3The boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of Eli. In those days the Lord didn’t give many messages to his people. He didn’t give them many visions.

²One night Eli was lying down in his usual place. His eyes were becoming so weak he couldn’t see very well. ³Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s house. That’s where the ark of God was kept. The lamp of God was still burning. ⁴The Lord called out to Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵He ran over to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶Again the Lord called out, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.”

⁷Samuel didn’t know the Lord yet. That’s because the Lord still hadn’t given him a message.

⁸The Lord called out to Samuel for the third time. Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If someone calls out to you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I’m listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The Lord came and stood there. He called out, just as he had done the other times. He said, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel replied, “Speak. I’m listening.”

¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, “Pay attention! I am about to do something terrible in Israel. It will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring.

¹²“At that time I will do everything to Eli and his family that I said I would. I will finish what I have started. ¹³I told Eli I would punish his family forever. He knew his sons were sinning. He knew they were making fun of me. In spite of that, he failed to stop them.

¹⁴“So I took an oath and made a promise to the family of Eli. I said, ‘The sins of Eli’s family will never be paid for by bringing sacrifices or offerings.’ ”

¹⁵Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision he had received. ¹⁶But Eli called out to him. He said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷“What did the Lord say to you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide from me anything he told you. If you do, may God punish you greatly.”

¹⁸So Samuel told him everything. He didn’t hide anything from him.

Then Eli said, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best.”

¹⁹As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him. He made everything Samuel said come true. ²⁰So all of the people of Israel recognized that Samuel really was a prophet of the Lord. Everyone from Dan all the way to Beersheba knew it.

²¹The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh. There he made himself known to Samuel through the messages he gave him.

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