lehem and let thy house be like the house of Percz, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which Jehovah shall give thee of this young woman."

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the women said unto Naomi, "Blessed be Jehovah, who hath not left thee this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of life, and a nourisher of thine old age; for thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him." And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi ;" and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

[What follows is the story of an Ephraimite, Elkanah, and his wife, Hannah, who had no children. Hannah prayed earnestly for a son, whom she promised to devote to the service of Jehovah. The Lord heard her prayer and in due time Samuel was born and given to Eli, the priest of the temple, to be trained in the service of Jehovah.]

LII

THE CALLING OF SAMUEL

(I Samuel iii: 1-21)

And the child Samuel1 ministered unto Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to wax dim, so that he could not see), and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark2 of God was; that Jehovah called Samuel: and he said, “Here am I." And he ran unto Eli, and said, "Here am I; for thou calledst me." And he said, "I called not; lie down again." And he went and lay down. And Jehovah called yet again, 66 Samuel." And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here am I; for thou calledst me." And he answered, "I called not, my son; lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither was the word of Jehovah yet revealed unto him. And Jehovah called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here am I; for thou calledst me." And Eli perceived that Jehovah had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, "Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, 'Speak, Jehovah; for thy servant heareth."" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel, Samuel." Then Samuel said, "Speak; for thy servant heareth." And Jehovah said to Samuel,

1. "Asked for of God."

2. The ark was the repository of the tables of the law.

"Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even unto the end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever."

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And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, "Here am I." And he said, "What is the thing that Jehovah hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he spake unto thee." And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good."

And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba1 knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah. And Jehovah appeared again in Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.

[The people of Israel forgot Jehovah, as they so often
had done in the past, and just as before, troubles came
upon them.
In a battle with the Philistines, in which
they were defeated, the ark of the covenant was taken.
This was the greatest misfortune that had fallen upon

1. A proverbial expression meaning, throughout the whole land from North to South.

them since they had left Egypt. Eli was crushed by the
news that the ark had been captured and died soon after.
Samuel thereupon succeeded him as the priest of the tem-
ple. After the ark had been for seven months in the hands
of the Philistines, a pestilence attacked them.
As they
feared this came from keeping the ark of the covenant,
they returned it to Israel. Samuel then besought his
people to repent in order that Jehovah might save them
from their enemies. The Israelites returned to the wor-
ship of Jehovah, and again there was peace in the land.]

LIII

THE ISRAELITES DESIRE A KING

(I Samuel vii: 16-viii: 22)

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and he built there an altar unto Jehovah.

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah; and they said unto him, "Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah. And Jehovah said unto Samuel,

"Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them."

And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day."

But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, "Nay; but we will have a king