Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2:1 Hannah prayed,1

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

my horn2 is exalted high because of the Lord.

I loudly denounce3 my enemies,

for I am happy that you delivered me.4

2:2 No one is holy5 like the Lord!

There is no one other than you!

There is no rock6 like our God!

2:3 Don’t keep speaking so arrogantly,7

letting proud talk come out of your mouth!

For the Lord is a God who knows;

he8 evaluates what people do.

2:4 The bows of warriors are shattered,

but those who stumble find their strength reinforced.

2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,

but the hungry no longer lack.

Even9 the barren woman gives birth to seven,10

but the one with many children withers away.11

2:6 The Lord both kills and gives life;

he brings down to the grave12 and raises up.

2:7 The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy;

he humbles and he exalts.

2:8 He lifts the weak13 from the dust;

he raises14 the poor from the ash heap

to seat them with princes

and to bestow on them an honored position.15

The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord,

and he has placed the world on them.

2:9 He watches over16 his holy ones,17

but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness,

for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails.

2:10 The Lord shatters18 his adversaries;19

he thunders against them from20 the heavens.

The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.

He will strengthen21 his king

and exalt the power22 of his anointed one.”23

2:11 Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of24 Eli the priest.