¹⁷ Then he would return to ^(A)Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. ^(B)And he built there an altar to the Lord.

¹⁹ They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at ^(A)Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord ^(B)remembered her.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(A)Ramah

The Birth of Samuel

1 There was a certain man of ^(A)Ramathaim-zophim of ^(B)the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, ^(C)an Ephrathite.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been ^(A)thrown down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ^(B)“Israel shall be your name,” ³² and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs^[a] of seed. ^33 (C)And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and ^(D)pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” ³⁴ And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. ³⁵ And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

³⁶ And at the time of ^(E)the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, ^(F)God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that ^(G)you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that ^(H)I have done all these things at your word.

¹⁸ Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at ^(A)Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. ¹⁹ And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, ^(B)the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, ^(C)and they also prophesied. ²¹ When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, ^(D)and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, ^(E)and they also prophesied. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in ^(F)Ramah.” ²³ And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. ^(G)And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

¹⁵ So all the people went to ^(A)Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(B)before the Lord in Gilgal. There ^(C)they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

⁴ And the next day the people rose early and ^(A)built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵ And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” ^(B)For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”

⁷ and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,^[a] because ^(A)there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.