1 Samuel 2:1–3:21
2 And Hannah aprayed and said:
b“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
cMy 1horn is exalted in the Lord.
2I smile at my enemies,
Because I drejoice in Your salvation.
2 “No eone is holy like the Lord,
For there is fnone besides You,
Nor is there any grock like our God.
3 “Talk no more so very proudly;
hLet no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of iknowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.
4 “The jbows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even kthe barren has borne seven,
And lshe who has many children has become feeble.
6 “The mLord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.
7 The Lord nmakes poor and makes rich;
oHe brings low and lifts up.
8 pHe raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
qTo set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.
r“For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He has set the world upon them.
9 sHe will guard the feet of His saints,
But the twicked shall be silent in darkness.
“For by strength no man shall prevail.
10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be ubroken in pieces;
vFrom heaven He will thunder against them.
wThe Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
x“He will give ystrength to His king,
And zexalt the 3horn of His anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child 4ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.
12 Now the sons of Eli were acorrupt; 5 bthey did not know the Lord. 13 And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in cShiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they dburned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”
16 And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great ebefore the Lord, for men fabhorred 6the offering of the Lord.
18 gBut Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, hwearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she icame up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli jwould bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the 7loan that was kgiven to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home.
21 And the Lord lvisited 8Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel mgrew before the Lord.
Prophecy Against Eli’s Household
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, 9and how they lay with nthe women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, oGod 1will judge him. But if a man psins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, qbecause the Lord desired to kill them.
26 And the child Samuel rgrew in stature, and sin favor both with the Lord and men.
27 Then a tman of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: u‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I not vchoose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And wdid I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you xkick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My ydwelling place, and honor your sons more than zMe, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: a‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: b‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and cthose who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, dthe days are coming that I will cut off your 2arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be ean old man in your house forever. 33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 Now this shall be fa sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: gin one day they shall die, both of them. 35 Then hI will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. iI will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before jMy anointed forever. 36 kAnd it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, 3put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”
3 Now athe boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And bthe word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. 2 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow cso dim that he could not see, 3 and before dthe lamp of God went out in the 1tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.
6 Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!”
So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 (Now Samuel edid not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.)
8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”
Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, f‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel gat which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli hall that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 iFor I have told him that I will jjudge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because khis sons made themselves vile, and he ldid not 2restrain them. 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house mshall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15 So Samuel lay down until 3morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!”
He answered, “Here I am.”
17 And he said, “What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. nGod do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, o“It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”
19 So Samuel pgrew, and qthe Lord was with him rand let none of his words 4fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel sfrom Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been 5established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by tthe word of the Lord.