1 Samuel 3

Samuel’s First Prophecy

3Now ^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. ²And 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, ³and 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, ⁴that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” ⁵So 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.

⁶Then 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.)

⁸And 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. ⁹Therefore 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.

¹⁰Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

¹¹Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel ^gat which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹²In that day I will perform against Eli ^hall that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³ⁱFor 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. ¹⁴And 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.”

¹⁵So Samuel lay down until ³morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. ¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!”

He answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷And 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.” ¹⁸Then 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.”

¹⁹So Samuel ^pgrew, and ^qthe Lord was with him ^rand let none of his words ⁴fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel ^sfrom Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been ⁵established as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by ^tthe word of the Lord.