Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving

2 Then Hannah ^(A)prayed and said,

¹¹ Then Elkanah went to his home at ^(AD)Ramah. ^(AE)But the young boy ministered to Yahweh before Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli’s Sons

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^[d](AF)vile men; they did not know Yahweh. ^13 (AG)And this was the legal judgment for the priests with the people: when any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s young man would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot; all that the fork would bring up the priest would take for himself. Thus they would do in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Also, before ^(AH)they offered up the fat in smoke, the priest’s young man would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting; he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.” ¹⁶ Then the man would say to him, “They must surely offer up the fat in smoke ^[e]first, and then take as much as your soul desires,” then he would say, “No, you shall give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh, for the men ^(AI)spurned the offering of Yahweh.

Samuel Before Yahweh as a Boy

¹⁸ Now ^(AJ)Samuel was ministering before Yahweh, as a ^[f]young boy ^(AK)girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And his mother would make him a little ^(AL)robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer ^(AM)the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would ^(AN)bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May Yahweh establish for you a seed from this woman in place of ^[g]the one she ^(AO)dedicated to Yahweh.” And they went to their own ^[h]home.

^21 (AP)Yahweh indeed visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ^(AQ)the young boy Samuel grew before Yahweh.

Eli Hears About His Sons’ Evils

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard ^(AR)all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with ^(AS)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? ²⁴ No, my sons; for the report is not good ^(AT)which I hear the people of Yahweh ^[i]passing about. ²⁵ If one man sins against another, ^(AU)God will mediate for him; but ^(AV)if a man sins against Yahweh, who can pray for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for ^(AW)Yahweh desired to put them to death.

²⁶ Now the young boy ^(AX)Samuel ^[j]was growing in stature and in favor both with Yahweh and with men.

Eli Honors His Sons Above Yahweh

²⁷ Then ^(AY)a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^(AZ)Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt, enslaved to Pharaoh’s house? ^28 (BA)And did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not ^(BB)give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? ²⁹ Why do you ^(BC)kick at My sacrifice and at My offering ^(BD)which I have commanded in My ^(BE)habitation, and ^(BF)honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the ^[k]choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ ³⁰ Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, declares, ‘^(BG)I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now Yahweh declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for ^(BH)those who honor Me I will honor, and those ^(BI)who despise Me will be cursed. ³¹ Behold, ^(BJ)the days are coming, and I will break your ^[l]strength and the ^[m]strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² And you will look upon ^(BK)the distress of My habitation, in spite of all the good that ^[n]I do for Israel; and an ^(BL)old man will not be in your house all the days. ³³ Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar ^[o]so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will be put to death ^[p]in the prime of life. ³⁴ Now this will be ^(BM)the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: ^(BN)on the same day both of them will be put to death. ³⁵ But ^(BO)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and ^(BP)I will build him a faithful house, and he will walk before ^(BQ)My anointed always. ³⁶ And it will be that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a ^[q]piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, “Please ^[r]assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”