When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters;

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.”

Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.

And he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; everything that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. They did so in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

Now Eli was very old; and he heard about everything that his sons were doing to all Israel, and that they slept with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

So he said to them, “Why are you doing such things as these, the evil things that I hear from all these people?

Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

And you will look at the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and there will never be an old man in your house.

Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar, so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.

He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do the same to you, and more so, if you hide a single word from me of all the words that He spoke to you!”

And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.

Philistines Take the Ark in Victory

So the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle, and they camped beside Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped in Aphek.

And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord was coming into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.

Woe to us! Who will save us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road keeping watch, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. And the man came to give a report in the city, and all the city cried out.

So they sent word and gathered all the governors of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Have the ark of the God of Israel brought to Gath.” So they took the ark of the God of Israel away.

Therefore they sent word and gathered all the governors of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people!” For there was a deadly panic throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

Then they said, “What is to be the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of the governors of the Philistines, since one plague was on all of you and on your governors.

and the gold mice, corresponding to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five governors, both of fortified cities and of country villages. The large stone on which they placed the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel mourned after the Lord.

Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will save you from the hand of the Philistines.”

Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the Lord for you.”

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 he used to go annually on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.