Bible in Basic English

1st SAMUEL, 1
Hannah's prayer granted

1:1     NOW there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah ; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite : 2 And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah : and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children.
    1.3 Now this man went up from his town every year to give worship and to make offerings to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 4 And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast : 5 But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children. 6 And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children ; 7 And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food. 8 Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping ? and why are you taking no food ? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons ?
    1.9 So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord. 10 And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord. 11 And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.
    1.12 Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. 13 For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine. 14 And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink ? Put away the effects of your wine from you. 15 And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow : I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman : for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain. 17 Then Eli said to her, Go in peace : and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him. 18 And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad.
    1:19 And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind. 20 Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him.
    1:21 And the man Elkanah with all his family went up to make the year's offering to the Lord, and to give effect to his oath. 22 But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go till the child has been taken from the breast, and then I will take him with me and put him before the Lord, where he may be for ever. 23 And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast. 24 Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh : now the child was still very young. 25 And when they had made an offering of the ox, they took the child to Eli. 26 And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side : 27 My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request : 28 So I have given him to the Lord ; for all his life he is the Lord's. Then he gave the Lord worship there.

1st SAMUEL, 2
The boy Samuel

2:1     AND Hannah, in prayer before the Lord, my horn is lifted up in the Lord : my mouth is open wide over my haters ; because my joy is in your salvation. 22 No other is holy as the Lord, for there is no other God but you : there is no Rock like our God.
    2:3 Say no more words of pride ; let not uncontrolled sayings come out of your mouths : for the Lord is a God of knowledge, by him acts are judged. 4 The bows of the men of war are broken, and the feeble are clothed with strength. 5 Those who were full are offering themselves as servants for bread ; those who were in need are at rest ; truly, she who had no children has become the mother of seven ; and she who had a family is wasted with sorrow. 6 The Lord is the giver of death and life : sending men down to the underworld and lifting them up. 7 The Lord gives wealth and takes a man's goods from him: crushing men down and again lifting them up ; 8 Lifting the poor out of the dust, and him who is in need out of the lowest place, to give them their place among rulers, and for their heritage the seat of glory : for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has made them the base of the world.
    2:9 He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the evil-doers will come to their end in the dark night, for by strength no man will overcome. 10 Those who make war against the Lord will be broken; against them he will send his thunder from heaven : the Lord will be judge of the ends of the earth, he will give strength to his king, lifting up the horn of him on whom the holy oil has been put.
    2:11 Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child became the servant of the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest.
    2:12 Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord. 13 And the priests' way with the people was this : when any man made an offering, the priest's servant came while the flesh was being cooked, having in his hand a meat-hook with three teeth ; 14 This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest ; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked. 16 And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will ; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force. 17 And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord ; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings.
    2:18 But Samuel did the work of the Lord's house, while he was a child, dressed in a linen ephod. 19 And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering. 20 And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house.
    2:21 And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord.
    2:22 Now Eli was very old ; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel. 23 And he said to them, Why are you doing such things? for from all this people I get accounts of your evil ways. 24 No, my sons, the account which is given me, which the Lord's people are sending about, is not good. 25 If one man does wrong to another, God will be his judge: but if a man's sin is against the Lord, who will take up his cause ? But they gave no attention to the voice of their father, for it was the Lord's purpose to send destruction on them.
    2:26 And the young Samuel, becoming older, had the approval of the Lord and of men.
    2:27 And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, The Lord says, Did I let myself be seen by your father's people when they were in Egypt, servants in Pharaoh's house ? 28 Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod ? Did I give to your father's family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel ? 29 Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people ? 30 For this reason the Lord God of Israel has said, Truly I did say that your family and your father's people would have their place before me for ever : but now the Lord says, Let it not be so ; I will give honour to those by whom I am honoured, and those who have no respect for me will be of small value in my eyes. 31 See, the days are coming when your arm and the arm of your father's people will be cut off ; 32 And never again will there be an old man in your family. 33 But one man of your family will not be cut off by my hand, and his eyes will be made dark, and grief will be in his heart : and all the offspring of your family will come to their end by the sword of men. 34 And this will be the sign to you, which will come on Hophni and Phinehas, your sons ; death will overtake them on the same day. 35 And I will make a true priest for myself, one who will do what is in my heart and in my mind : and I will make for him a family which will not come to an end ; and his place will be before my holy one for ever. 36 Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest's places so that I may have a little food.

1st SAMUEL, 3
Samuel is called

3:1     NOW, the young Samuel was the servant of the Lord before Eli. In those days the Lord kept his word secret from men ; there was no open vision.
    3:2 And at that time, when Eli was resting in his place, (now his eyes were becoming clouded so that he was not able to see,) 3 And the light of God was still burning, while Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 4 The voice of the Lord said Samuel's name ; and he said, Here am I. 3:5 And running to Eli he said, Here am I, for you said my name. And Eli said, I did not say your name; go to your rest again. So he went back to his bed. 6 And again the Lord said, Samuel. And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I ; for you certainly said my name. But he said in answer, I said nothing, my son ; go to your rest again. 7 Now at that time Samuel had no knowledge of the Lord, and the revelation of the word of the Lord had not come to him. 8 And for the third time the Lord said Samuel's name. And he got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I ; for you certainly said my name. Then it was clear to Eli that the voice which had said the child's name was the Lord's. 9 So Eli said to Samuel, Go back : and if the voice comes again, let your answer be, Say on, Lord ; for the ears of your servant are open. So Samuel went back to his bed.
    3:10 Then the Lord came and said as before, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel made answer, Say on, Lord ; for the ears of your servant are open. 11 And the Lord said to Samuel, See, I will do a thing in Israel at which the ears of everyone hearing of it will be burning. 12 In that day I will do to Eli everything which I have said about his family, from first to last. 13 And you are to say to him that I will send punishment on his family for ever, for the sin which he had knowledge of ; because his sons have been cursing God and he had no control over them. 14 So I have made an oath to the family of Eli that no offering of meat or of meal which they may make will ever take away the sin of his family.
    3:15 And Samuel kept where he was, not moving till the time came for opening the doors of the house of God in the morning. And fear kept him from giving Eli an account of his vision. 16 Then Eli said, Samuel, my son. And Samuel answering said, Here am I. 17 And he said, What did the Lord say to you ? Do not keep it from me : may God's punishment be on you if you keep from me anything he said to you. 18 Then Samuel gave him an account of everything, keeping nothing back. And he said, It is the Lord ; let him do what seems good to him.
    3:19 And Samuel became older, and the Lord was with him and let not one of his words be without effect. 20 And it was clear to all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba that Samuel had been made a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord was seen again in Shiloh ; for the Lord gave to Samuel in Shiloh the revelation of his word.

1st SAMUEL, 4
Battle against Philistines

4:1     NOW at that time the Philistines came together to make war against Israel, and the men of Israel went out to war against the Philistines and took up their position at the side of Eben-ezer: and the Philistines put their forces in position in Aphek. 2 And the Philistines put their forces in order against Israel, and the fighting was hard, and Israel was overcome by the Philistines, who put to the sword about four thousand of their army in the field. 3 And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today ? Let us get the ark of the Lord's agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us. 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and got the ark of the agreement of the Lord of armies whose resting-place is between the winged ones ; and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the ark of God's agreement.
    4:5 And when the ark of the Lord's agreement came into the tent-circle, all Israel gave a great cry, so that the earth was sounding with it. 6 And the Philistines, hearing the noise of their cry, said, What is this great cry among the tents of the Hebrews ? Then it became clear to them that the ark of the Lord had come to the tent-circle. 7 And the Philistines, full of fear, said, God has come into their tents. And they said, Trouble is ours ! for never before has such a thing been seen. 8 Trouble is ours! Who will give us salvation from the hands of these great gods? These are the gods who sent all sorts of blows on the Egyptians in the waste land. 9 Be strong, O Philistines, be men! Do not be servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you : go forward to the fight without fear.
    4:10 So the Philistines went to the fight, and Israel was overcome, and every man went in flight to his tent: and great was the destruction, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel were put to the sword. 11 And the ark of God was taken ; and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were put to the sword.
    4:12 And a man of Benjamin went running from the fight and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothing out of order and earth on his head. 13 And when he came, Eli was seated by the wayside watching : and in his heart was fear for the ark of God. And when the man came into the town and gave the news, there was a great outcry. 14 And Eli, hearing the noise and the cries, said, What is the reason of this outcry ? And the man came quickly and gave the news to Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed so that he was not able to see. 16 And the man said to Eli, I have come from the army and have come in flight today from the fight. And he said, How did it go, my son ? 17 And the man said, Israel went in flight from the Philistines, and there has been great destruction among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken. 18 And at these words about the ark of God, Eli, falling back off his seat by the side of the doorway into the town, came down on the earth so that his neck was broken and death overtook him, for he was an old man and of great weight. He had been judging Israel for forty years.
    4:19 And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child and near the time when she would give birth ; and when she had the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, her pains came on her suddenly and she gave birth. 20 And when she was very near death the women who were with her said, Have no fear, for you have given birth to a son. But she made no answer and gave no attention to it. 21 And she gave the child the name of Ichabod, saying, The glory has gone from Israel : because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, The glory is gone from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.

Begin Draft -- work in progress 5-8

1st SAMUEL, 5
Ark of God captured

5:1     WHEN the Philistines captured the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. 5:2 They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon. 5:3 And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again. 5:4 And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place. 5:5 So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod.
    5:6 But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod. 5:7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god. 5:8 So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. 5:9 But after they had taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the town, small and great. 5:10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people. 5:11 So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there. 5:12 And those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the cry of the town went up to heaven.

1st SAMUEL, 6

6:1     6:1 Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months. 6:2 And the Philistines sent for the priests and those who were wise in secret arts, and said to them, What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? How are we to send it away to its place? 6:3 And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it without an offering, but send him a sin-offering with it: then you will have peace again, and it will be clear to you why the weight of his hand has not been lifted from you. 6:4 Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords. 6:5 So make images of the growths caused by your disease and of the mice which are damaging your land; and give glory to the God of Israel: it may be that the weight of his hand will be lifted from you and from your gods and from your land. 6:6 Why do you make your hearts hard, like the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians? When he had made sport of them, did they not let the people go, and they went away? 6:7 So now, take and make ready a new cart, and two cows which have never come under the yoke, and have the cows yoked to the cart, and take their young ones away from them: 6:8 And put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the gold images which you are sending as a sin-offering in a chest by its side; and send it away so that it may go. 6:9 If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance.
    6:10 And the men did so; they took two cows, yoking them to the cart and shutting up their young ones in their living-place: 6:11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold images. 6:12 And the cows took the straight way, by the road to Beth-shemesh; they went by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, and the sound of their voices was clear on the road; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the edge of Beth-shemesh. 6:13 And the people of Beth-shemesh were cutting their grain in the valley, and lifting up their eyes they saw the ark and were full of joy when they saw it. 6:14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and came to a stop there by a great stone: and cutting up the wood of the cart they made a burned offering of the cows to the Lord. 6:15 Then the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest in which were the gold images, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh made burned offerings and gave worship that day before the Lord. 6:16 And the five lords of the Philistines, having seen it, went back to Ekron the same day.
    6:17 Now these are the gold images which the Philistines sent as a sin-offering to the Lord ; one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron ; 18 And the gold mice, one for every town of the Philistines, the property of the five lords, walled towns as well as country places: and the great stone where they put the ark of the Lord is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite to this day.
    6:19 But the Lord sent destruction on seventy men of the people of Beth-shemesh for looking into the ark of the Lord; and great was the sorrow of the people for the destruction which the Lord had sent on them. 20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to keep his place before the Lord, this holy God ? and to whom may he go from us ? 21 And they sent men to the people living in Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have sent back the ark of the Lord ; come and take it up to your country.

1st SAMUEL, 7

7:1     7:1 So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah, and they made his son Eleazar holy and put the ark in his care. 7:2 And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping.
    7:3 Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines. 7:4 So the children of Israel gave up the worship of Baal and Astarte, and became worshippers of the Lord only.
    7:5 Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you. 7:6 So they came together to Mizpah, and got water, draining it out before the Lord, and they took no food that day, and they said, We have done evil against the Lord. And Samuel was judge of the children of Israel in Mizpah. 7:7 Now when the Philistines had news that the children of Israel had come together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the children of Israel, hearing of it, were full of fear. 7:8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines. 7:9 And Samuel took a young lamb, offering all of it as a burned offering to the Lord; and Samuel made prayers to the Lord for Israel and the Lord gave him an answer. 7:10 And while Samuel was offering the burned offering, the Philistines came near for the attack on Israel; but at the thunder of the Lord's voice that day the Philistines were overcome with fear, and they gave way before Israel. 7:11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and went after the Philistines, attacking them till they came under Beth-car.
    7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help. 7:13 So the Philistines were overcome, and did not come into the country of Israel again: and all the days of Samuel the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 7:14 And the towns which the Philistines had taken were given back to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and all the country round them Israel made free from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
    7:15 And Samuel was judge of Israel all the days of his life. 16 From year to year he went in turn to Beth-el and Gilgal and Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 17 And his base was at Ramah, where his house was ; there he was judge of Israel and there he made an altar to the Lord.

1st SAMUEL, 8

8:1     8:1 Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 8:2 The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. 8:3 And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging.
    8:4 Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah, 8:5 And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations. 8:6 But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord. 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them. 8:8 As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you. 8:9 Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler.
    8:10 And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the people who were desiring a king. 8:11 And he said, This is the sort of king who will be your ruler: he will take your sons and make them his servants, his horsemen, and drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his war-carriages; 8:12 And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages. 8:13 Your daughters he will take to be makers of perfumes and cooks and bread-makers. 8:14 He will take your fields and your vine-gardens and your olive-gardens, all the best of them, and give them to his servants. 8:15 He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants. 8:16 He will take your men-servants and your servant-girls, and the best of your oxen and your asses and put them to his work. 8:17 He will take a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his servants. 8:18 Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day.
    8:19 But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel ; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us, 20 So that we may be like the other nations, and so that our king may be our judge and go out before us to war. 21 Then Samuel, after hearing all the people had to say, went and gave an account of it to the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town.

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