Samuel’s Birth and Dedication

1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite^[a] from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.^{(A) 2} He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.^(B)

³ Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.^{(C) 4} On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters,^{(D) 5} but to Hannah he gave a double portion^[b] because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.^{(E) 6} Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.^{(F) 7} So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. ⁸ Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”^(G)

⁹ After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord.^[c] Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.^{(H) 10} She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. ¹¹ She made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants,^[d] and no razor shall touch his head.”^(I)

¹² As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk.^{(J) 14} So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.”^{(K) 15} But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.^{(L) 16} Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.”^{(M) 18} And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went her way and ate and drank with her husband,^[e] and her countenance was sad no longer.^[f](N)

¹⁹ They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.^{(O) 20} In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”^(P)

²¹ The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.^{(Q) 22} But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.”^{[g](R) 23} Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish your^[h] word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.^{(S) 24} When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,^[i] an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh, and the child was young.^{(T) 25} Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the child to Eli.^{(U) 26} And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence praying to the Lord.^{(V) 27} For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him.^{(W) 28} Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” And they worshiped the Lord there.^(X)

Dying and Rising with Christ

6 What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase?^{(A) 2} By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?^{(B) 3} Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?^{(C) 4} Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.^(D)

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin.^{(E) 7} For whoever has died is freed^[a] from sin. ⁸ But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.^{(F) 10} The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.^{(G) 11} So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.^(H)

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires.^{(I) 13} No longer present your members to sin as instruments^[b] of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments^[c] of righteousness.^{(J) 14} For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.^(K)

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?^{(L) 17} But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted^{(M) 18} and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness.^{(N) 19} I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations.^[d] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.^(O)

²⁰ When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.^{(P) 21} So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death.^{(Q) 22} But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.^{(R) 23} For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.^(S)

Hannah’s Prayer

2 Hannah prayed and said,

Eli’s Wicked Sons

¹¹ Then they left him there before the Lord and went^[c] home to Ramah, while the boy remained to minister to the Lord in the presence of the priest Eli.^(K)

¹² Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord^{(L) 13} or for the duties of the priests to the people. When anyone offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,^{(M) 14} and he would thrust it into the pan, kettle, caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself.^[d] This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.”^{(N) 16} And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first and then take whatever you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now; if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for they treated the offerings of the Lord with contempt.^(O)

The Child Samuel at Shiloh

¹⁸ Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod.^{(P) 19} His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.^{(Q) 20} Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord repay^[e] you with children by this woman for the loan that she made to^[f] the Lord,” and then they would return to their home.^(R)

²¹ And^[g] the Lord took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.^(S)

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.^{(A) 5} He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.^[a]

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸ Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:^{(B) 11} to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,^[b] the Lord.^{(C) 12} This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”^{(D) 13} And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,^[c] praising God and saying,^(E)

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, ¹⁹ and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.^{(G) 20} The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.^(H)

Jesus Is Named

²¹ When the eighth day came, it was time to circumcise the child,^[e] and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.^(I)