Samuel’s Calling and Prophetic Activity

3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.^(A)

² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room;^{(B) 3} the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.^{(C) 4} Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!”^[a] and he said, “Here I am!”^{(D) 5} and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.^{(E) 8} The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.^{(F) 12} On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.^{(G) 13} For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God,^[b] and he did not restrain them.^{(H) 14} Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”^(I)

¹⁹ As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.^{(A) 20} And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.^(B)

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”^{(A) 44} Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.^{(B) 45} Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”^{(C) 46} Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”^{(D) 47} When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”^{(E) 48} Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”^{(F) 50} Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you,^[a] you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”^(G)