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May their memory be honored! May these whom we honor spring from the grave to new life in their descendants!
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Samuel was loved by the Lord. As the Lord's prophet he established the kingdom and appointed rulers for the people.
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He judged the nation in accordance with the Law of the Lord, and the Lord protected Israel.
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Because Samuel was faithful, he was accepted as a true prophet. People trusted him as a seer because of his words.
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When his enemies were threatening him from every side, he called upon the mighty Lord and offered him a young lamb as a sacrifice.
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Then the Lord thundered from heaven with a mighty roar
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and destroyed all the enemy rulers of Philistia.
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When Samuel was about to die, he gave assurances before the Lord and the anointed king that he had never taken anyone's property, not even so much as a pair of shoes, and no one contradicted him.
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Even after he died, he prophesied to King Saul how he would die. Out of the grave he spoke as a prophet, to blot out his people's wickedness.