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.

¹⁹ So Samuel ^(A)grew, and ^(B)the Lord was with him ^(C)and let none of his words ^[a]fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been ^[b]established as a prophet of the Lord.

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you ^(A)return to the Lord with all your hearts, then ^(B)put away the foreign gods and the ^(C)Ashtoreths^[a] from among you, and ^(D)prepare your hearts for the Lord, and ^(E)serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the children of Israel put away the ^(F)Baals and the ^[b]Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.

⁵ And Samuel said, ^(G)“Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and ^(H)I will pray to the Lord for you.”

¹⁰ Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. ^(A)But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.

¹² Then Samuel ^(A)took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name ^[a]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”