1 Samuel 3
New King James Version
Samuel’s First Prophecy
3 Now (A)the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And (B)the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. 2 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow (C)so dim that he could not see, 3 and before (D)the lamp of God went out in the [a]tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.
6 Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!”
So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 (Now Samuel (E)did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.)
8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”
Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, (F)‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel (G)at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli (H)all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 (I)For I have told him that I will (J)judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because (K)his sons made themselves vile, and he (L)did not [b]restrain them. 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house (M)shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15 So Samuel lay down until [c]morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!”
He answered, “Here I am.”
17 And he said, “What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. (N)God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, (O)“It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”
19 So Samuel (P)grew, and (Q)the Lord was with him (R)and let none of his words [d]fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel (S)from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been [e]established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by (T)the word of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 3:3 palace or temple
- 1 Samuel 3:13 Lit. rebuke
- 1 Samuel 3:15 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX adds and he arose in the morning
- 1 Samuel 3:19 fail
- 1 Samuel 3:20 confirmed
1 Samuel 3
Tree of Life Version
Calling of Samuel
3 Now the boy Samuel was in the service of Adonai under Eli. In those days the word of Adonai was rare—there were no visions breaking through. 2 One day, Eli was lying down in his place—now his eyes had grown dim so that he could not see, 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out. Samuel was lying down in Adonai’s Temple, where the ark of God was. 4 Then Adonai called, “Samuel!” So he answered, “Here I am.” 5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
But he replied, “I didn’t call—go back to sleep.” So he went back and lay down.
6 Then Adonai called Samuel yet again. So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
But he answered, “I didn’t call, my son—go back to sleep.” 7 Now Samuel had not experienced Adonai yet, since the word of Adonai had not yet been revealed to him.
8 Adonai called Samuel again for the third time. So he got up and went to Eli, and said “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that Adonai was calling the boy.
9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back to sleep, and if He calls you, say: ‘Speak, Adonai, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place. 10 Then Adonai came and stood and called as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
11 Then Adonai said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone that hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity that he knew about, because his sons brought a curse on themselves yet he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”
15 Then Samuel lay down until the morning, when he opened the doors of the House of Adonai. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” he replied.
17 “What is the word that He has spoken to you?” he said. “Please don’t hide it from me. May God do so to you and even more if you hide anything at all from me that He spoke to you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing. Then Eli said, “He is Adonai. May He do what is good in His eyes.”
19 So Samuel grew up and Adonai was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was entrusted as a prophet of Adonai. 21 Adonai started to appear once more in Shiloh, for Adonai revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Adonai.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.