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1 Samuel 1-6
New Living Translation
1 Samuel 1-6
New Living Translation
Elkanah and His Family
1 There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph[a] in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. 2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.
3 Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. 4 On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. 5 And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion[b] because the Lord had given her no children. 6 So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. 7 Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle.[c] Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
8 “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
Hannah’s Prayer for a Son
9 Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.[d] 10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. 11 And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.[e]”
12 As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14 “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”
15 “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”
17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
Samuel’s Birth and Dedication
19 The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,[f] for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”
21 The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently.[g]”
23 “Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the Lord help you keep your promise.[h]” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.
24 When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull[i] for the sacrifice and a basket[j] of flour and some wine. 25 After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 26 “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. 27 I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they[k] worshiped the Lord there.
Hannah’s Prayer of Praise
2 Then Hannah prayed:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord!
The Lord has made me strong.[l]
Now I have an answer for my enemies;
I rejoice because you rescued me.
2 No one is holy like the Lord!
There is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Stop acting so proud and haughty!
Don’t speak with such arrogance!
For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done;
he will judge your actions.
4 The bow of the mighty is now broken,
and those who stumbled are now strong.
5 Those who were well fed are now starving,
and those who were starving are now full.
The childless woman now has seven children,
and the woman with many children wastes away.
6 The Lord gives both death and life;
he brings some down to the grave[m] but raises others up.
7 The Lord makes some poor and others rich;
he brings some down and lifts others up.
8 He lifts the poor from the dust
and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes,
placing them in seats of honor.
For all the earth is the Lord’s,
and he has set the world in order.
9 “He will protect his faithful ones,
but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
10 Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
the Lord judges throughout the earth.
He gives power to his king;
he increases the strength[n] of his anointed one.”
11 Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest.
Eli’s Wicked Sons
12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord 13 or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, 14 the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. 15 Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.
16 The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.” 17 So the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt.
18 But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest.[o] 19 Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice. 20 Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the Lord.[p]” 21 And the Lord blessed Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
22 Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.[q] 23 Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? 24 You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the Lord’s people are not good. 25 If someone sins against another person, God[r] can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede?” But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to put them to death.
26 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and grew in favor with the Lord and with the people.
A Warning for Eli’s Family
27 One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord: “I revealed myself[s] to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. 28 I chose your ancestor Aaron[t] from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest[u] as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. 29 So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!
30 “Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi[v] would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me. 31 The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age. 32 You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. 33 The few not cut off from serving at my altar will survive, but only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break, and their children will die a violent death.[w] 34 And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day!
35 “Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever. 36 Then all of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food. ‘Please,’ they will say, ‘give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.’”
The Lord Speaks to Samuel
3 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.
2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle[x] near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”
“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” 5 He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.
6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”
Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”
7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. 8 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.
10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God[y] and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”
Samuel Speaks for the Lord
15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle[z] as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” Samuel replied.
17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”
19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle. 4 1 And Samuel’s words went out to all the people of Israel.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
At that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men. 3 After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it[aa] will save us from our enemies.”
4 So they sent men to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were also there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. 5 When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake!
6 “What’s going on?” the Philistines asked. “What’s all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?” When they were told it was because the Ark of the Lord had arrived, 7 they panicked. “The gods have[ab] come into their camp!” they cried. “This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! 8 Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 9 Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.
The Death of Eli
12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.
14 “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.
The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.
17 “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.”
18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.
19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. 20 She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them.
21 She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
The Ark in Philistia
5 After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2 They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. 3 But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. 4 But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.
6 Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors.[ac] 7 When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 8 So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. 9 But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.
10 So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” 11 The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it[ad] will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12 Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.
The Philistines Return the Ark
6 The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. 2 Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to return it to its own country.”
3 “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”
4 “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.
And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. 5 Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 6 Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.
7 “Now build a new cart, and find two cows that have just given birth to calves. Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but shut their calves away from them in a pen. 8 Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart, and beside it place a chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cows go wherever they want. 9 If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”
10 So these instructions were carried out. Two cows were hitched to the cart, and their newborn calves were shut up in a pen. 11 Then the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors were placed on the cart. 12 And sure enough, without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.
13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed! 14 The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the Lord as a burnt offering. 15 Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock. Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the Lord that day by the people of Beth-shemesh. 16 The five Philistine rulers watched all this and then returned to Ekron that same day.
17 The five gold tumors sent by the Philistines as a guilt offering to the Lord were gifts from the rulers of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The five gold rats represented the five Philistine towns and their surrounding villages, which were controlled by the five rulers. The large rock[ae] at Beth-shemesh, where they set the Ark of the Lord, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.
The Ark Moved to Kiriath-Jearim
19 But the Lord killed seventy men[af] from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord. And the people mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done. 20 “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” they cried out. “Where can we send the Ark from here?”
21 So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come here and get it!”
Footnotes
- 1:1 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads in Ramathaim-zophim; compare 1:19.
- 1:5 Or And because he loved Hannah, he would give her a choice portion. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 1:7 Hebrew the house of the Lord; also in 1:24.
- 1:9 Hebrew the Temple of the Lord.
- 1:11 Some manuscripts add He will drink neither wine nor intoxicants.
- 1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew term for “asked of God” or “heard by God.”
- 1:22 Some manuscripts add I will offer him as a Nazirite for all time.
- 1:23 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads may the Lord keep his promise.
- 1:24a As in Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek and Syriac versions; Masoretic Text reads three bulls.
- 1:24b Hebrew and an ephah [20 quarts or 22 liters].
- 1:28 Hebrew he.
- 2:1 Hebrew has exalted my horn.
- 2:6 Hebrew to Sheol.
- 2:10 Hebrew he exalts the horn.
- 2:18 Hebrew He wore a linen ephod.
- 2:20 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads this one he requested of the Lord.
- 2:22 Hebrew Tent of Meeting. Some manuscripts lack this entire sentence.
- 2:25 Or the judges.
- 2:27 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Did I reveal myself.
- 2:28a Hebrew your father.
- 2:28b Hebrew an ephod.
- 2:30 Hebrew that your house and your father’s house.
- 2:33 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version, which read die by the sword; Masoretic Text reads die like mortals.
- 3:3 Hebrew the Temple of the Lord.
- 3:13 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads his sons have made themselves contemptible.
- 3:15 Hebrew the house of the Lord.
- 4:3 Or he.
- 4:7 Or A god has.
- 5:6 Greek version and Latin Vulgate read tumors; and rats appeared in their land, and death and destruction were throughout the city.
- 5:11 Or he.
- 6:18 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version; most Hebrew manuscripts read great meadow or Abel-haggedolah.
- 6:19 As in a few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts read 70 men, 50,000 men. Perhaps the text should be understood to read the Lord killed 70 men and 50 oxen.
1 Samuel 1-6
New International Version
1 Samuel 1-6
New International Version
The Birth of Samuel
1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim,(A) a Zuphite[a](B) from the hill country(C) of Ephraim,(D) whose name was Elkanah(E) son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives;(F) one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
3 Year after year(G) this man went up from his town to worship(H) and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh,(I) where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli,(J) were priests of the Lord. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice,(K) he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.(L) 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion(M) because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.(N) 6 Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.(O) 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.(P) 8 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?(Q)”
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.(R) 10 In her deep anguish(S) Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow,(T) saying, “Lord Almighty(U), if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember(V) 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,(W) and no razor(X) 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.(Y) I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring(Z) 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.”(AA)
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace,(AB) and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.(AC)”
18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.(AD)” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.(AE)
19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah.(AF) Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered(AG) her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.(AH) She named(AI) him Samuel,[b](AJ) 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(AK) sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,(AL) 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present(AM) him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”[c]
23 “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good(AN) his[d] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned(AO) him.
24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,[e](AP) an ephah[f] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed(AQ) for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life(AR) he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
Hannah’s Prayer
2 Then Hannah prayed and said:(AS)
“My heart rejoices(AT) in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn[g](AU) is lifted high.
My mouth boasts(AV) over my enemies,(AW)
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy(AX) like(AY) the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock(AZ) like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,(BA)
for the Lord is a God who knows,(BB)
and by him deeds(BC) are weighed.(BD)
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,(BE)
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.(BF)
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry(BG) are hungry no more.
She who was barren(BH) has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive;(BI)
he brings down to the grave and raises up.(BJ)
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth;(BK)
he humbles and he exalts.(BL)
8 He raises(BM) the poor(BN) from the dust(BO)
and lifts the needy(BP) from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.(BQ)
“For the foundations(BR) of the earth are the Lord’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet(BS) of his faithful servants,(BT)
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.(BU)
“It is not by strength(BV) that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the Lord will be broken.(BW)
The Most High will thunder(BX) from heaven;
the Lord will judge(BY) the ends of the earth.
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah,(CB) but the boy ministered(CC) before the Lord under Eli the priest.
Eli’s Wicked Sons
12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard(CD) for the Lord. 13 Now it was the practice(CE) of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat(CF) was being boiled 14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat(CG) be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
17 This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they[h] were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.(CH)
18 But Samuel was ministering(CI) before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod.(CJ) 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(CK) 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(CL) for and gave to[i] the Lord.” Then they would go home. 21 And the Lord was gracious to Hannah;(CM) she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew(CN) up in the presence of the Lord.
22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything(CO) his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women(CP) who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. 24 No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. 25 If one person sins against another, God[j] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will(CQ) intercede(CR) for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.
26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow(CS) in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.(CT)
Prophecy Against the House of Eli
27 Now a man of God(CU) came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestor’s family when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? 28 I chose(CV) your ancestor out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense,(CW) and to wear an ephod(CX) in my presence. I also gave your ancestor’s family all the food offerings(CY) presented by the Israelites. 29 Why do you[k] scorn my sacrifice and offering(CZ) that I prescribed for my dwelling?(DA) Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’
30 “Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.(DB)’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor,(DC) but those who despise(DD) me will be disdained.(DE) 31 The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age,(DF) 32 and you will see distress(DG) in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age.(DH) 33 Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants(DI) will die in the prime of life.
34 “‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign(DJ) to you—they will both die(DK) on the same day.(DL) 35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest,(DM) who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed(DN) one always. 36 Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead,(DO) “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.(DP)”’”
The Lord Calls Samuel
3 The boy Samuel ministered(DQ) before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare;(DR) there were not many visions.(DS)
2 One night Eli, whose eyes(DT) were becoming so weak that he could barely see,(DU) was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp(DV) of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house(DW) of the Lord, where the ark(DX) of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.(DY)” 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(DZ) the Lord: The word(EA) of the Lord had not yet been revealed(EB) 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!(EC)”
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.(ED) 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything(EE) 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,[l] and he failed to restrain(EF) them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned(EG) 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(EH) it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely,(EI) 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.”(EJ)
19 The Lord was with(EK) Samuel as he grew(EL) up, and he let none(EM) of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba(EN) recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.(EO) 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed(EP) himself to Samuel through his word.
4 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer,(EQ) and the Philistines at Aphek.(ER) 2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why(ES) did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark(ET) of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh,(EU) so that he may go with us(EV) and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim.(EW) And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout(EX) that the ground shook. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew(EY) camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid.(EZ) “A god has[m] come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck(FA) the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues(FB) in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they(FC) have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated(FD) and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.(FE)
Death of Eli
12 That same day a Benjamite(FF) ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust(FG) on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli(FH) sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
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(FI) 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,(FJ) and the ark of God has been captured.”(FK)
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[n](FL) Israel forty years.(FM)
19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.
21 She named the boy Ichabod,[o](FN) saying, “The Glory(FO) has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The Glory(FP) has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”(FQ)
The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron
5 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer(FR) to Ashdod.(FS) 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.(FT) 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen(FU) on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken(FV) off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.(FW)
6 The Lord’s hand(FX) was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation(FY) on them and afflicted them with tumors.[p](FZ) 7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” 8 So they called together all the rulers(GA) of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”
They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.(GB)” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic.(GC) He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.[q] 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.(GD)
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” 11 So they called together all the rulers(GE) of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it[r] will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. 12 Those who did not die(GF) were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
The Ark Returned to Israel
6 When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners(GG) and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift;(GH) by all means send a guilt offering(GI) to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand(GJ) has not been lifted from you.”
4 The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”
They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number(GK) of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague(GL) has struck both you and your rulers. 5 Make models of the tumors(GM) and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory(GN) to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. 6 Why do you harden(GO) your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them,(GP) did they(GQ) not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?
7 “Now then, get a new cart(GR) ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked.(GS) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, 9 but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh,(GT) then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”
10 So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. 11 They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. 12 Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat(GU) in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering(GV) to the Lord. 15 The Levites(GW) took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock.(GX) On that day the people of Beth Shemesh(GY) offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.
17 These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each(GZ) for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 18 And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19 But God struck down(HA) some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy[s] of them to death because they looked(HB) into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them. 20 And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand(HC) in the presence of the Lord, this holy(HD) God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
21 Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim,(HE) saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 1:1 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 6:26-27,33-35; or from Ramathaim Zuphim.
- 1 Samuel 1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard by God.
- 1 Samuel 1:22 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls always. I have dedicated him as a Nazirite—all the days of his life.”
- 1 Samuel 1:23 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac your
- 1 Samuel 1:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; Masoretic Text with three bulls
- 1 Samuel 1:24 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
- 1 Samuel 2:1 Horn here symbolizes strength; also in verse 10.
- 1 Samuel 2:17 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text people
- 1 Samuel 2:20 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text and asked from
- 1 Samuel 2:25 Or the judges
- 1 Samuel 2:29 The Hebrew is plural.
- 1 Samuel 3:13 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition (see also Septuagint); Masoretic Text sons made themselves contemptible
- 1 Samuel 4:7 Or “Gods have (see Septuagint)
- 1 Samuel 4:18 Traditionally judged
- 1 Samuel 4:21 Ichabod means no glory.
- 1 Samuel 5:6 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate tumors. And rats appeared in their land, and there was death and destruction throughout the city
- 1 Samuel 5:9 Or with tumors in the groin (see Septuagint)
- 1 Samuel 5:11 Or he
- 1 Samuel 6:19 A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint 50,070
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