1 Samuel 1:1–20

HANNAH’S VOW

1There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim^a in^A the hill country of Ephraim.^b His name was Elkanah^c son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ²He had two wives,^d the first named Hannah^e and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. ³This man would go up from his town every year^f to worship and to sacrifice^g to the Lord of Armies at Shiloh,^h where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.

⁴Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meatⁱ to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. ⁵But he gave a double^B portion^j to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving. ⁶Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. ⁷Year after year, when she went up to the Lord’s house,^k her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat. ⁸“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”^l

⁹On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh.^C The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.^{m 10}Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears.^{n 11}Making a vow,^o she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction,^p remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”^Dq

¹²While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. ¹³Hannah was praying silently,^r and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk?^s Get rid of your wine!”

¹⁵“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord.^{t 16}Don’t think of me as a wicked woman;^u I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”^v

¹⁷Eli responded, “Go in peace,^w and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.”^x

¹⁸“May your servant find favor with you,”^y she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.^Ez

SAMUEL’S BIRTH AND DEDICATION

¹⁹The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah.^aa Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.^{ab 20}After some time,^A Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,^B because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”