 Story number fifteen of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbutt, part two. The Little Boy with a Linen Coat. First Samuel chapter one, verse one, to chapter three, verse twenty-one. Samson the Strong Man, C. Story forty-seven, ruled Israel as the thirteenth of the judges, and after him came Eli as the fourteenth judge. Eli was also the High Priest of the Lord in the Tabernacle at Shiloh. While Eli was the priest and the judge, a man was living at Rama in the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Al-Khanna. He had two wives as did many men in that time. One of these wives had children, but the other wife, whose name was Hannah, had no child. Every year Al-Khanna and his family went up to worship at the House of the Lord in Shiloh, which was about fifteen miles from his home. And at one of these visits Hannah prayed to the Lord, saying, O Lord, if Thou wilt look upon me and give me a son, he shall be given to the Lord as long as he lives. The Lord heard Hannah's prayer and gave her a little boy, and she called his name Samuel, which means asked of God, because he had been given in answer to her prayer. While he was still a little child, she brought him to Eli the Priest, and said to him, My Lord, I am the woman who stood here praying. I asked God for this child, and now I have promised that he shall be the Lord as long as he lives. Let him stay here with you and grow up in God's house. So the child Samuel stayed at Shiloh and lived with Eli the Priest in one of the tents beside the Tabernacle. As he grew up he helped Eli in the work of the Lord's house. He lit the lamps and opened the doors and prepared the incense and waited on Eli, who was now growing old and was almost blind. Samuel was all the more a help and a comfort to Eli because his own sons, who were priests, were very wicked young men. Eli had not trained them to do right, nor punished them when they did wrong when they were children. So they grew up to become evil, to disobey God's law and to be careless in God's worship. Eli's heart was very sad over the sins of his sons, but now that he was old he could do nothing to control them. It had been a long time since God had spoken to men, as in other days God had spoken to Moses, to Joshua, and to Gideon. The men of Israel were longing for the time to come when God would speak again to his people as of old. One night Samuel, while yet a child, was lying down upon his bed in a tent beside the Tabernacle. He heard a voice calling him by name. It was the Lord's voice, but Samuel did not know it. He answered, Here I am! And then he ran to Eli, saying Here I am! You called me! What do you wish me to do? And Eli said, My child, I did not call you. Go and lie down again. Samuel lay down, but soon again heard the voice calling to him. Samuel! Samuel! Again he rose up and went to Eli, and said Here I am, for I am sure that you called me. No! said Eli. I did not call you. Lie down again. A third time the voice was heard, and a third time the boy rose up from his bed and went to Eli, sure that Eli had called him. Eli now saw that this was the Lord's voice that had spoken to Samuel. He said, Go, lie down once more, and if the voice speaks to you again, say Speak, Lord, for thy servant hereeth. Samuel went and lay down, and waited for the voice. It spoke as if someone unseen were standing by his bed and saying, Samuel, Samuel! Then Samuel said to the Lord, Speak, Lord, for thy servant hereeth. And the Lord said to Samuel, Listen to what I say. I have seen the wickedness of Eli's sons, and I have seen that their father did not punish them when they were doing evil. I am going to give to them such a punishment that the story shall make everyone's ears tingle who hears it. Samuel lay in his room until the morning. Then he arose and went about his work as usual, preparing for the daily worship and opening the doors. He said nothing of God's voice until Eli asked him. Eli said to him, Samuel, my son, tell me what the Lord said to you last night. Hide nothing from me. And Samuel told Eli all that God had said, though it was a sad message to Eli. And Eli said, It is the Lord, let him do what seems good to him. And then the news went through all the land that God had spoken once more to his people, and Hannah, the lonely mother in the mountains of Ephraim, heard that her son was the prophet to whom God spoke as his messenger to all Israel. In that time God spoke to Samuel, and Samuel gave God's word to the twelve tribes. End of story number 15, Recording by Eric Ray, St. Louis, Missouri. Story 16 of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut Part 2. How the Idol Fell Down Before the Ark. While the old priest Eli was still the judge, though he was now very feeble, the Philistines came up against Israel from the plain beside the sea. A battle was fought and many of the Israelites were slain. Then the chiefs of the people said, We have been beaten in the battle because the Lord was not with us. Let us take with us against our enemies the Ark of the Covenant from the Tabernacle, and then the Lord will be among us. So they went to Shiloh, and they took out from the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, Seastory 27, the Ark of the Covenant, and the two sons of Eli the priest went with the Ark to care for it. When the Ark was brought into the camp of the Israelites, all the men of war gave a great shout, so that the earth rang with the sound. And when the Philistines heard the shouting they wondered what caused it, and someone told them that it was because the God of the Israelites had come into their camp. The Philistines were afraid, and they said to each other, Woe unto us for such a thing as this has never been seen. Who shall save us from this great God who sent the plagues on the Egyptians? Let us be bold and act like men and fight, so that we may not be made servants to the Israelites as they have been to us. The next day there was a great battle. The Philistines overcame the Israelites and slew thousands of them. They killed the two sons of Eli and they took of the Ark of the Lord away with them into their own land. On the day of the battle Eli, old and blind, was sitting beside the door of the Tabernacle, his heart trembling for the Ark of the Lord. A man came from the army running, with his garments torn, and with earth on his head as a sign of sorrow. As the man came near the city and brought the news of the battle, a great cry rose up from the people. When Eli heard the noise he said, What does this noise mean? What has happened? The man came before Eli and said, I have just come from the army, there has been a great battle, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and very many of the people have been killed. Your two sons are dead, and the Ark of God has been taken by the enemy. When the old man heard this last word, that the Ark of God was taken, he fell backward from his seat and dropped dead upon the ground, and all the land mourned and wept over the loss of the Ark more than over the victory of the Philistines. The Philistines took the Ark of God down to Ashdod, one of their chief cities. They set it in the temple of Dagon, their fish-headed idol. The next morning, when they came into the temple, the image of Dagon was lying upon its face before the Ark of the Lord. They stood the image up again, but on the next morning not only was Dagon fallen down before the Ark, but the hands and the head of Dagon had been cut off and were lying on the floor. Besides all this, in the city of Ashdod, where the Ark had been taken, all the people began to have boils and sores. They saw in this the hand of the God of Israel, and they sent the Ark to Gath, another of their cities. There too the people broke out with boils and sores. They sent the Ark to Ekron, but the people of that city said, We will not have the Ark of God among us. Send it back to its own land, or we shall all die. Then the rulers of the Philistines resolved to send back the Ark of God into the land of Israel. They placed it upon a wagon, and before the wagon they yoked two cows. The cows had calves, but they tied the calves at home in order to find whether the cows would go home to their calves or would take the Ark away. But the cows took the road which led away from their own calves straight up the hills toward the land of Israel, and they turned neither to the right hand nor the left. The cows drew the Ark up to the village of Beth Shemesh, where the people were reaping their wheat harvest on the hillsides. They saw the Ark and were glad. The cows stopped beside a great stone in the field. Then the men of Beth Shemesh cut up the wagon and with it made a fire, and on the stone as an altar offered the two cows as an offering to the Lord. But the men of Beth Shemesh opened the Ark and looked into it. This was contrary to God's command, for none but the priests were allowed to touch the Ark. God sent a plague upon the people of that place, and many of them died, because they did not deal reverently with the Ark of God. They were filled with fear and sent to the men of Kirjath-Jerim, asking them to take the Ark away. They did so, and for twenty years the Ark stood in the house of a man named Abinadab in Kirjath-Jerim. They did not take the Ark back to Shiloh, for after the death of Eli the place was deserted, the tabernacle fell into ruins, and no man lived there again. CHAPTER XII. When the Ark of God was taken and the tabernacle fell into ruins, Samuel was still a boy. He went to his father's house at Reimah, which was in the mountains, about four miles north of Jerusalem. Reimah was the home of Samuel after this as long as he lived. For some years, while Samuel was growing up, there was no judge in Israel, and no head of the tribes. The Philistines ruled the people, and took from them a large part of their harvests, their sheep, and their oxen. Often in their need they thought of the Ark of the Lord, standing alone in the house at Kirjath-Jerim, and the eyes of all the people turned to the young Samuel growing up at Reimah. For Samuel walked with God, and God spoke to Samuel, as God had spoken to Abraham, and to Moses, and to Joshua. As soon as Samuel had grown up to be a man, he began to go among the tribes and to give to the people everywhere God's word to them, and this was what Samuel said. If you will really come back with all your heart to the Lord God of Israel, put away the false gods, the images of Baal, and of Asherah, and seek the Lord alone and serve him, then God will set you free from the Philistines. After Samuel's words the people began to throw down the idols and to pray to the God of Israel, and Samuel called the people from all the land to gather in one place, as many as could come. They met at a place called Mizpa, in the mountains of Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem. There Samuel prayed for the people, and asked God to forgive their sin and turning away from God to idols. They confessed their wrongdoings, and made a solemn promise to serve the Lord, and to serve the Lord only. The Philistines, upon the plain beside the great sea, heard of this meeting. They feared that the Israelites were about to break away from their rule, and they came up with an army to drive the Israelites away to their homes, and keep them under the rule of the Philistines. When the Israelites saw the Philistines coming against them, they were greatly alarmed. The Philistines were men of war, with swords, and shields, and spears, and they were trained in fighting, while the men of Israel had not seen war. It was more than twenty years since their fathers had fought the Philistines, and twice had been beaten by them. They had neither weapons nor training, and they felt themselves helpless against their enemies. They looked to Samuel, just as children would look to a father, and they said to him, Do not cease praying and crying to the Lord for us, that he may save us from the Philistines. Then Samuel took a lamb and offered it up to the Lord as a burnt offering for the people, and he prayed mightily that God would help Israel, and God heard his prayer. Just as the Philistines were rushing upon the helpless men of Israel, there came a great storm with rolling thunder and flashing lightning. Such storms do not come often in that land, and this was so heavy that it frightened the Philistines. They threw down their spears and swords in sudden terror and ran away. The men of Israel picked up these arms and gathered such other weapons as they could find, and they followed the Philistines and killed many of them, and won a great victory over them. By this one stroke the power of the Philistines was broken, and they lost their rule over Israel. And it so happened that the place where Samuel won this great victory was the very place where the Israelites had been beaten twice before, the place where the Ark of God had been taken, as we read in the last story. On the battlefield Samuel set up a great stone to mark the place, and he gave it the name Ebenezer, which means the Stone of Help. For, said Samuel, this was the place where the Lord helped us. After this defeat the Philistines came no more into the land of Israel in the years while Samuel ruled as judge over the tribes. He was the fifteenth of the judges, and the last. He went throughout the land, and people everywhere brought to him their questions and their differences for Samuel to decide. For they knew that he was a good man, and would do justly between man and man. From each journey he came back to Ramah. There was his home, and there he built an altar to the Lord. Samuel lived many years and ruled the people wisely, so that all trusted him. He taught the Israelites to worship the Lord God, and to put away the idols which so many of them had served. While Samuel ruled there was peace in all the tribes, and no enemies came from the lands around to do harm to the Israelites. But the Philistines were still very strong, and held rule over some parts of Israel near their own land, although there was no war. Samuel was not a man of war, like Gideon or Jephtha, but a man of peace, and his rule was quiet, though it was strong. End of Story 17 Story 18 From Hurlbut's Story of the Bible This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, Part 2 The Tall Man Who Was Chosen King 1 Samuel 8-1-10-27 When Samuel, the good man and the wise judge, grew old he made his sons' judges in Israel to help him in the care of the people. But Samuel's sons did not walk in his ways. They did not try always to do justly. When men brought matters before them to be decided they would decide for the one who gave them money, and not always for the one who was in the right. The elders of all the tribes of Israel came to Samuel at his home in Ramah, and they said to him, You are growing old, and your sons do not rule as well as you have ruled. All the lands around us have kings. Let us have a king also, and do you choose the king for us? This was not pleasing to Samuel. Not because he wished to rule, but because the Lord God was their king, and he felt that for Israel to have such a king as those who ruled the nations around them would be turning away from the Lord. Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to him, Listen to the people in what they ask, for they have not turned away from you. They have turned away from me in asking for a king. Let them have a king, but tell them of the wrong that they are doing, and show them what trouble their king will bring upon them. Then Samuel called the elders of the people together, and he said to them, If you have a king as do the nations around, he will take your sons away from you, and will make some of them soldiers and horsemen and men to drive his chariots. He will take others of your sons to wait on him, to work in his fields and to make his chariots and his weapons for war. Your king will take the best of your fields and your farms, will give them to the men of his court who are around him. He will make your daughters cook for him, and make bread, and serve in his palace. He will take a part of your sheep and your oxen and your asses. You will find that he will be your master, and you shall be his servants. The time shall come when you will cry out to the Lord on account of the king that you have chosen, and the Lord will not hear you. The people would not follow Samuel's advice. They said, No, we will have a king to reign over us, so that we may be like other nations, and our king shall be our judge and shall lead us out to war. It was God's will that Israel should be a quiet, plain people, living alone in the mountains, serving the Lord and not trying to conquer other nations. But they wished to be a great people, to be strong in war and to have riches and power. And the Lord said to Samuel, Do as the people ask, and choose a king for them. Then Samuel sent the people to their homes, promising to find a king for them. There was at that time in the tribe of Benjamin a young man named Saul, the son of Kish. He was a very large man and noble-looking. From his shoulders he stood taller than any other man in Israel. His father Kish was a rich man, with wide fields and many flocks, some asses that belonged to Kish had strayed away, and Saul went out with the servant to find them. While they were looking for the asses they came near to Rehma, where Samuel lived. The servant said to Saul, There isn't this city a man of God whom all men honor. They say that he can tell what is about to happen, for he is a seer. Let us go to him and give him a present. Perhaps he can tell us where to find the asses. In those times a man to whom God may known his will was called a seer, and later times he was called a prophet. So Saul and his servant came to Rehma and asked for the seer, and while they were coming the seer, who was Samuel, met them. On the day before the Lord had spoken to Samuel and had said, Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the tribe of Benjamin, and you shall make him the prince of my people, and he shall save my people from the Philistines. And when Samuel saw this tall and noble-looking young man coming to meet him, he heard the Lord's voice saying, This is the man of whom I spoke to you. He is the one that shall rule over my people. Then Saul came near to Samuel, not knowing who he was, and he said, Can you tell me where the seer's house is? And Samuel answered, Saul, I am the seer. Come with me up to the hill. We are to have an offering and a feast there. As for the asses that were lost three days ago, do not be troubled about them, for they have been found. But on whom is the desire of all Israel? Is it not on you and on your father's house? Saul could not think what the seer meant in those last words. He said, Is not my tribe of Benjamin the smallest of all the tribes? And is not my family the least of all the families in the tribe? Why do you say such things to me? But Samuel led Saul and his servant into the best room at his house. At the table, where thirty had been invited, he gave Saul the best place, and he put before him the choicest of the meat, and he said, This has been kept for you of all those invited to the feast. That night Saul and his servant slept in the best room, which was on the roof of Samuel's house, and the next morning Samuel sent the servant on, while he spoke with Saul alone. He brought out a vial of oil, and poured it on Saul's head, and said, The Lord has anointed you to be prince over his land and his people. Then he told Saul just what he would find on the way, where he would meet certain people and what he must do. He said, When you come to the tomb where Rachel is buried, two men will meet you and will say to you, The asses for which you were looking have been found, and now your father is looking for you. Then under an oak you will meet three men carrying three kids, three loaves of bread, and a skin bottle full of wine, and these men will give you as a present two loaves of bread. Next you will meet a company of prophets, men full of God's spirit, with instruments of music, and the Lord's spirit shall come upon you, and a new heart shall be given to you. All these things will show you that God is with you. Now go, and do whatever God tells you to do. And it came just as Samuel had said. These men met Saul, and when the prophets came near, singing and praising God, Saul joined them and also sang and praised the Lord, and in that hour a new spirit came to Saul. He was no more the farmer's son, for in him was the soul of a king. He came home and told at home how he had met Samuel, and that Samuel said to him that the asses had been found, that he did not tell them that Samuel had poured oil upon his head, and said that he was to be the king of Israel. Then Samuel called all the people to the meeting place at Mizpa, and he told them that they had wished for a king and God had chosen a king for them. Now, said Samuel, let the men of the tribes pass by, each tribe and each family by itself. The people passed by Samuel, and when the tribe of Benjamin came, out of all the tribes Benjamin was taken, out of Benjamin one family, and out of that family Saul's name was called. But Saul was not with his family. He had hidden away. They found him and brought him out, and when he stood among the people his head and shoulders rose above them all, and Samuel said, Look at the man whom the Lord has chosen. There is not another like him among all the people. And all the people shouted, God save the king! Long live the king! Then Samuel told the people what should be the laws for the king and for the people to obey. He wrote them down in a book, and placed the book before the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people home, and Saul went back to his own house at a place called Gibbia, and with Saul went a company of men to whose hearts God had given a love for the king. So after three hundred years, under the fifteen judges, Israel now had a king. But among the people there were some who were not pleased with the new king, because he was an unknown man from the farm. They said, Can such a man as this save us? They showed no respect to the king, and in their hearts looked down upon him. But Saul said nothing, and showed his wisdom by appearing not to notice them. End of Story 18 As well as the end of Hurlebot's Story of the Bible, Part 2, by Jesse Lyman Hurlebot.