1 Samuel 2

2And Hannah prayed, and said,

^aMy heart rejoiceth in the Lord,

^bMine horn is exalted in the Lord:

My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies;

Because I ^crejoice in thy salvation.

^2dThere is none holy as the Lord:

For there is ^enone beside thee:

Neither is there any ^frock like our God.

³Talk no more so exceeding proudly;

^gLet not ^†arrogancy come out of your mouth:

For the Lord is a God of knowledge,

And by him actions are weighed.

^4hThe bows of the mighty men are broken,

And they that stumbled are girded with strength.

⁵ⁱThey that were full have hired out themselves for bread;

And they that were hungry ceased:

So that ^kthe barren hath born seven;

And ^lshe that hath many children is waxed feeble.

^6mThe Lord killeth, and maketh alive:

He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

⁷The Lord ⁿmaketh poor, and maketh rich:

^oHe bringeth low, and lifteth up.

^8pHe raiseth up the poor out of the dust,

And lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,

^qTo set them among princes,

And to make them inherit the throne of glory:

For ^rthe pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,

And he hath set the world upon them.

^9sHe will keep the feet of his saints,

And the wicked shall be silent in darkness;

For by strength shall no man prevail.

¹⁰The adversaries of the Lord shall be ^tbroken to pieces;

^uOut of heaven shall he thunder upon them:

^wThe Lord shall judge the ends of the earth;

And he shall give strength unto his king,

And ^xexalt the horn of his anointed.

¹¹And Elkanah went to ^yRamah to his house. ^zAnd the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.

¹²Now the sons of Eli were ^asons of Belial; ^bthey knew not the Lord. ¹³And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; ¹⁴And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; ^call that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. ¹⁵Also before they ^dburnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. ¹⁶And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat ^†presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. ¹⁷Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great ^ebefore the Lord: for men ^fabhorred the offering of the Lord.

¹⁸But ^gSamuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, ^hgirded with a linen ephod. ¹⁹Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him ⁱfrom year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰And Eli ^kblessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the ^||loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home. ²¹And the Lord ^lvisited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel ^mgrew before the Lord. ²²Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons ⁿdid unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that ^†assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. ²³And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for ^||I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. ²⁴Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord’s people ^||to transgress. ²⁵If one man sin against another, ^othe judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, ^pbecause the Lord would slay them. ²⁶And the child Samuel ^qgrew on, and was ^rin favour both with the Lord, and also with men.

^27sAnd there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, ^tDid I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸And did I ^uchoose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to ^wwear an ephod before me? and ^xdid I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? ²⁹Wherefore ^ykick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my ^zhabitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? ³⁰Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, ^aI said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, ^bBe it far from me; for them that honour me ^cI will honour, and ^dthey that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹Behold, ^ethe days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. ³²And thou shalt see ^||an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be ^fan old man in thine house for ever. ³³And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die ^†in the flower of their age. ³⁴And this shall be ^ga sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; ^hin one day they shall die both of them. ³⁵And ⁱI will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and ^kI will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before ^lmine anointed for ever. ³⁶And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and ^ma morsel of bread, and shall say, ^†Put me, I pray thee, into ^||one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.