Elkanah and His Wives

1 Now there was a man from ^(A)Ramathaim-zophim from the ^(B)hill country of Ephraim, and his name was ^(C)Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² And he had ^(D)two wives: the name of one was ^(E)Hannah and the name of the ^[a]other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³ Now this man would go up from his city ^(F)yearly ^(G)to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of armies in ^(H)Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord there. ⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he ^(I)would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; ⁵ but to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, ^(J)but the Lord had closed her womb. ⁶ Her rival, moreover, ^(K)would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷ And it happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, that she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat. ⁸ Then Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you not eat, and why is your heart sad? ^(L)Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹ Then Hannah got up after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of ^(M)the ^[b]temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ She, ^[c]greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. ¹¹ And she ^(N)made a vow and said, “Lord of armies, if You will indeed ^(O)look on the affliction of Your bond-servant and remember me, and not forget Your bond-servant, but will give Your bond-servant a ^[d]son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and ^(P)a razor shall never come on his head.”

¹² Now it came about, as she ^[e]continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. ¹³ As for Hannah, ^(Q)she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were quivering, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought that she was drunk. ¹⁴ Then Eli said to her, “^(R)How long will you behave like a drunk? Get rid of your wine!” ¹⁵ But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman ^[f]despairing in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I ^(S)have poured out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not ^[g]consider your bond-servant a useless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered and said, “^(T)Go in peace; and may the God of Israel ^(U)grant your request that you have asked of Him.” ¹⁸ She said, “^(V)Let your bond-servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went on her way and ate, and ^(W)her face was no longer sad.

Samuel Is Born to Hannah

¹⁹ Then they got up early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to their house in ^(X)Ramah. And Elkanah ^[h]had relations with Hannah his wife, and ^(Y)the Lord remembered her. ²⁰ It came about ^[i]in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “^(Z)Because I have asked for him of the Lord.”

²¹ Then the man Elkanah ^(AA)went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go until the child is weaned; then I will ^(AB)bring him, so that he may appear before the Lord and ^(AC)stay there for life.” ^23 (AD)Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do ^[j]what seems best to you. Stay until you have weaned him; only ^(AE)may the Lord confirm His word.” So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ Now when she had weaned him, ^(AF)she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull, one ephah of flour, and a jug of wine, and brought him to ^(AG)the house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the child was young. ²⁵ Then ^(AH)they ^[k]slaughtered the bull, and ^(AI)brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶ And she said, “Pardon me, my lord! ^(AJ)As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. ^27 (AK)For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my request which I asked of Him. ^28 (AL)So I have also ^[l]dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is ^[m]dedicated to the Lord.” And ^(AM)he worshiped the Lord there.

Bildad Speaks of the Wicked

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

Children of God Love One Another

3 See ^[a](A)how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called ^(B)children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because ^(C)it did not know Him. ^2 (D)Beloved, now we are ^(E)children of God, and ^(F)it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^(G)appears, we will be ^(H)like Him, because we will ^(I)see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this ^(J)hope set on Him ^(K)purifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and ^(L)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that He ^(M)appeared in order to ^(N)take away sins; and ^(O)in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who remains in Him ^(P)sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or ^[b](Q)knows Him. ^7 (R)Little children, make sure no one ^(S)deceives you; ^(T)the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; ⁸ the one who practices sin is ^(U)of the devil; for the devil ^[c]has been sinning from the beginning. ^(V)The Son of God ^(W)appeared for this purpose, ^(X)to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one who has been ^(Y)born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this the ^(Z)children of God and the ^(AA)children of the devil are obvious: ^[d]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ^(AB)does not love his ^(AC)brother and sister.

^11 (AD)For this is the message ^(AE)which you have heard from the beginning, ^(AF)that we are to love one another; ¹² not as ^(AG)Cain, who was of ^(AH)the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because ^(AI)his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.

¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if ^(AJ)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have ^(AK)passed out of death into life, ^(AL)because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who ^(AM)hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that ^(AN)no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that ^(AO)He laid down His life for us; and ^(AP)we ought to lay down our lives for the ^(AQ)brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ But ^(AR)whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and ^(AS)closes his ^[e]heart ^[f]against him, ^(AT)how does the love of God remain in him? ^18 (AU)Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^(AV)truth. ¹⁹ We will know by this that we are ^(AW)of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him, ²⁰ that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. ^21 (AX)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^(AY)confidence ^[g]before God; ²² and ^(AZ)whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we ^(BA)keep His commandments and do ^(BB)the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³ This is His commandment, that we ^[h](BC)believe in ^(BD)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^(BE)He ^[i]commanded us. ²⁴ The one who ^(BF)keeps His commandments ^(BG)remains in Him, and He in him. ^(BH)We know by this that ^(BI)He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.