Chapter summaries in 1 Samuel.
1 Samuel 1 – Hannah prays for a son; Eli blesses her; Hannah presents Samuel to the LORD.
1 Samuel 2 – Hannah prays in praise to God; Samuel ministers to the LORD. Eli’s sons are evil; Eli rebukes them and is himself rebuked by God.
1 Samuel 3 – God calls Samuel in the night and prophesies of Eli’s punishment for not restraining his sons; Samuel grows and is established as a prophet.
1 Samuel 4 – Eli’s sons die in battle with the Philistines and the ark of the covenant is captured; Eli dies upon hearing the news.
1 Samuel 5 – God wreaks havoc on every Philistine city that keeps the ark of the covenant.
1 Samuel 6 – The Philistines return the ark of the covenant.
1 Samuel 7 – The ark remains at the house of Abinadab and his son Eleazar. Samuel judges Israel; God defeats the Philistines for Israel.
1 Samuel 8 – Samuel’s sons pervert justice; the people reject God as king and seek a king; Samuel warns Israel of the consequences of a king.
1 Samuel 9 – Saul seeks Samuel’s counsel; God chooses Saul as king.
1 Samuel 10 – Saul is anointed, prophesies, and is proclaimed as king.
1 Samuel 11 – Saul delivers Jabesh-Gilead from the Ammonites; Israel confirms Saul as king.
1 Samuel 12 – Samuel reminds Israel of God’s goodness to them in spite of their faithlessness; he warns Israel of the consequences of rebelling against God instead of fearing and serving him.
1 Samuel 13 – Saul impatiently offers an unlawful sacrifice; Israel faces the Philistines in battle.
1 Samuel 14 – Jonathan kills 20 Philistines; the LORD confuses the Philistines, and Israel rises up and defeats them. Saul curses anyone who eats food, but Jonathan is spared. Saul battles Israel’s enemies.
1 Samuel 15 – Saul disobeys the LORD by not devoting spoil to destruction. The LORD rejects Saul as king of Israel.
1 Samuel 16 – God chooses David as king; Samuel anoints David and the Spirit of the LORD rested on him; David serves Saul as armor-bearer and musician.
1 Samuel 17 – Goliath taunts Israel; David kills Goliath “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and . . . the LORD saves not with sword and spear.” Israel plunders the Philistines.
1 Samuel 18 – Jonathan loves David; David has great success in battle; Saul tries to kill David, and is in fearful awe of him; David marries Michal for a bride-price of 200 Philistine foreskins.
1 Samuel 19 – Saul seeks to kill David; David flees; Saul’s messengers, and Saul himself, seek David but prophesy before Samuel instead.
1 Samuel 20 – Jonathan warns David that Saul intends to kill him.
1 Samuel 21 – Ahimelech the priest gives David and his men holy bread; David and his men flee to Gath and David pretends to be mad.
1 Samuel 22 – David gathers 400 men to himself; Saul kills the priests at Nob for giving aid to David.
1 Samuel 23 – David saves the city of Keliah from the Philistines, and escapes Saul; Saul continues to pursue David.
1 Samuel 24 – David spares Saul when he enters a cave; Saul returns home.
1 Samuel 25 – Samuel dies; Nabal spurns David, but Abigail blesses David and averts his vengeance. God puts Nabal to death, and David takes Abigail and Ahinoam as wives.
1 Samuel 26 – David enters Saul’s camp and takes his spear and jar, sparing Saul; Saul returns home.
1 Samuel 27 – David lives among the Philistines in Ziklag, secretly making raids against other nations but pretending to have raided Israel.
1 Samuel 28 – Philistia goes to war against Israel; Saul visits a medium, who summons Samuel, who predicts Saul’s defeat and the death of Saul and his sons.
1 Samuel 29 – The lords of the Philistines send David home; the Philistine army goes up to Jezreel.
1 Samuel 30 – The Amalekites take David’s wives and property; David pursues and defeats them, restoring all his men’s family and property, even to those who were too exhausted to help. David sends gifts to the leaders in Judah.
1 Samuel 31 – The Philistines kill Saul’s sons; Saul is wounded and kills himself.
