Samuel begins with the prophet Samuel's birth and God's call to him as a boy. The story of the Ark of the Covenant follows. It tells of Israel's oppression by the Philistines, which brought about Samuel's anointing of Saul as Israel's first king. But Saul proved unworthy, and God's choice turned to David, who defeated Israel's enemies, purchased the threshing floor (), where his son Solomon would build the Temple, and brought the Ark to Jerusalem. God then promised David and his successors an everlasting dynasty.