²⁰ So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^(A) She named^(B) him Samuel,^[a](C) saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Hannah Dedicates Samuel

²¹ When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual^(D) sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,^{(E) 22} Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present^(F) him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”^[b]

²³ “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good^(G) his^[c] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned^(H) him.

²⁴ After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^[d](I) an ephah^[e] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵ When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶ and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed^(J) for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life^(K) he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

¹⁸ But Samuel was ministering^(A) before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod.^{(B) 19} Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual^(C) sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed^(D) for and gave to^[a] the Lord.” Then they would go home. ²¹ And the Lord was gracious to Hannah;^(E) she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew^(F) up in the presence of the Lord.

²² Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything^(G) his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women^(H) who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. ²⁴ No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. ²⁵ If one person sins against another, God^[b] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will^(I) intercede^(J) for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.

²⁶ And the boy Samuel continued to grow^(K) in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.^(L)