Elkanah and His Wives

1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the ^[a]hill country of Ephraim, named Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an ^[b]Ephraimite. ² He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³ This man went up from his city ^[c]each year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests to the Lord there. ⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions [of the sacrificial meat] to Peninnah his wife and all her sons and daughters. ⁵ But to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had ^[d]given her no children. ⁶ Hannah’s rival provoked her bitterly, to irritate and embarrass her, because the Lord had ^[e]left her childless. ⁷ So it happened year after year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah provoked her; so she wept and would not eat. ⁸ Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you cry and why do you not eat? Why are you so sad and discontent? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹ So Hannah got up after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat beside the doorpost of the temple (tabernacle) of the Lord. ¹⁰ Hannah was ^[f]greatly distressed, and she prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. ¹¹ She made a vow, saying, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction (suffering) of Your maidservant and remember, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life; a ^[g]razor shall never touch his head.”

¹² Now it happened as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart (mind); only her lips were moving, and her voice was not heard, so Eli ^[h]thought she was drunk. ¹⁴ Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Get rid of your wine.” ¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman with a despairing spirit. I have not been drinking wine or any intoxicating drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.^{(A) 16} Do not regard your maidservant as a wicked and worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and [bitter] provocation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.” ¹⁸ Hannah said, “Let your maidservant find grace and favor in your sight.” So the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Samuel Is Born to Hannah

¹⁹ The family got up early the next morning, worshiped before the Lord, and returned to their home in Ramah. Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her [prayer]. ²⁰ It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; she named him ^[i]Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”

²¹ Then the man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the ^[j]yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is ^[k]weaned; and then I will bring him, so that he may appear before the Lord and remain there as long as he lives.” ²³ Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish and confirm His word.” So the woman remained [behind] and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a ^[l]leather bottle of wine [to pour over the burnt offering for a sweet fragrance], and she brought Samuel to the Lord’s house in Shiloh, although the child was young. ²⁵ Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ Hannah said, “Oh, my lord! As [surely as] your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood beside you here, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my request which I asked of Him. ²⁸ Therefore I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And they worshiped the Lord there.

Daniel’s Prayer for His People

9 In the first year of Darius the son of ^[a]Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the realm of the ^[b]Chaldeans— ² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of years which, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the desolations [which had been] pronounced on Jerusalem would end; and it was seventy years.^{(A) 3} So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and extends lovingkindness toward those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and committed wrong, and have behaved wickedly and have rebelled, turning away from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶ Further, we have not listened to and heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

⁷ “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us confusion and open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away, in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the [treacherous] acts of unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. ⁸ O Lord, to us belong confusion and open shame—to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers—because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercy and lovingkindness and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; ¹⁰ and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws which He set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, even turning aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us and the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.^{(B) 12} And He has carried out completely His [threatening] words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers [the kings, princes, and judges] who ruled us, to bring on us a great tragedy; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything [so dreadful] like that which [He commanded and] was done to Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this tragedy has come on us. Yet we have not wholeheartedly begged for forgiveness and sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our wickedness and paying attention to and placing value in Your truth.^{(C) 14} Therefore the Lord has kept the tragedy ready and has brought it on us, for the Lord our God is [uncompromisingly] righteous and openly just in all His works which He does—He keeps His word; and we have not obeyed His voice.

¹⁵ “And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for Yourself a name, as it is today—we have sinned, we have been wicked. ¹⁶ O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous and just acts, please let Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain. Because of our sins and the wickedness of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of scorn and a contemptuous byword to all who are around us. ¹⁷ Now therefore, our God, listen to (heed) the prayer of Your servant ^[c](Daniel) and his supplications, and for Your own sake let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of Your great mercy and compassion. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

God’s Salvation of His People

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to ^[a]wild and enthusiastic music.

For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new courtyard, ⁶ and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, there is no one able to take a stand against You. ⁷ O our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Your friend Abraham? ⁸ They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying, ⁹ ‘If evil comes on us, or the sword of judgment, or plague, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your Name and Your Presence is in this house) and we will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ ¹⁰ Now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You would not allow Israel to invade when they came from the land of Egypt (for they turned away from them and did not destroy them),^{(A) 11} here they are, rewarding us by coming to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance. ¹² O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless against this great multitude which is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”