfully seek you, happily find you, and forever possess you, the only God,blessed now and for ever. Amen
The boy, Shemu’el, was ministering to Yahweh in the presence of Eli. Yahweh’s word was rare at that time; there was no vision spreading about. On a day when Eli was lying down in his place (his eyes had started to fail; he couldn’t see) but God’s lamp had not yet gone out, and Shemu’el was lying down in Yahweh’s palace where God’s chest was, Yahweh called to Shemu’el. He said, ‘I’m here’, and ran to Eli and said, ‘I’m here, because you called to me.’ He said, ‘I didn’t call. Go back, lie down.’ He went and lay down. Yahweh called yet again, ‘Shemu’el’, and Shemu’el got up and went to Eli and said, ‘I’m here, because you called to me.’ He said, ‘I didn’t call, son, go back, lie down.’ Now Shemu’el hadn’t yet acknowledged Yahweh; Yahweh’s word hadn’t yet revealed itself to him.
Yahweh again called Shemu’el, a third time, and he got up, went to Eli and said, ‘I’m here, because you called to me.’ Eli perceived that Yahweh was calling to the boy. Eli said to Shemu’el, ‘Go, lie down, and if he calls to you, you’re to say, “Speak, Yahweh, because your servant is listening.”’ So Shemu’el went and lay down in hi s place. Yahweh came and took his stand and called as at the other times, ‘Shemu’el, Shemu’el’. Shemu’el said, ‘Speak, because your servant is listening.’
Shemu’el grew up, and as Yahweh was with him, he didn’t allow any of his words to fall to the ground. All Yisra’el from Dan as far as Be ’er Sheba acknowledged that Shemu’el was trustworthy as a prophet belonging to Yahweh. Yahweh again appeared at Shiloh, in that Yahweh revealed himself to Shemu’el at Shiloh with Yahweh’s word, and Shemu’el’s word came to all Yisra’el.
Goldingay, John The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Thank you, dear Jesus, for all you have given me, for all you have taken away from me, for all you have left me.
Hannah got up after the eating in Shiloh and after the drinking. Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of Yahweh’s palace. She was bitter in spirit but she made a plea to Yahweh and cried and cried, and she made a pledge.
She said, ‘Yahweh of Armies, if you actually look at your handmaid’s humbling and you’re mindful of me, and you don’t put your handmaid out of mind but give your handmaid a male offspring, I’ll give him to Yahweh all the days of his life. No razor will go up on his head.’
Because she was doing much pleading before Yahweh, and Eli was watching her mouth, and Hannah was speaking in her heart (only her lips were quivering, but her voice did not make itself heard), Eli thought she was drunk. Eli said to her, ‘How long will you behave like a drunk? Put your wine away from you.’ Hannah answered, ‘No, sir, I’m a tough-spirited woman and I haven’t drunk wine or liquor. I’ve poured myself out before Yahweh. Don’t make your handmaid into a scoundrelous woman, because it was out of the dimensions of my tetchiness and my provocation that I’ve spoken until now.’ Eli answered, ‘Go, things will be well. The God of Yisra’el: he will give the thing that you’ve asked of him.’ She said, ‘May your maidservant find grace in your eyes.’ The woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer [the same]. They started early in the morning, bowed low before Yahweh, and went back and came to their home in The Height.
Elqanah had sex with his wife Hannah and Yahweh was mindful of her, and at the end of the year Hannah had got pregnant. She gave birth to a son and named him Shemu’el [Samuel], because ‘I asked [sha’al] for him from Yahweh.’
Goldingay, John;The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is discord, union; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy, For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen
