1113 B. C.

of our money to Delilah to learn from him and discover where his strength lay; and, after repeated If I be shaven, then

and I shall become She informed the lords

solicitations, he informed her,
my strength will go from me,
weak like any other man.
of the Philistines, and in his sleep she told them
that she would cut off the seven locks of his hair.
She did so, and said, Samson, the Philistines are
upon thee. His strength left him, and the Philis-
tines took him, and put out his eyes, and made him
grind in the prison house. In a short time the
hair of his head grew; and at that time the Philis-
tines made a feast to Dagon, their god, for deli-
vering Samson into their hands. And at this

feast there were upon the roof of the building three
thousand of the principal people; and they sent
for Samson to make sport. And Samson, in his
prayer, called upon the Lord that he might be
avenged of the Philistines for the loss of both his
eyes. And whilst the three thousand persons were
looking down into the hall, he took hold of the
pillars on which the house stood, and bowed him-
self with all his might, and the house fell, with the
lords and all the persons therein, including Sam-
son himself.

And it came to pass, in the days of the judges ruling Israel, there was a certain man, whose name was Elimelech, of Bethlehem, and whose wife was Naomi. They resided in the country of Moab. Elimelech died, leaving his widow with two sons. And they took them wives of the daughters of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and of the other Ruth. And in ten years the two sons

died, so that Naomi was bereaved of her sons as well as her husband. She arose with her two daughters-in-law, and returned to the land of Judah. Naomi getting old, requested that her two daughters would return to their respective mothers' houses at Moab. Ruth, however, would not go back to serve the gods of the Moabites, but would cleave to her mother-in-law, Naomi. So they went on journeying, until they reached Bethlehem, in the middle of the barley harvest. Naomi had a kinsman, whose name was Boaz, and Ruth asked Naomi to let her go and glean ears of corn after him, in whose sight she might find grace. Boaz said unto his principal servant who was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And he answered that she was the damsel that came back with Naomi from Moab. And Boaz said to her, Abide here with my maidens. And she answered, Why have I found grace in thee, seeing that I am a stranger? Boaz said, It hath been fully shown to me thy attention to thy mother-in-law. The Lord recompence thy work.

Now Boaz redeemed some land which formerly belonged to Naomi, and it was the custom of Israel, in those days, to confirm a right, for the seller to draw off his shoe, and give it to his neighbour as a testimony. Ruth (the widow of Mahlon) was, according to the law, purchased by Boaz with the land; and the people bore testimony, and said, The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel (the daughter of Laban), and like Leah (the wife of Jacob); which two contributed much towards building the house of Israel.

1092 B. C.

So Boaz took Ruth to wife, and she bore him a son, and Naomi took the child to her bosom; and their neighbours gave the child the name of Obed, and he became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.

At this period, there was a a man of Mount Ephraim, an Ephrathite, of the name of Elkanah, who had two wives, the one named Hannah, and the other Peninnah; but Hannah had no children, and she prayed unto the Lord, and vowed a vow that if the Lord would give unto her a male child, she would give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and that no razor should come upon his head. Eli, the priest, the then judge of Israel, rebuked her, supposing her to have been drunk. He, however, said, Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant thee thy petition. Hannah brought forth a child, and she called his name Samuel. The sons of Eli, the judge, were the worshippers of Belial; they knew not the Lord. Elkanah offered the sacrifice of a bullock, and the custom then was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came (while the flesh was in seething) with a three-prong fork, and struck it into the cauldron, and all that was brought up belonged to the priest. Eli blessed Elkanah and Hannah, and Hannah bore three sons and two daughters.

Josephus says that the child Samuel was about twelve years of age, and he ministered unto the Lord such Levitical duties as his age permitted. And the word was revealed before Samuel in a vision, by calling his name three times where the Ark of God was. The Lord told Samuel of the

intended destruction of the house of Eli-both Eli and all his house, because he did not restrain his sons from committing evil. Samuel told Eli all that the Lord had said in a vision; and all Israel knew that Samuel was a prophet.

Israel went out against the Philistines, and pitched beside Eben-ezer, and took the Ark, and placed it there. The Philistines defeated the Hebrews, and carried away the Ark to the temple of Dagon. The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain in the battle. A messenger came from the battle to Eli, and informed him that the Philistines had defeated the Israelites, had captured the Ark of God, and that his two sons were slain. On hearing this, Eli, being an old man of ninetyeight years, leaned back in his chair, and died, after having judged Israel forty years.

When the Philistines rose up in the morning, to visit their temple, they found that their god Dagon had fallen down on his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord. So they raised up Dagon, and put him in his place again; and when they went to the temple the second morning, behold their god Dagon had fallen down again in the night, and both the palms of his hands were broken off, and he lay on the threshold. The Lord visited the Philistines with a disease which carried death and destruction throughout their city. And as the Philistines came up, Samuel cried unto the Lord, with a burnt offspring, and the Lord discomfited the Philistines with thunder that day. The Israelites pursued the Philistines, and smote them between Mizpeh and Shen; and Samuel placed a

1091 B. C.

stone there, and called it Eben-ezer, and said, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.

Samuel now got old, and his two sons, whom he had made judges in Israel, walked not in his way, but turned after lucre, and took bribes. Therefore Israel asked Samuel to make them a king, that they may be judged like other nations. And Samuel told them the words of the Lord, that with a king they would be worse off than with Judges in Israel. The Hebrews, however, obstinately maintained their opinion. Samuel prayed unto the Lord for advice, and the Lord said, Hearken unto their voice. They have rejected me, and served other gods, from the day when I brought them out of Egypt. Protest unto them, and shew them the manner of the king which shall reign over them. And Samuel, according to the Lord's instruction, went out, and met a Benjamite, a giant in size, whose name was Saul. Samuel told Saul that he, Samuel, was the seer, or prophet, and shewed him the word of the Lord. Samuel then took a vial of oil, and anointed Saul king of Israel. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye whom the Lord hath chosen. And the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

And Saul went home to Gilgal, and Samuel went with him, and all the people, and offered sacrifices; and Samuel said to the people, Behold the king which ye have chosen, and a wickedness done to the Lord your God.

And Jonathan, the son of Saul, smote the garrison of the Philistines in the city of Geba.

And Saul blew the trumpet, and called all the