The Daily Audio Bible

Hannah’s Vow

1 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim^(A) in^[a] the hill country of Ephraim.^(B) His name was Elkanah^(C) son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² He had two wives,^(D) the first named Hannah^(E) and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. ³ This man would go up from his town every year^(F) to worship and to sacrifice^(G) to the Lord of Armies at Shiloh,^(H) where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.

⁴ Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat^(I) to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. ⁵ But he gave a double^[b] portion^(J) to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving. ⁶ Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. ⁷ Year after year, when she went up to the Lord’s house,^(K) her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat. ⁸ “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” ^(L)

⁹ On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh.^[c] The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.^{(M) 10} Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears.^{(N) 11} Making a vow,^(O) she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction,^(P) remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”^[d](Q)

¹² While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was praying silently,^(R) and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴ and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk?^(S) Get rid of your wine!”

¹⁵ “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord.^{(T) 16} Don’t think of me as a wicked woman;^(U) I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”^(V)

¹⁷ Eli responded, “Go in peace,^(W) and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.”^(X)

¹⁸ “May your servant find favor with you,”^(Y) she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.^[e](Z)

Samuel’s Birth and Dedication

¹⁹ The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah.^(AA) Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.^{(AB) 20} After some time,^[f] Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,^[g] because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”

²¹ When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice^(AC) and his vow offering to the Lord, ²² Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence^(AD) and to stay there permanently.”^(AE)

²³ Her husband, Elkanah, replied, “Do what you think is best,^(AF) and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your^[h] word.”^(AG) So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull,^[i] half a bushel^[j] of flour, and a clay jar of wine.^(AH) Though the boy was still young,^[k] she took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh.^{(AI) 25} Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli.

²⁶ “Please, my lord,” she said, “as surely as you live,^(AJ) my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed for this boy,^(AK) and since the Lord gave me what I asked him for,^{(AL) 28} I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.”^(AM) Then he^[l] worshiped the Lord there.^[m]

Hannah’s Triumphant Prayer

2 Hannah prayed:^(AN)

¹¹ Elkanah went home to Ramah,^(BO) but the boy served the Lord in the presence of the priest Eli.^(BP)

Eli’s Family Judged

¹² Eli’s sons were wicked men;^(BQ) they did not respect the Lord^{(BR) 13} or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling ¹⁴ and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot.^(BS) The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. ¹⁵ Even before the fat was burned,^(BT) the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you—only raw.” ¹⁶ If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,”^(BU) the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!” ¹⁷ So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord, because the men treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.^(BV)

¹⁸ Samuel served in the Lord’s presence^(BW)—this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod.^{(BX) 19} Each year his mother made him a little robe^(BY) and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.^{(BZ) 20} Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife:^(CA) “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she^[r] has given to the Lord.”^(CB) Then they would go home.

²¹ The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need,^(CC) and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.^(CD)

The Third Sign: Healing the Sick

5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(A) 2} By the Sheep Gate^(B) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda^[a] in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. ³ Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.^[b]

⁵ One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time,^(C) he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,”^(D) the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,^{(E) 10} and so the Jews^(F) said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath.^(G) The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

¹¹ He replied, “The man who made me well^(H) told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was,^(I) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.^[c]

¹⁴ After this, Jesus found him in the temple^(J) and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.^{(K) 16} Therefore, the Jews began persecuting^(L) Jesus^[d] because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.^(M)

Honoring the Father and the Son

¹⁷ Jesus responded to them, “My Father^(N) is still working, and I am working also.” ¹⁸ This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him:^(O) Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

¹⁹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[e] does, the Son likewise does these things.^{(P) 20} For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works^(Q) than these so that you will be amazed. ²¹ And just as the Father raises^(R) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.^{(S) 22} The Father,^(T) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.^(U) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.^(V)