11 And there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 And he had two wives: the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Jehovah of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of Jehovah, were there. 4 And it came to pass on the day that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters portions; 5 but to Hannah he used to give a double portion, for he loved Hannah; but Jehovah had shut up her womb. 6 And her adversary provoked her much also, to make her fret, because Jehovah had shut up her womb. 7 And [as] he did so year by year, as often as she went up to the house of Jehovah, she provoked her thus; and she wept and did not eat. 8 And Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to thee than ten sons?
9 And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk; (now Eli the priest sat upon the seat by the door-post of the temple of Jehovah;) 10 and she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Jehovah, and wept much. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him to Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. 12 And it came to pass as she continued praying before Jehovah, that Eli marked her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; and Eli thought she was drunken. 14 And Eli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before Jehovah. 16 Take not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my grief and provocation have I spoken hitherto. 17 And Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition which thou hast asked of him. 18 And she said, Let thy bondwoman find grace in thy sight. And the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more [as before].
19 And they rose up early in the morning and worshipped before Jehovah, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Jehovah remembered her. 20 And it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, [saying,] Because I have asked him of Jehovah. 21 And Elkanah her husband, and all his house, went up to sacrifice to Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, [I will wait] until the child is weaned; then will I bring him, that he may appear before Jehovah, and there abide for ever. 23 And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what is good in thy sight: abide until thou hast weaned him; only, may Jehovah fulfil his word. And the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. 24 And she took him up with her when she had weaned him, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a flask of wine, and brought him to the house of Jehovah to Shiloh; and the boy was young. 25 And they slaughtered the bullock, and brought the boy to Eli. 26 And she said, Oh my lord, [as] thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here to pray to Jehovah. 27 For this boy I prayed; and Jehovah has granted me my petition which I asked of him. 28 And also I have lent him to Jehovah: all the days that he lives, he is lent to Jehovah. And he worshipped Jehovah there.
21 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exulteth in Jehovah, my horn is lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth is opened wide over mine enemies; for I rejoice in thy salvation. 2 There is none holy as Jehovah, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. 3 Do not multiply your words of pride, let not vain-glory come out of your mouth; For Jehovah is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4 The bow of the mighty is broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5 They that were full have hired themselves out for bread; and the hungry are [so] no more: Even the barren beareth seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 6 Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up. 7 Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich, he bringeth low, also he lifteth up: 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; from the dung-hill he lifteth up the needy, To set [him] among nobles; and he maketh them inherit a throne of glory; For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's, and he hath set the world upon them. 9 He keepeth the feet of his saints, but the wicked are silenced in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10 They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces; in the heavens will he thunder upon them. Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth; and he will give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
11 And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the boy ministered to Jehovah in the presence of Eli the priest.
12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not Jehovah. 13 And the priests' custom with the people was, when any man sacrificed a sacrifice, the priest's servant came, when the flesh was cooked, with a flesh-hook of three prongs in his hand; 14 and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot; the priest took of it all that the flesh-hook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites that came there. 15 Even before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, and he will not accept sodden flesh of thee, but raw. 16 If the man said to him, They will immediately burn the fat entire, then take as thy soul desires; he would say [to him], No, but thou shalt give [it] now; and if not, I will take [it] by force. 17 And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah, for men despised the offering of Jehovah. 18 And Samuel ministered before Jehovah, a boy girded with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to sacrifice the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to Jehovah. And they went to their own home. 21 So Jehovah visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before Jehovah. 22 And Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and that they lay with the women that served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil deeds from all this people. 24 No, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear: ye make Jehovah's people transgress. 25 If one man sin against another, God will judge him; but if a man sin against Jehovah, who shall intreat for him? But they hearkened not to the voice of their father, for Jehovah was minded to slay them. 26 And the boy Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with Jehovah and also with men.
27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Did I plainly reveal myself to the house of thy father when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh's house, 28 and choose him out of all the tribes of Israel, to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear the ephod before me? and I gave unto the house of thy father all the offerings by fire of the children of Israel. 29 Wherefore do ye trample upon my sacrifice and upon mine oblation which I have commanded [in my] habitation? And thou honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the primest of all the oblations of Israel my people. 30 Wherefore Jehovah the God of Israel saith, I said indeed, Thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever. But now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. 32 And thou shalt see an oppressor [in my] habitation, amidst all the good that shall be done to Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. 33 And the man of thine [whom] I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to cause thine eyes to fail and to grieve thy soul; and all the increase of thy house shall die in their vigour. 34 And this shall be the sign to thee, which shall come upon thy two sons, upon Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. 35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, [who] shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed continually. 36 And it shall come to pass [that] every one that is left of thy house shall come to crouch to him for a small piece of silver and for a cake of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priestly offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
31 And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not frequent. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli lay in his place (now his eyes began to grow dim, he could not see), 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was, 4 that Jehovah called to Samuel. And he said, Here am I. 5 And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call: lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6 And Jehovah called again, Samuel! And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call, my son: lie down again. 7 Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither had the word of Jehovah yet been revealed to him. 8 And Jehovah called again the third time, Samuel! And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah was calling the boy. 9 And Eli said to 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. 10 And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at the other times, Samuel, Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant heareth.
11 And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house; I will begin and make an end. 13 For I have declared to him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he hath known: because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice or oblation for ever. 15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to declare the vision to Eli. 16 And Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here am I. 17 And he said, What is the word that he has spoken to thee? I pray thee, keep it not back from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou keep back anything from me of all the word that he spoke to thee. 18 And Samuel told him all the words, and kept nothing back from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what is good in his sight.
19 And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established a prophet of Jehovah. 21 And Jehovah appeared again at Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.
26 And they arrived in the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. 27 And as he got out [of the ship] on the land, a certain man out of the city met him, who had demons a long time, and put on no clothes, and did not abide in a house, but in the tombs. 28 But seeing Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus Son of the Most High God? I beseech thee torment me not. 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to go out from the man. For very often it had seized him; and he had been bound, kept with chains and fetters; and breaking the bonds he was driven by the demon into the deserts. 30 And Jesus asked him saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: for many demons had entered into him. 31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go away into the bottomless pit. 32 And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into those; and he suffered them. 33 And the demons, going out from the man, entered into the swine, and the herd rushed down the precipice into the lake, and were choked. 34 But they that fed [them], seeing what had happened, fled, and told [it] to the city and to the country. 35 And they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting, clothed and sensible, at the feet of Jesus. And they were afraid. 36 And they also who had seen it told them how the possessed man had been healed. 37 And all the multitude of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were possessed with great fear; and he, entering into the ship, returned. 38 But the man out of whom the demons had gone besought him that he might be with him. But he sent him away, saying, 39 Return to thine house and relate how great things God has done for thee. And he went away through the whole city, publishing how great things Jesus had done for him.
40 And it came to pass when Jesus returned, the crowd received him gladly, for they were all expecting him. 41 And behold, a man came, whose name was Jairus, and he was [a] ruler of the synagogue, and falling at the feet of Jesus besought him to come to his house, 42 because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. And as he went the crowds thronged him. 43 And a woman who had a flux of blood since twelve years, who, having spent all her living on physicians, could not be cured by any one, 44 coming up behind, touched the hem of his garment, and immediately her flux of blood stopped. 45 And Jesus said, Who has touched me? But all denying, Peter and those with him said, Master, the crowds close thee in and press upon thee, and sayest thou, Who has touched me? 46 And Jesus said, Some one has touched me, for I have known that power has gone out from me. 47 And the woman, seeing that she was not hid, came trembling, and falling down before him declared before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, [Be of good courage,] daughter; thy faith has healed thee; go in peace. 49 While he was yet speaking, comes some one from the ruler of the synagogue, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher. 50 But Jesus, hearing it, answered him saying, Fear not: only believe, and she shall be made well. 51 And when he came to the house he suffered no one to go in but Peter and John and James and the father of the child and the mother. 52 And all were weeping and lamenting her. But he said, Do not weep, for she has not died, but sleeps. 53 And they derided him, knowing that she had died. 54 But he, having turned them all out and taking hold of her hand, cried saying, Child, arise. 55 And her spirit returned, and immediately she rose up; and he commanded [something] to eat to be given to her. 56 And her parents were amazed; but he enjoined them to tell no one what had happened.
(Read Luke 8:22-40)
Those that put to sea in a calm, even at Christ's word, must yet prepare for a storm, and for great peril in that storm. There is no relief for souls under a sense of guilt, and fear of wrath, but to go to Christ, and call him Master, and say, I am undone, if thou dost not help me. When our dangers are over, it becomes us to take to ourselves the shame of our own fears, and to give Christ the glory of our deliverance. We may learn much out of this history concerning the world of infernal, malignant spirits, which though not working now exactly in the same way as then, yet all must at all times carefully guard against. And these malignant spirits are very numerous. They have enmity to man and all his comforts. Those under Christ's government are sweetly led with the bands of love; those under the devil's government are furiously driven. Oh what a comfort it is to the believer, that all the powers of darkness are under the control of the Lord Jesus! It is a miracle of mercy, if those whom Satan possesses, are not brought to destruction and eternal ruin. Christ will not stay with those who slight him; perhaps he may no more return to them, while others are waiting for him, and glad to receive him.
(Read Luke 8:41-56)
Let us not complain of a crowd, and a throng, and a hurry, as long as we are in the way of our duty, and doing good; but otherwise every wise man will keep himself out of it as much as he can. And many a poor soul is healed, and helped, and saved by Christ, that is hidden in a crowd, and nobody notices it. This woman came trembling, yet her faith saved her. There may be trembling, where yet there is saving faith. Observe Christ's comfortable words to Jairus, Fear not, believe only, and thy daughter shall be made whole. No less hard was it not to grieve for the loss of an only child, than not to fear the continuance of that grief. But in perfect faith there is no fear; the more we fear, the less we believe. The hand of Christ's grace goes with the calls of his word, to make them effectual. Christ commanded to give her meat. As babes new born, so those newly raised from sin, desire spiritual food, that they may grow thereby.
