Now the sons of Eli were the sons of Belial:* they knew not the LORD.

And the priest's custom with the people was, that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething,† with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand :

And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.

And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now and if not, I will take it by force.

Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress.

If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.

And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have

* Emptiness-good-for-nothing men.

+ Boiling.

commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Behold, the 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 thine house.

And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.

And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

:

And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

LESSON XLI.

THE BIRTH OF SAMSON.

JUDGES xiii. 2—24.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren: but thou shalt bear a son.

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

For, lo, thou shalt bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

:

But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt bear a son; and now drink no

* Destroy thy strength.

XLI.]

THE BIRTH OF SAMSON.

59

wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God to the day of his death.

Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? and he said,

I am.

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. order* the child, and how shall we do unto him?

How shall we

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is Wonderful? +

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and He did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told us such things as these.

And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

* Treat.

+ This is in the margin, and is the correct translation, though secret is in the text.

LESSON XLII.

THE CALL TO SAMUEL.

I SAM. iii. 1-21.

And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious* in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

That the LORD called Samuel : and he answered, Here am I.

And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again.

And he went and lay down. And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.

And Eli per

And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. ceived that the LORD had called the child.

So

Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house when I begin, I will also make an end.

For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth ; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged + with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.

Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.

And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I

* It was very seldom that the Lord spake to men.

+ Purified.

XLIII.]

THE LOSS OF THE ARK.

61

pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.

And Samuel told him every whit,* and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.

And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.+

And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

LESSON XLIII.

THE LOSS OF THE ARK.

I SAM. iv. I—18.

The warnings at Mount Sinai and at Mount Pisgah had shown that, whenever the Israelites persisted in transgressing, their chastisement would increase in severity (Lev. xxvi., Deut. xxviii.). Hitherto the chief suffering had been from the forays of robber-tribes from the eastern frontier, but after many deliverances and many relapses into sin, an enemy was raised up more seriously bent on conquering and subduing than the unsettled wanderers who only wanted plunder. These were the Philistim, or, as we call them, Philistines, from whom the whole of Canaan acquired the name of Palestine. There had been Philistines in Abraham's time, and we are told that the nation came from Caphtor, which is believed to be the Island of Crete, and they are thought to have been of the European stock which came from Japhet, rather than Canaanites or of the Shemite (or Semitic) races of the desert. It was to avoid the Philistines that the Israelites had been brought through the eastern desert instead of by the direct road from Egypt, but the kings of Egypt were constantly at war with the Philistines and kept them down, so that for many years they did not molest the Israelites, except in the one attack that was beaten off by Shamgar and his ox-goad. But the power of Egypt fell, and that of the Philistines increased as fresh settlements joined them from Crete. Their dwelling-place was a fair breezy slope in the south, towards the Mediterranean, cutting off Judah, Simeon, and Dan from the