1 Samuel 1–28

The Birth of Samuel

1There was a certain man of ^aRamathaim-zophim of ^bthe hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, ^can Ephrathite. ²He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³Now this man used to go up ^dyear by year from his city ^eto worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts ^fat Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. ⁴On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, ^ghe would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. ⁵But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.^{1 6}And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. ⁸And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? ^hAm I not more to you than ten sons?”

⁹After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of ⁱthe temple of the Lord. ¹⁰She was ^jdeeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. ¹¹And she ^kvowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed ^llook on the affliction of your servant and ^mremember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, ⁿand no razor shall touch his head.”

¹²As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. ¹⁴And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” ¹⁵But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but ^oI have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶Do not regard your servant as ^pa worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” ¹⁷Then Eli answered, ^q“Go in peace, and the God of Israel ^rgrant your petition that you have made to him.” ¹⁸And she said, ^s“Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman ^twent her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

¹⁹They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at ^uRamah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord ^vremembered her. ²⁰And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”²

Samuel Given to the Lord

²¹The man Elkanah and all his house ^wwent up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. ²²But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord ^xand dwell there forever.” ^23yElkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; ^zonly, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴And when she had weaned him, ^ashe took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,³ an ephah⁴ of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to ^bthe house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. ²⁵Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. ²⁶And she said, “Oh, my lord! ^cAs you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. ²⁷For this child I prayed, ^dand the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. ²⁸Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

^eAnd he worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah’s Prayer

2And Hannah prayed and said,

^f“My heart exults in the Lord;

^gmy horn is exalted in the Lord.

My mouth derides my enemies,

because ^hI rejoice in your salvation.

²ⁱ“There is none holy like the Lord:

for there is none besides you;

there is ^jno rock like our God.

³Talk no more so very proudly,

let not arrogance come from your mouth;

for the Lord is a God of knowledge,

and by him actions are weighed.

^4kThe bows of the mighty are broken,

but the feeble bind on strength.

⁵Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,

but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.

^lThe barren has borne seven,

^mbut she who has many children is forlorn.

⁶ⁿThe Lord kills and brings to life;

he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

^7oThe Lord makes poor and makes rich;

^phe brings low and he exalts.

^8qHe raises up the poor from the dust;

he lifts the needy from the ash heap

^rto make them sit with princes

and inherit a seat of honor.

^sFor the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,

and on them he has set the world.

^9t“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,

but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,

for not by might shall a man prevail.

^10uThe adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;

^vagainst them he will thunder in heaven.

^wThe Lord will judge the ends of the earth;

he will give strength to his king

^xand exalt the horn of his anointed.”

¹¹Then Elkanah went home ^yto Ramah. ^zAnd the boy¹ was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli’s Worthless Sons

¹²Now the sons of Eli were ^aworthless men. ^bThey did not know the Lord. ¹³The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, ¹⁴and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵Moreover, ^cbefore the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” ¹⁶And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷Thus the sin of the young men was very great ^din the sight of the Lord, ^efor the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

^18fSamuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy ^gclothed with a linen ephod. ¹⁹And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year ^hwhen she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman ⁱfor the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.

^21jIndeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. ^kAnd the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

²²Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who ^lwere serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. ²⁴No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. ²⁵If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, ^mfor it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

²⁶Now the boy Samuel ⁿcontinued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.

The Lord Rejects Eli’s Household

²⁷And there came ^oa man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ^p‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? ^28qDid I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, ^rto wear an ephod before me? ^sI gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹Why then do you ^tscorn² my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ ³⁰Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ^v‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ ^wbut now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹Behold, ^xthe days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³²Then ^yin distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, ^zand there shall not be an old man in your house forever. ³³The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his³ eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants⁴ of your house shall die by the sword of men.^{5 34a}And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die ^bon the same day. ^35cAnd I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. ^dAnd I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before ^emy anointed forever. ³⁶And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”

The Lord Calls Samuel

3^fNow the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. ^gAnd the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

²At that time Eli, ^hwhose eyesight had begun to grow dim so…