The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ¹  said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

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 Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. ¹  He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.

So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord made it thunder and rain that day. All the people were very afraid of both the Lord and Samuel.

Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!” Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the Lord.

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.

Now David had run away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth.

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

Now the boy Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with people.

Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.”

So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.

So Samuel listened to everything the people said and then reported it to the Lord. ¹ 

Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.

Then Samuel went to Ramah, while Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.

And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced ¹  these days.

All this took ¹  about four hundred fifty years. After this ²  he gave them judges until the time of ³  Samuel the prophet.

They got up at dawn and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up, so I can send you on your way.” So Saul got up and the two of them – he and Samuel – went outside.

The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they say ¹  and install a king over them.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go back to his own city.”

Until the day he ¹  died Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Samuel said to the people, “Come on! Let’s go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”