1 Samuel 1–28

Chapter 1

Elkanah and His Wives

¹Now there was a certain man from ^aRamathaim-zophim from the ^bhill country of Ephraim, and his name was ^cElkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

²He had ^atwo wives: the name of one was ^bHannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³Now this man would go up from his city ^ayearly ^bto worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in ^cShiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord there.

⁴When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he ^awould give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;

⁵but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, ^abut the Lord had closed her womb.

⁶Her rival, however, ^awould provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.

⁷It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat.

⁸Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? ^aAm I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of ^athe temple of the Lord.

¹⁰She, ¹greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

¹¹She ^amade a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed ^blook on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a ¹son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and ^ca razor shall never come on his head.”

¹²Now it came about, as she ¹continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth.

¹³As for Hannah, ^ashe was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.

¹⁴Then Eli said to her, “^aHow long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.”

¹⁵But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman ¹oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I ^ahave poured out my soul before the Lord.

¹⁶“Do not ¹consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and ²provocation.”

¹⁷Then Eli answered and said, “^aGo in peace; and may the God of Israel ^bgrant your petition that you have asked of Him.”

¹⁸She said, “^aLet your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and ^bher face was no longer sad.

Samuel Is Born to Hannah

¹⁹Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to their house in ^aRamah. And Elkanah ¹had relations with Hannah his wife, and ^bthe Lord remembered her.

²⁰It came about ¹in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “^aBecause I have asked him of the Lord.”

²¹Then the man Elkanah ^awent up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow.

²²But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will ^abring him, that he may appear before the Lord and ^bstay there forever.”

^23aElkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best ¹to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only ^bmay the Lord confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.

²⁴Now when she had weaned him, ^ashe took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to ^bthe house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the child was young.

²⁵Then ^athey slaughtered the bull, and ^bbrought the boy to Eli.

²⁶She said, “Oh, my lord! ^aAs your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord.

²⁷“^aFor this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.

²⁸“^aSo I have also ¹dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And ^bhe worshiped the Lord there.

Chapter 2

Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving

¹Then Hannah ^aprayed and said,

“My heart exults in the Lord;

^bMy ¹horn is exalted in the Lord,

My mouth ²speaks boldly against my enemies,

Because ^cI rejoice in Your salvation.

²“^aThere is no one holy like the Lord,

Indeed, ^bthere is no one besides You,

^cNor is there any rock like our God.

³“¹Boast no more so very proudly,

^aDo not let arrogance come out of your mouth;

^bFor the Lord is a God of knowledge,

^cAnd with Him actions are weighed.

⁴“^aThe bows of the mighty are shattered,

^bBut the feeble gird on strength.

⁵“Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,

But those who were hungry cease to hunger.

^aEven the barren gives birth to seven,

But ^bshe who has many children languishes.

⁶“^aThe Lord kills and makes alive;

^bHe brings down to ¹Sheol and raises up.

⁷“^aThe Lord makes poor and rich;

^bHe brings low, He also exalts.

⁸“^aHe raises the poor from the dust,

^bHe lifts the needy from the ash heap

^cTo make them sit with nobles,

And inherit a seat of honor;

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

And He set the world on them.

⁹“^aHe keeps the feet of His godly ones,

^bBut the wicked ones are silenced in darkness;

^cFor not by might shall a man prevail.

¹⁰“^aThose who contend with the Lord will be shattered;

^bAgainst them He will thunder in the heavens,

^cThe Lord will judge the ends of the earth;

^dAnd He will give strength to His king,

^eAnd will exalt the ¹horn of His anointed.”

¹¹Then Elkanah went to his home at ^aRamah. ^bBut the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli’s Sons

¹²Now the sons of Eli were ^1aworthless men; they did not know the Lord

^13aand the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.

¹⁴Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

¹⁵Also, before ^athey burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.”

¹⁶If the man said to him, “They must surely ¹burn the fat ²first, and then take as much as ³you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”

¹⁷Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men ^adespised the offering of the Lord.

Samuel before the Lord as a Boy

¹⁸Now ^aSamuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy ^1bwearing a linen ephod.

¹⁹And his mother would make him a little ^arobe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer ^bthe yearly sacrifice.

²⁰Then Eli would ^abless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you ¹children from this woman in place of ²the one she ^bdedicated to the Lord.” And they went to their own ³home.

^21aThe Lord visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ^bthe boy Samuel grew before the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

²²Now Eli was very old; and he heard ^aall that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with ^bthe women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

²³He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?

²⁴“No, my sons; for the report is not good ^awhich I hear ¹the Lord’s people circulating.

²⁵“If one man sins against another, ^aGod will mediate for him; but ^bif a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the ^cLord desired to put them to death.

²⁶Now the boy ^aSamuel ¹was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.

²⁷Then ^aa man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘^bDid I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?

²⁸‘^aDid I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not ^bgive to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

²⁹‘Why do you ^akick at My sacrifice and at My offering ^bwhich I have commanded in My ^cdwelling, and ^dhonor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the ¹choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’

³⁰“Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘^aI did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for ^bthose who honor Me I will honor, and those ^cwho despise Me will be lightly esteemed.

³¹‘Behold, ^athe days are coming when I will break your ¹strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house.

³²‘You will see ^athe distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that ¹I do for Israel; and an ^bold man will not be in your house forever.

³³‘Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar ¹so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die ²in the prime of life.

³⁴‘This will be ^athe sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: ^bon the same day both of them will die.

³⁵‘But ^aI will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and ^bI will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before ^cMy anointed always.

³⁶‘Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a ¹piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, “Please ²assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”

Chapter 3

The Prophetic Call to Samuel

¹Now ^athe boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And ^bword from the Lord was rare in those days, ¹visions were infrequent.

²It…