1 Samuel 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hannah’s Prayer
2 Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.[a]
My mouth derides my enemies
because I rejoice in your victory.(A)
2 There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.(B)
3 Talk 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.(C)
4 The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.(D)
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.(E)
6 The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.(F)
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low; he also exalts.(G)
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and on them he has set the world.(H)
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked will perish in darkness,
for not by might does one prevail.(I)
10 The Lord! His adversaries will be shattered;
the Most High[b] will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
and exalt the power of his anointed.”(J)
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)
Prophecy against Eli’s Household
22 Now Eli was very old. He heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and how they lay with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(T) 23 He said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad.(U) 25 If one person sins against another, someone can intercede for the sinner with the Lord,[h] but if someone sins against the Lord, who can make intercession?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to kill them.(V)
26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.(W)
27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus the Lord has said: I revealed[i] myself to the family of your ancestor in Egypt when they were slaves[j] to the house of Pharaoh.(X) 28 I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to offer incense, to wear an ephod before me, and I gave to the family of your ancestor all my offerings by fire[k] from the Israelites.(Y) 29 Why then look[l] with greedy eye at my sacrifices and my offerings[m] and honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?(Z) 30 Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: I promised that your family and the family of your ancestor should go in and out before me forever, but now the Lord declares: Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be treated with contempt.(AA) 31 See, a time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestor’s family.[n](AB) 32 No one in your family shall ever live to old age.(AC) 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep out his[o] eyes and grieve his[p] heart; all the members of your household shall die by the sword.[q] 34 The fate of your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.(AD) 35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed one forever.(AE) 36 Everyone who is left in your family shall come and prostrate himself before him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, ‘Please put me in one of the priest’s places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.’ ”(AF)
Footnotes
- 2.1 Gk: Heb the Lord
- 2.10 Cn: Heb against him he
- 2.11 Gk: Heb Then Elkanah went
- 2.14 Gk Syr Vg: Heb with it
- 2.20 Q ms Gk: MT give
- 2.20 Q ms Gk: MT for the request that she asked of
- 2.21 Q ms Gk: MT When
- 2.25 Gk Q ms: MT another, God will intercede for him
- 2.27 Gk Tg Syr: Heb Did I reveal
- 2.27 Q ms Gk: MT lacks slaves
- 2.28 Or my gifts
- 2.29 Q ms Gk: MT then kick
- 2.29 Q ms Gk: MT adds that I commanded at this dwelling
- 2.31–32 Q ms Gk: MT adds so that no one in your family will live to old age.
Then in a distressed place you will look upon all the prosperity of Israel. No one - 2.33 Q ms Gk: MT your
- 2.33 Q ms Gk: MT your
- 2.33 Q ms Gk: MT die like mortals
1 Samuel 2
Contemporary English Version
2 1 (A) Hannah prayed:
You make me strong
and happy, Lord.
You rescued me.
Now I can be glad
and laugh at my enemies.
2 No other god[a] is like you.
And with you we are safer
than on a high mountain.[b]
3 I can tell those proud people,
“Stop your boasting!
Nothing is hidden from the Lord,
and he judges what we do.”
4 Our Lord, you break
the bows of warriors,
but you give strength
to everyone who stumbles.
5 People who once
had plenty to eat
must now hire themselves out
for only a piece of bread.
But you give the hungry more
than enough to eat.
A woman did not have a child,
and you gave her seven,
but a woman who had many
was left with none.
6 (B) You take away life,
and you give life.
You send people down
to the world of the dead
and bring them back again.
7 Our Lord, you are the one
who makes us rich or poor.
You put some in high positions
and bring disgrace on others.
8 You lift the poor and homeless
out of the garbage dump
and give them places of honor
in royal palaces.
You set the world on foundations,
and they belong to you.
9 You protect your loyal people,
but everyone who is evil
will die in darkness.
We cannot win a victory
by our own strength.
10 Our Lord, those who attack you
will be broken in pieces
when you fight back
with thunder from heaven.
You will judge the whole earth
and give power and strength
to your chosen king.
Samuel Stays with Eli
11 Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the Lord.
Eli's Sons
12-13 Eli's sons were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the Lord. So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork. 14 The servant would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever meat came out on the fork was taken back to Eli's two sons. That was how they treated every Israelite who came to offer sacrifices in Shiloh. 15 Sometimes, when people were offering sacrifices, the servant would come over, even before the fat had been cut off and sacrificed to the Lord.[c]
Then the servant would tell them, “The priest doesn't want his meat boiled! Give him some raw meat that he can roast!”
16 Usually the people answered, “Take what you want. But first, let us sacrifice the fat to the Lord.”
“No,” the servant would reply. “If you don't give it to me now, I'll take it by force.”
17 Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the Lord very angry.
Hannah Visits Samuel
18 The boy Samuel served the Lord and wore a special linen garment[d] 19 and the clothes[e] his mother made for him. She brought new clothes every year, when she and her husband came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh.
20 Eli always blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, “Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the Lord. I pray that the Lord will bless you with more children to take his place.” After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home.
21 The Lord was kind to Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. But Samuel grew up at the Lord's house in Shiloh.
Eli Warns His Sons
22 Eli was now very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to the people of Israel.[f] 23-24 “Why are you doing these awful things?” he asked them. “I've been hearing nothing but complaints about you from all of the Lord's people. 25 If you harm another person, God can help make things right between the two of you. But if you commit a crime against the Lord, no one can help you!”
But the Lord had already decided to kill them. So he kept them from listening to their father.
A Prophet Speaks to Eli
26 (C) Each day, as Samuel grew older, the Lord was pleased with him, and so were the people.
27 One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord:
When your ancestors were slaves of the king of Egypt, I came and showed them who I am. 28-29 (D) Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests. I wanted them to offer sacrifices and burn incense to me and to find out from me what I want my people to do. I commanded everyone to bring their sacrifices here where I live, and I allowed you and your family to keep those that were not offered to me on the altar.
But you honor your sons instead of me! You don't respect[g] the sacrifices and offerings that are brought to me, and you've all grown fat from eating the best parts.
30 I am the Lord, the God of Israel. I promised to always let your family serve me as priests, but now I tell you that I cannot do this any longer! I honor anyone who honors me, but I put a curse on anyone who hates me. 31 The time will come when I will kill you and everyone else in your family. Not one of you will live to an old age.
32 Your family[h] will have a lot of trouble. I will be kind to Israel,[i] but everyone in your family will die young. 33 If I let anyone from your family be a priest, his[j] life will be full of sadness and sorrow. But most of the men in your family will die a violent death![k] 34 (E) To prove to you that I will do these things, your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day.
35 I have chosen someone else to be my priest, someone who will be faithful and obey me. I will always let his family serve as priests and help my chosen king. 36 But if anyone is left from your family, he will come to my priest and beg for money or a little bread. He may even say to my priest, “Please let me be a priest, so I will at least have something to eat.”
Footnotes
- 2.2 god: The Hebrew text has “holy one,” a term for supernatural beings or gods.
- 2.2 mountain: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 2.
- 2.15 sacrificed to the Lord: The fat belonged to the Lord and was supposed to be burned as a sacrifice before the rest of the animal was cooked and eaten (see Leviticus 3.3,4,9,10,14,15).
- 2.18 a special linen garment: Either a loin cloth or a jacket or a vest worn only by priests.
- 2.19 clothes: The Hebrew word means a sleeveless coat or robe that was worn by priests. Samuel was a small child, but his mother made him clothes just like those worn by priests.
- 2.22 Israel: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text adds “He heard that his sons were even sleeping with the women who worked at the entrance to the sacred tent.”
- 2.28,29 don't respect: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation “are greedy for.”
- 2.32 Your family: Or “My house of worship.”
- 2.31,32 Not one … to Israel: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation do not have these words.
- 2.33 his: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “your.”
- 2.33 die a violent death: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “die.”
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