Eli’s Evil Sons

¹² Eli’s sons were good for nothing. They didn’t honor the Lord. ¹³ When any of the people came to offer a sacrifice, here is what the priests would do. While the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a large fork in his hand. ¹⁴ He would stick the fork into the pan or pot or small or large kettle. Then the priest would take for himself everything the fork brought up. That’s how Eli’s sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵ Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come over. He would speak to the person who was offering the sacrifice. He would say, “Give the priest some meat to cook. He won’t accept boiled meat from you. He’ll only accept raw meat.”

¹⁶ Sometimes the person would say to him, “Let the fat be burned first. Then take what you want.” But the servant would answer, “No. Hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it away from you by force.”

¹⁷ That sin of Eli’s sons was very great in the Lord’s sight. That’s because they were not treating his offering with respect.

¹⁸ But the boy Samuel served the Lord. He wore a sacred linen apron. ¹⁹ Each year his mother made him a little robe. She took it to him when she went up to Shiloh with her husband. She did it when her husband went to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife. He would say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman. May they take the place of the boy she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. ²¹ The Lord was gracious to Hannah. Over a period of years she had three more sons and two daughters. During that whole time the boy Samuel grew up serving the Lord.

²² Eli was very old. He kept hearing about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites. He also heard how his sons were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ So Eli said to his sons, “Why are you doing these things? All the people are telling me about the evil things you are doing. ²⁴ No, my sons. The report I hear isn’t good. And it’s spreading among the Lord’s people. ²⁵ If a person sins against someone else, God can help that sinner. But if anyone sins against the Lord, who can help them?” In spite of what their father Eli said, his sons didn’t pay any attention to his warning. That’s because the Lord had already decided to put them to death.

²⁶ The boy Samuel continued to grow stronger. He also became more and more pleasing to the Lord and to people.

³⁰ “The Lord is the God of Israel. He announced, ‘I promised that members of your family line would serve me as priests forever.’ But now the Lord announces, ‘I will not let that happen! I will honor those who honor me. But I will turn away from those who look down on me. ³¹ The time is coming when I will cut your life short. I will also cut short the lives of those in your family line of priests. No one in your family line will grow old. ³² You will see nothing but trouble in the house where I live. Good things will still happen to Israel. But no one in your family line will ever grow old. ³³ I will prevent the members of your family from serving me at my altar. I will destroy the eyesight of all of you I allow to live. I will also cause you to lose your strength. And everyone in your family line will die while they are still young.

³⁴ “ ‘Something is going to happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. When it does, it will show you that what I am saying is true. They will both die on the same day. ³⁵ I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what my heart and mind want him to do. I will make his family line of priests very secure. They will always serve as priests to my anointed king. ³⁶ Everyone left in your family line will come and bow down to him. They will beg him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread. They will say, “Please give me a place to serve among the priests. Then I can have food to eat.” ’ ”