1 Samuel 1

The Birth of Samuel

1There was a certain man from Ramathaim,^a a Zuphite^ab from the hill country^c of Ephraim,^d whose name was Elkanah^e son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ²He had two wives;^f one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³Year after year^g this man went up from his town to worship^h and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh,ⁱ where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli,^j were priests of the Lord. ⁴Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice,^k he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.^{l 5}But to Hannah he gave a double portion^m because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.^{n 6}Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.^{o 7}This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.^{p 8}Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?^q”

⁹Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house.^{r 10}In her deep anguish^s Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. ¹¹And she made a vow,^t saying, “Lord Almighty^u, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember^v me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life,^w and no razor^x will ever be used on his head.”

¹²As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

¹⁵“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled.^y I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring^z out my soul to the Lord. ¹⁶Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”^a

¹⁷Eli answered, “Go in peace,^b and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.^c”

¹⁸She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.^d” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.^e

¹⁹Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah.^f Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered^g her. ²⁰So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^h She namedⁱ him Samuel,^bj saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Hannah Dedicates Samuel

²¹When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual^k sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,^{l 22}Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present^m him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”^c

²³“Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make goodⁿ his^d word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned^o him.

²⁴After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^ep an ephah^f of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷I prayed^q for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life^r he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.