And 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.

2  dThere is none holy as the Lord:

For there is enone beside thee:

Neither is there any frock like our God.

3  Talk 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.

4  hThe bows of the mighty men are broken,

And they that stumbled are girded with strength.

5  iThey 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.

6  mThe Lord killeth, and maketh alive:

He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

7  The Lord nmaketh poor, and maketh rich:

oHe bringeth low, and lifteth up.

8  pHe 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.

9  sHe will keep the feet of his saints,

And the wicked shall be silent in darkness;

For by strength shall no man prevail.

10  The 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.

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

12 Now the sons of Eli were asons of Belial; bthey knew not the Lord. 13 And 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; 14 And 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. 15 Also 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. 16 And 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. 17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great ebefore the Lord: for men fabhorred the offering of the Lord.

18 But gSamuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, hgirded with a linen ephod. 19 Moreover 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. 20 And 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. 21 And the Lord lvisited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel mgrew before the Lord. 22 Now 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. 23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for ||I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. 24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord’s people ||to transgress. 25 If 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. 26 And the child Samuel qgrew on, and was rin favour both with the Lord, and also with men.

27 sAnd 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? 28 And 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? 29 Wherefore 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? 30 Wherefore 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. 31 Behold, 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. 32 And 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. 33 And 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. 34 And 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. 35 And 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. 36 And 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.

3 And athe child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And bthe word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, cand his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3 And ere dthe lamp of God went out ein the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4 That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7 ||Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. 8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. 9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. 11 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, fat which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli gall things which I have spoken concerning his house: †when I begin, I will also make an end. 13 ||gFor I have told him that I will hjudge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because ihis sons made themselves ||vile, and he †krestrained them not. 14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that lthe iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. 15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. 17 And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and †more also, if thou hide any ||thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. 18 And Samuel told him †every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, mIt is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

19 And Samuel ngrew, and othe Lord was with him, and pdid let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel qfrom Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was ||established to be a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again in rShiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh sby the word of the Lord.

4 *And the word of Samuel ||came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside aEben-ezer: and the Philistines pitched in bAphek. 2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when †they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of †the army in the field about four thousand men. 3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? cLet us †fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of dShiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 4 So the people sent to dShiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, ewhich dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel fshouted with a great shout, so that the earth grang again. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. 7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing †heretofore. 8 …