1 Samuel 3

The Lord Calls Samuel

3The boy Samuel ministered^q before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare;^r there were not many visions.^s

²One night Eli, whose eyes^t were becoming so weak that he could barely see,^u was lying down in his usual place. ³The lamp^v of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house^w of the Lord, where the ark^x of God was. ⁴Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.^y” ⁵And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know^z the Lord: The word^a of the Lord had not yet been revealed^b to him.

⁸A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!^c”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

¹¹And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.^{d 12}At that time I will carry out against Eli everything^e I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. ¹³For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,^a and he failed to restrain^f them. ¹⁴Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned^g for by sacrifice or offering.’ ”

¹⁵Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷“What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide^h it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely,ⁱ if you hide from me anything he told you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”^j

¹⁹The Lord was with^k Samuel as he grew^l up, and he let none^m of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beershebaⁿ recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.^{o 21}The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed^p himself to Samuel through his word.