1 Samuel 3:1–10

The Appears to Samuel

3In those days, when the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were very few messages from the Lord, and visions from him were quite rare. ²One night Eli, who was now almost blind, was sleeping in his own room; ³Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the sacred Covenant Box was. Before dawn, while the lamp was still burning, ⁴the Lord called Samuel. He answered, “Yes, sir!” ⁵and ran to Eli and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “I didn’t call you; go back to bed.” So Samuel went back to bed.

^6–7The Lord called Samuel again. The boy did not know that it was the Lord, because the Lord had never spoken to him before. So he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “My son, I didn’t call you; go back to bed.”

⁸The Lord called Samuel a third time; he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, ⁹so he said to him, “Go back to bed; and if he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went back to bed.

¹⁰The Lord came and stood there, and called as he had before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Samuel answered, “Speak; your servant is listening.”