The Lord Speaks to Samuel

3 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.

² One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle^[a] near the Ark of God. ⁴ Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”

“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” ⁵ He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.

⁶ Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”

Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”

⁷ Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. ⁸ So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. ⁹ So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

¹⁰ And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. ¹² I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. ¹³ I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God^[b] and he hasn’t disciplined them. ¹⁴ So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”

Samuel Speaks for the Lord

¹⁵ Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle^[c] as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. ¹⁶ But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” Samuel replied.

¹⁷ “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” ¹⁸ So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”

¹⁹ As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. ²⁰ And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.

Israel Requests a King

8 As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. ² Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. ³ But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁵ “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

⁶ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. ⁷ “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. ⁸ Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. ⁹ Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

Samuel Warns against a Kingdom

¹⁰ So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. ¹² Some will be generals and captains in his army,^[a] some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. ¹³ The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. ¹⁴ He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle^[b] and donkeys for his own use. ¹⁷ He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. ²⁰ “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

²¹ So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said, ²² and the Lord replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.