And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.

我又何必再说呢？若要一一细说，基甸、巴拉、参孙、耶弗他、大卫、撒母耳，和众先知的事，时候就不够了。

我还要说什么呢？若要一一细说基甸、巴拉、参孙、耶弗他、大卫、撒母耳和众先知的事，时间就不够了。

我还要说什么呢？若要一一细说基甸、巴拉、参孙、耶弗他、大卫、撒母耳和众先知的事，时间就不够了。

我还要再说下去吗？我没有时间一一细说基甸、巴拉、参孙、耶弗他、大卫、撒母耳和众先知的事了。

我还要再说什么呢？如果再要述说基甸、巴拉、参孙、耶弗他、大卫、撒母耳和众先知的事，时间就不够了。

我还要再说什么呢？如果我一一述说基甸、巴拉克、叁孙、耶弗达、大卫、撒母耳和先知们的事，时间就不够了。

我又何必再說呢？若要一一細說，基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗他、大衛、撒母耳，和眾先知的事，時候就不夠了。

我還要說甚麼呢？若要一一細說基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗他、大衛、撒母耳和眾先知的事，時間就不夠了。

我還要說甚麼呢？若要一一細說基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗他、大衛、撒母耳和眾先知的事，時間就不夠了。

我還要再說下去嗎？我沒有時間一一細說基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗特、大衛、撒母耳和眾先知的事了。

我還要再說甚麼呢？如果再要述說基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗他、大衛、撒母耳和眾先知的事，時間就不夠了。

我還要說甚麼呢？要敘說基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗他、大衛、和撒母耳、以及眾神言人的事，時間就不夠了。

我還要再說什麼呢？如果我一一述說基甸、巴拉克、叄孫、耶弗達、大衛、撒母耳和先知們的事，時間就不夠了。

我又何言哉、如基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗他、大衛、撒母耳、與諸先知、若言之、時則不足矣、

是豈言之可盡哉、有若其田、巴勒、參孫、耶弗大、大闢撒母耳、及諸先知、如欲言之、日亦不足、

我何必盡言、有若基甸、巴拉、參孫、耶弗他、大衛、撒母耳、及諸先知、如歷敘之、則時有不足也、

雖然、吾亦何用多說。若夫基甸巴拉桑生耶弗德大維撒母耳以及眾先知之事、實不勝縷述也。

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,

What more can I say? I don’t have time to tell about all the others. I don’t have time to talk about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah. I don’t have time to tell about David and Samuel and the prophets.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.

And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:

And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets:

And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and[ of] Barak, and[ of] Samson, and[ of] Jephthae;[ of] David also, and Samuel, and[ of] the prophets:

What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

So Samuel took the horn full of olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day onward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

After some time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, thinking,“ I asked the LORD for him.

The LORD said to Samuel,“ How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.”

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father.Gilead’s wife also gave him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him,“ You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, because you are another woman’s son.”So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him.It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel.When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob.They said,“ Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.”Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead,“ But you hated me and made me leave my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah,“ That may be true, but now we pledge to you our loyalty. Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader of all who live in Gilead.”Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead,“ All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, I will be your leader.”The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah,“ The LORD will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say.”So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the LORD in Mizpah.Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying,“ Why have you come against me to attack my land?”

The Israelites again did evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.The LORD’s angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her,“ You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son.Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines.”The woman went and said to her husband,“ A man sent from God came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger– he was very awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.He said to me,‘ Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.’”Manoah prayed to the LORD,“ Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God to visit us again, so he can teach us how we should raise the child who will be born.”God answered Manoah’s prayer. God’s angelic messenger visited the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her.The woman ran at once and told her husband,“ Come quickly, the man who visited me the other day has appeared to me!”So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met the man, he said to him,“ Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said,“ Yes.”Manoah said,“ Now, when your announcement comes true, how should the child be raised and what should he do?”The LORD’s messenger told Manoah,“ Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her.She should not drink anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. She should obey everything I commanded her to do.”Manoah said to the LORD’s messenger,“ Please stay here awhile, so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”The LORD’s messenger said to Manoah,“ If I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the LORD, you should offer it.”( He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the LORD’s messenger.)

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully.They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven– things angels long to catch a glimpse of.

“ Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne,David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay.

All this took about four hundred fifty years. After this he gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days.

for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said,“ Do not covet.”

About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter?

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.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,and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD as well; the ark of God was also there.The LORD called to Samuel, and he replied,“ Here I am!”Then he ran to Eli and said,“ Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli said,“ I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went back and lay down.The LORD again called,“ Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said,“ Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli said,“ I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD; the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.Then the LORD called Samuel a third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said,“ Here I am, for you called me!” Eli then realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy.So Eli said to Samuel,“ Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say,“ Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.Then the LORD came and stood nearby, calling as he had previously done,“ Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel replied,“ Speak, for your servant is listening!”The LORD said to Samuel,“ Look! I am about to do something in Israel; when anyone hears about it, both of his ears will tingle.On that day I will carry out against Eli everything that I spoke about his house– from start to finish!

The LORD’s angelic messenger came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress so he could hide it from the Midianites.

Then the LORD said to me,“ Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! Get them away from me! Tell them to go away!

Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD. The boy was dressed in a linen ephod.

What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase?

Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

After removing him, God raised up David their king. He testified about him:‘ I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart, who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’From the descendants of this man God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.Before Jesus arrived, John had proclaimed a baptism for repentance to all the people of Israel.But while John was completing his mission, he said repeatedly,‘ What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’Brothers, descendants of Abraham’s family, and those Gentiles among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us.For the people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, and they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath by condemning him.Though they found no basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.When they had accomplished everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.But God raised him from the dead,and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses to the people.And we proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors,that this promise God has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second psalm,‘ You are my Son; today I have fathered you.’But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way:‘ I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.’Therefore he also says in another psalm,‘ You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.’For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay,

The Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against the Philistines.The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them.Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall.He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor. The weight of his bronze body armor was five thousand shekels.He had bronze shin guards on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders.The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer was walking before him.Goliath stood and called to Israel’s troops,“ Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man so he may come down to me!If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.”Then the Philistine said,“ I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight each other!”When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid.Now David was the son of this Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah. He had eight sons, and in Saul’s days he was old and well advanced in years.Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who went to war were Eliab, his firstborn, Abinadab, the second oldest, and Shammah, the third oldest.Now David was the youngest. While the three oldest sons followed Saul,David was going back and forth from Saul in order to care for his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.Meanwhile for forty days the Philistine approached every morning and evening and took his position.Jesse said to his son David,“ Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; go quickly to the camp to your brothers.Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back their pledge that they received the goods.

So the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hand of the enemies all around you, and you were able to live securely.

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he?( I am speaking in human terms.)

Moses and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel was one of those who prayed to him. They prayed to the LORD and he answered them.

He replied to him,‘ If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

The Israelites again did evil in the LORD’s sight after Ehud’s death.The LORD turned them over to King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim.The Israelites cried out for help to the LORD, because Sisera had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, and he cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.Now Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.She would sit under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled.She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him,“ Is it not true that the LORD God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun!I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army. I will hand him over to you.”Barak said to her,“ If you go with me, I will go. But if you do not go with me, I will not go.”She said,“ I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame on the expedition you are undertaking, for the LORD will turn Sisera over to a woman.” Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; Deborah went up with him as well.Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.When Sisera heard that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,he ordered all his chariotry– nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels– and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon.Deborah said to Barak,“ Spring into action, for this is the day the LORD is handing Sisera over to you! Has the LORD not taken the lead?” Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.The LORD routed Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword. Sisera jumped out of his chariot and ran away on foot.Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died by the edge of the sword; not even one survived!Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty.Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him,“ Stop and rest, my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him.He said to her,“ Give me a little water to drink, because I’m thirsty.” She opened a goatskin container of milk and gave him some milk to drink. Then she covered him up again.He said to her,“ Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you,‘ Is there a man here?’ say‘ No.’”Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground while he was asleep from exhaustion, and he died.Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him,“ Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent, and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead with the tent peg in his temple.That day God humiliated King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.Israel’s power continued to overwhelm King Jabin of Canaan until they did away with him.On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this victory song:“ When the leaders took the lead in Israel, When the people answered the call to war– Praise the LORD!Hear, O kings! Pay attention, O rulers! I will sing to the LORD! I will sing to the LORD God of Israel!O LORD, when you departed from Seir, when you marched from Edom’s plains, the earth shook, the heavens poured down, the clouds poured down rain.The mountains trembled before the LORD, the God of Sinai; before the LORD God of Israel.In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael caravans disappeared; travelers had to go on winding side roads.Warriors were scarce, they were scarce in Israel, until you arose, Deborah, until you arose as a motherly protector in Israel.God chose new leaders, then fighters appeared in the city gates; but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, among forty military units in Israel.My heart went out to Israel’s leaders, to the people who answered the call to war. Praise the LORD!You who ride on light-colored female donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, you who walk on the road, pay attention!Hear the sound of those who divide the sheep among the watering places; there they tell of the Lord’s victorious deeds, the victorious deeds of his warriors in Israel. Then the LORD’s people went down to the city gates–Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, sing a song! Get up, Barak! Capture your prisoners of war, son of Abinoam!Then the survivors came down to the mighty ones; the LORD’s people came down to me as warriors.They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, they follow after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers. From Makir leaders came down, from Zebulun came the ones who march carrying an officer’s staff.Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah, the men of Issachar supported Barak; into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. Among the clans of Reuben there was intense heart searching.Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, listening to the shepherds playing their pipes for their flocks? As for the clans of Reuben– there was intense searching of heart.Gilead stayed put beyond the Jordan River. As for Dan– why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? Asher remained on the seacoast, he stayed by his harbors.The men of Zebulun were not concerned about their lives; Naphtali charged on to the battlefields.Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought, at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no silver as plunder.From the sky the stars fought, from their paths in the heavens they fought against Sisera.The Kishon River carried them off; the river confronted them– the Kishon River. Step on the necks of the strong!The horses’ hooves pounded the ground; the stallions galloped madly.‘ Call judgment down on Meroz,’ says the LORD’s angelic messenger;‘ Be sure to call judgment down on those who live there, because they did not come to help in the LORD’s battle, to help in the LORD’s battle against the warriors.’The most rewarded of women should be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite! She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents.He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for a king, she served him curds.Her left hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workmen’s hammer. She“ hammered” Sisera, she shattered his skull, she smashed his head, she drove the tent peg through his temple.Between her feet he collapsed, he fell limp and was lifeless; between her feet he collapsed and fell limp, in the spot where he collapsed, there he fell limp– violently murdered!Through the window she looked; Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:‘ Why is his chariot so slow to return? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot- horses delayed?’The wisest of her ladies answer; indeed she even thinks to herself,‘ No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder– a girl or two for each man to rape! Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth, for the neck of the plunderer!’May all your enemies perish like this, O LORD! But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!” And the land had rest for forty years.The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD turned them over to Midian for seven years.The Midianites overwhelmed Israel. Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them.They invaded the land and devoured its crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, and they took away the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.When they invaded with their cattle and tents, they were as thick as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. They came to devour the land.Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help.When the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help because of Midian,he sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said to them,“ This is what the LORD God of Israel says:‘ I brought you up from Egypt and took you out of that place of slavery.

I want you to recall both the predictions foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.

Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the LORD empowered him.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out.

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums and magicians from the land.The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified.So Saul inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him– not by dreams nor by Urim nor by the prophets.So Saul instructed his servants,“ Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him,“ There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing and left, accompanied by two of his men. They came to the woman at night and said,“ Use your ritual pit to conjure up for me the one I tell you.”But the woman said to him,“ Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed the mediums and magicians from the land! Why are you trapping me so you can put me to death?”But Saul swore an oath to her by the LORD,“ As surely as the LORD lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!”The woman replied,“ Who is it that I should bring up for you?” He said,“ Bring up for me Samuel.”When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly. The woman said to Saul,“ Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”The king said to her,“ Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul,“ I have seen one like a god coming up from the ground!”He said to her,“ What about his appearance?” She said,“ An old man is coming up! He is wrapped in a robe!” Then Saul realized it was Samuel, and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down.Samuel said to Saul,“ Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied,“ I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me– not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”Samuel said,“ Why are you asking me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and has become your enemy?The LORD has done exactly as I prophesied! The LORD has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David!Since you did not obey the LORD and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this thing to you today.The LORD will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines! Tomorrow both you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines!”Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy, not having eaten anything all that day and night.When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him,“ Your servant has done what you asked. I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.Now it’s your turn to listen to your servant! Let me set before you a bit of bread so that you can eat. When you regain your strength, you can go on your way.”But he refused, saying,“ I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged him to eat, so he gave in. He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed.Now the woman had a well-fed calf at her home that she quickly slaughtered. Taking some flour, she kneaded bread and baked it without leaven.She brought it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and left that same night.

Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the LORD under the supervision of Eli the priest.

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name.