1 Samuel 2

Common English Bible

Hannah’s song

2 Then Hannah prayed:

My heart rejoices in the Lord.
    My strength^[a] rises up in the Lord!
    My mouth mocks my enemies
        because I rejoice in your deliverance.
²No one is holy like the Lord—
    no, no one except you!
    There is no rock like our God!

³Don’t go on and on, talking so proudly,
    spouting arrogance from your mouth,
    because the Lord is the God who knows,
        and he weighs every act.

⁴The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,
    but those who were stumbling now dress themselves in power!
⁵Those who were filled full now sell themselves for bread,
    but the ones who were starving are now fat from food!
    The woman who was barren has birthed seven children,
        but the mother with many sons has lost them all!
⁶The Lord!
    He brings death, gives life,
        takes down to the grave,^[b] and raises up!
⁷The Lord!
He makes poor, gives wealth,
    brings low, but also lifts up high!
⁸God raises the poor from the dust,
    lifts up the needy from the garbage pile.
    God sits them with officials,
    gives them the seat of honor!
The pillars of the earth belong to the Lord;
    he set the world on top of them!
⁹God guards the feet of his faithful ones,
    but the wicked die in darkness
        because no one succeeds by strength alone.

¹⁰The Lord!
His enemies are terrified!
        God thunders against them from heaven!
    The Lord!
    He judges the far corners of the earth!

May God give strength to his king
and raise high the strength of his anointed one.

¹¹Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the Lord under Eli the priest.

Corruption of Eli’s sons

¹²Now Eli’s sons were despicable men who didn’t know the Lord. ¹³This was how the priest was supposed to act with the people: Whenever anyone made a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest’s assistant would come with a three-pronged fork in hand. ¹⁴He would thrust it into the cauldron or the pot.^[c] Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is how it was done for all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

¹⁵But with Eli’s sons,^[d] even before the fat was burned, the priest’s assistant would come and say to the person offering the sacrifice, “Give the priest some meat to roast. He won’t accept boiled meat from you.”^[e] ¹⁶If anyone said, “Let the fat be burned off first, as usual, then take whatever you like for yourself,” the assistant would reply, “No, hand it over now. If not, I’ll take it by force.” ¹⁷The sin of these priestly assistants was very serious in the Lord’s sight because they were disrespecting the Lord’s own offering.

¹⁸Now Samuel was serving the Lord. He was a young boy, clothed in a linen priestly vest.^[f] ¹⁹His mother would make a small robe for him and take it to him every year when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. ²⁰Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the Lord replace^[g] the child of this woman that you gave back to the Lord.” Then they would return home. ²¹The Lord paid attention to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the Lord’s service.

²²Eli was very old, but he heard everything his sons were doing to the Israelites, and how they had sex with the women who served at the meeting tent’s entrance. ²³Eli said to his sons, “Why are you doing these terrible things that I’m hearing about from everybody? ²⁴No, my sons. Don’t do this.^[h] The report I hear spreading among God’s people isn’t good. ²⁵If someone sins against someone else, God can intercede; but if someone sins against the Lord, who will intercede then?” But they wouldn’t obey their father because the Lord wanted to kill them. ²⁶Meanwhile, the boy Samuel kept growing up and was more and more liked by both the Lord and the people.

²⁷Now a man of God came to Eli and said, “This is what the Lord says: I revealed myself very clearly to your father’s household when they were slaves^[i] in Egypt to the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸I chose your father from all of Israel’s tribes to be my priest, to go up onto my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest^[j] in my presence. I also gave all of the Israelites’ food offerings to your father’s household. ²⁹Why then do you kick my sacrifices and my offerings—the very ones I commanded for my dwelling place? Why do you respect your sons more than me, getting fat off the best parts of every offering from my people Israel? ³⁰Because of all that, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: I had promised that your household and your father’s household would serve me forever. But now—this is what the Lord declares: I’ll do no such thing! No. I honor those who honor me, and whoever despises me will be cursed. ³¹The days are coming soon when I will eliminate both your children^[k] and the children of your father’s household. There won’t be an old person left in your family tree. ³²You’ll see trouble in my dwelling place, though all will go well for Israel.^[l] But there will never be an old person in your family tree. ³³One of your descendants whom I don’t eliminate from serving at my altar will cry his^[m] eyes out and be full of grief. Any descendants in your household will die by the sword.^[n] ³⁴And what happens to your two sons Hophni and Phinehas will be a sign for you: they will both die on the same day. ³⁵Then I will establish for myself a trustworthy priest who will act in accordance with my thoughts and desires. I will build a trustworthy household for him, and he will serve before my anointed one forever. ³⁶Anyone left from your household will come and beg him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread, saying: ‘Please appoint me to some priestly duty so I can have a scrap of bread to eat.’”