⁹ Once 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.^{(A) 10} In her deep anguish^(B) Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. ¹¹ And she made a vow,^(C) saying, “Lord Almighty^(D), if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember^(E) 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,^(F) and no razor^(G) will ever be used on his head.”

¹² As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴ and 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.^(H) I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring^(I) out my soul to the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”^(J)

¹⁷ Eli answered, “Go in peace,^(K) and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.^(L)”

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

¹⁹ Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah.^(O) Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered^(P) her.

²⁰ So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^(A) She named^(B) him Samuel,^[a](C) saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Hannah Dedicates Samuel

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

¹⁸ But Samuel was ministering^(A) before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod.^{(B) 19} Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual^(C) sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed^(D) for and gave to^[a] the Lord.” Then they would go home. ²¹ And the Lord was gracious to Hannah;^(E) she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew^(F) up in the presence of the Lord.

The Lord Calls Samuel

3 The boy Samuel ministered^(A) before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare;^(B) there were not many visions.^(C)

² One night Eli, whose eyes^(D) were becoming so weak that he could barely see,^(E) was lying down in his usual place. ³ The lamp^(F) of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house^(G) of the Lord, where the ark^(H) of God was. ⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.^(I)” ⁵ And 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.

⁶ Again 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.”

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know^(J) the Lord: The word^(K) of the Lord had not yet been revealed^(L) to him.

⁸ A 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. ⁹ So 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.

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

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

¹¹ And 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.^{(N) 12} At that time I will carry out against Eli everything^(O) I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. ¹³ For 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^(P) them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned^(Q) for by sacrifice or offering.’”

¹⁵ Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶ but 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^(R) it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely,^(S) if you hide from me anything he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”^(T)

¹⁹ The Lord was with^(U) Samuel as he grew^(V) up, and he let none^(W) of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba^(X) recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.^(Y)

¹⁴ Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”

The man hurried over to Eli, ¹⁵ who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes^(A) had failed so that he could not see. ¹⁶ He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”

Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

¹⁷ The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead,^(B) and the ark of God has been captured.”^(C)

¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led^[a](D) Israel forty years.^(E)