1 Samuel 2

English Standard Version Anglicised

Hannah's Prayer

2 And Hannah prayed and said,

^(A)“My heart exults in the Lord;
    ^(B)my strength^[a] is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
    because ^(C)I rejoice in your salvation.
²^(D)“There is none holy like the Lord;
    there is none besides you;
    there is ^(E)no rock like our God.
³Talk no more so very proudly,
    let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
    and by him actions are weighed.
⁴^(F)The bows of the mighty are broken,
    but the feeble bind on strength.
⁵Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
    but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
^(G)The barren has borne seven,
    ^(H)but she who has many children is forlorn.
⁶^(I)The Lord kills and brings to life;
    he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
⁷^(J)The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
    ^(K)he brings low and he exalts.
⁸^(L)He raises up the poor from the dust;
    he lifts the needy from the ash heap
^(M)to make them sit with princes
    and inherit a seat of honour.
^(N)For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
    and on them he has set the world.
⁹^(O)“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
    but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,
    for not by might shall a man prevail.
¹⁰^(P)The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
    ^(Q)against them he will thunder in heaven.
^(R)The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
    he will give strength to his king
    ^(S)and exalt the power^[b] of his anointed.”

¹¹Then Elkanah went home ^(T)to Ramah. ^(U)And the boy ministered to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli's Worthless Sons

¹²Now the sons of Eli were ^(V)worthless men. ^(W)They did not know the Lord. ¹³The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant^[c] would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, ¹⁴and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵Moreover, ^(X)before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” ¹⁶And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷Thus the sin of the young men was very great ^(Y)in the sight of the Lord, ^(Z)for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

¹⁸^(AA)Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy ^(AB)clothed with a linen ephod. ¹⁹And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year ^(AC)when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman ^(AD)for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.

²¹^(AE)Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. ^(AF)And the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

²²Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who ^(AG)were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. ²⁴No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. ²⁵If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, ^(AH)for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

²⁶Now the young man Samuel ^(AI)continued to grow both in stature and in favour with the Lord and also with man.

The Lord Rejects Eli's Household

²⁷And there came ^(AJ)a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus the Lord has said, ^(AK)‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? ²⁸^(AL)Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, ^(AM)to wear an ephod before me? ^(AN)I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹Why then do you ^(AO)scorn^[d] my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honour your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ ³⁰Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ^(AP)‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me for ever,’ ^(AQ)but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹Behold, ^(AR)the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³²Then ^(AS)in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, ^(AT)and there shall not be an old man in your house for ever. ³³The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his^[e] eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants^[f] of your house shall die by the sword of men.^[g] ³⁴^(AU)And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die ^(AV)on the same day. ³⁵^(AW)And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. ^(AX)And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before ^(AY)my anointed for ever. ³⁶And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”

Footnotes

1 Samuel 2:1 Hebrew horn
1 Samuel 2:10 Hebrew horn
1 Samuel 2:13 Hebrew young man; also verse 15
1 Samuel 2:29 Septuagint; Hebrew kick at
1 Samuel 2:33 Septuagint; Hebrew your; twice in this verse
1 Samuel 2:33 Hebrew increase
1 Samuel 2:33 Septuagint; Hebrew die as men

1 Samuel 2

The Message

2 Hannah prayed:

I’m bursting with God-news!
I’m walking on air.
I’m laughing at my rivals.
I’m dancing my salvation.

^2-5Nothing and no one is holy like God,
    no rock mountain like our God.
Don’t dare talk pretentiously—
    not a word of boasting, ever!
For God knows what’s going on.
    He takes the measure of everything that happens.
The weapons of the strong are smashed to pieces,
    while the weak are infused with fresh strength.
The well-fed are out begging in the streets for crusts,
    while the hungry are getting second helpings.
The barren woman has a houseful of children,
    while the mother of many is bereft.

^6-10God brings death and God brings life,
    brings down to the grave and raises up.
God brings poverty and God brings wealth;
    he lowers, he also lifts up.
He puts poor people on their feet again;
    he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope,
Restoring dignity and respect to their lives—
    a place in the sun!
For the very structures of earth are God’s;
    he has laid out his operations on a firm foundation.
He protectively cares for his faithful friends, step by step,
    but leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark.
    No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle!
God’s enemies will be blasted out of the sky,
    crashed in a heap and burned.
God will set things right all over the earth,
    he’ll give strength to his king,
    he’ll set his anointed on top of the world!

¹¹Elkanah went home to Ramah. The boy stayed and served God in the company of Eli the priest.

Samuel Serves God

^12-17Eli’s own sons were nothing but trouble. They didn’t know God and could not have cared less about the customs of priests among the people. Ordinarily, when someone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant was supposed to come up and, while the meat was boiling, stab a three-pronged fork into the cooking pot. The priest then got whatever came up on the fork. But this is how Eli’s sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to God. Before they had even burned the fat to God, the priest’s servant would interrupt whoever was sacrificing and say, “Hand over some of that meat for the priest to roast. He doesn’t like boiled meat; he likes his rare.” If the man objected, “First let the fat be burned—God’s portion!—then take all you want,” the servant would demand, “No, I want it now. If you won’t give it, I’ll take it.” It was a horrible sin these young servants were committing—and right in the presence of God!—desecrating the holy offerings to God.

^18-20In the midst of all this, Samuel, a boy dressed in a priestly linen tunic, served God. Additionally, every year his mother would make him a little robe cut to his size and bring it to him when she and her husband came for the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “God give you children to replace this child you have dedicated to God.” Then they would go home.

²¹God was most especially kind to Hannah. She had three more sons and two daughters! The boy Samuel stayed at the sanctuary and grew up with God.

A Hard Life with Many Tears

^22-25By this time Eli was very old. He kept getting reports on how his sons were ripping off the people and sleeping with the women who helped out at the sanctuary. Eli called them out: “What’s going on here? Why are you doing these things? I hear story after story of your corrupt and evil carrying on. Oh, my sons, this is not right! These are terrible reports I’m getting, stories spreading right and left among God’s people! If you sin against another person, there’s help—God’s help. But if you sin against God, who is around to help?”

^25-26But they were far gone in disobedience and refused to listen to a thing their father said. So God, who was fed up with them, decreed their death. But the boy Samuel was very much alive, growing up, blessed by God and popular with the people.

^27-30A holy man came to Eli and said: “This is God’s message: I revealed myself openly to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests: to preside at the Altar, to burn incense, to wear the priestly robes in my presence. I put your ancestral family in charge of all the sacrificial offerings of Israel. So why do you now treat as mere loot these very sacrificial offerings that I commanded for my worship? Why do you treat your sons better than me, turning them loose to get fat on these offerings, and ignoring me? Therefore—this is God’s word, the God of Israel speaking—I once said that you and your ancestral family would be my priests indefinitely, but now—God’s word, remember!—there is no way this can continue.

I honor those who honor me;
those who scorn me I demean.

^31-36“Be well warned: It won’t be long before I wipe out both your family and your future family. No one in your family will make it to old age! You’ll see good things that I’m doing in Israel, but you’ll see it and weep, for no one in your family will live to enjoy it. I will leave one person to serve at my Altar, but it will be a hard life, with many tears. Everyone else in your family will die before their time. What happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be the proof: Both will die the same day. Then I’ll establish for myself a true priest. He’ll do what I want him to do, be what I want him to be. I’ll make his position secure and he’ll do his work freely in the service of my anointed one. Survivors from your family will come to him begging for handouts, saying, ‘Please, give me some priest work, just enough to put some food on the table.’”

English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

The Message (MSG)

1 Samuel 2 English Standard Version Anglicised