The boy Samuel, a son of Elkanah and Hannah, was brought up by Eli and slept in the Tabernacle of the Lord. One night the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel, who did not yet know the Lord, ran to Eli; but Eli answered: I did not call thee, lie down again. The Lord called yet two times to Samuel, and he ran each time to Eli. The high priest now perceived that it was the Lord who called Samuel, and said to him: If he call thee again, answer: Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Samuel lay down again, and the Lord called the fourth time to Samuel, and he answered according to Eli’s words. And the voice of the Lord said: Because Eli saw that his sons were wicked, and yet he did not restrain them, therefore I will send destruction upon him and upon his house. In the morning when Eli learned what the Lord had said, he replied: It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. There was war with the Philistines, and the Israelites were defeated. So they brought the Ark of the Covenant to the camp; but they were again routed, and the Ark was captured by the Philistines. Eli was at that time 98 years old. He was seated in a chair by the wayside watching; for he was anxious for the Ark of God. One who had fled from the battle came and said: Israel is defeated, thy sons are fallen, and God’s Ark is taken. When he heard about the Ark of God, he fell backwards, and his neck was broken, and he died.--The Philistines took the Ark and put it in the temple of the idol Dagon. But as a disease broke out in the land, they brought the Ark back and sent presents with it. (1 Sam. 1-6.) Samuel was the last of the judges. He journeyed through the land and judged, and he was honored by the people. When he was old he made his two sons judges; but they walked not in the way of their father, but sold judgment for money. Then the elders of the people came to Samuel and said: Now make us a king to judge us and go before us in our wars. This thing displeased Samuel, but the Lord said to him: Hearken unto the voice of the people, for they have not rejected thee, but me have they rejected, that I should no longer be king over them. And the Lord spoke again to Samuel and said: Tomorrow I will send thee a man from the tribe of Benjamin; him shalt thou anoint to be king over my people. On the morrow Samuel saw a man of the tribe of Benjamin; his name was Saul, the son of Kish. There was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. The Lord said to Samuel: Behold the man of whom I spoke to thee! And Samuel brought him into his house, took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head and said: Now has the Lord anointed thee to be king over His people. On that day the spirit of God came upon Saul, and the Lord gave him another heart. Then Samuel ceased to be judge. (1 Sam. 7-10.) 32. Saul