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Hannah’s Prayer of Praise

Then Hannah prayed:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord!
    The Lord has made me strong.[a]
Now I have an answer for my enemies;
    I rejoice because you rescued me.
No one is holy like the Lord!
    There is no one besides you;
    there is no Rock like our God.

“Stop acting so proud and haughty!
    Don’t speak with such arrogance!
For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done;
    he will judge your actions.
The bow of the mighty is now broken,
    and those who stumbled are now strong.
Those who were well fed are now starving,
    and those who were starving are now full.
The childless woman now has seven children,
    and the woman with many children wastes away.
The Lord gives both death and life;
    he brings some down to the grave[b] but raises others up.
The Lord makes some poor and others rich;
    he brings some down and lifts others up.
He lifts the poor from the dust
    and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes,
    placing them in seats of honor.
For all the earth is the Lord’s,
    and he has set the world in order.

“He will protect his faithful ones,
    but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
10     Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
    the Lord judges throughout the earth.
He gives power to his king;
    he increases the strength[c] of his anointed one.”

11 Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:1 Hebrew has exalted my horn.
  2. 2:6 Hebrew to Sheol.
  3. 2:10 Hebrew he exalts the horn.

Then Hannah prayed and said,

“My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength is exalted in Yahweh; I grin[a] over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.
There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you,
    and there is no rock like our God.
Do not increase speaking very proud[b] words!
    Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth,
    for Yahweh is a God of knowledge
    whose deeds are not weighed.[c]
The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,
    but those who stumble gird themselves with strength.
Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread,
    but those who are hungry will become fat.
As for the infertile, she will bear seven,
    but she who has many sons withers away.
Yahweh kills and restores alive,
    he brings down to Sheol[d] and raises up.
Yahweh makes poor and makes rich;
    he brings low and also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust.
    From the ash heap he lifts up the needy,
to cause them to sit with noble people
    and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh
    and he has set the inhabited world on them.
He will guard the feet of his faithful[e] ones,
    but the wicked will be destroyed[f] in the darkness,
    because a man will not prevail by his might.
10 Yahweh will shatter[g] his adversaries;[h]
    he will thunder against them in the heavens.
    Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth.
He will give strength to his king
    and will exalt the might of his anointed one.

11 Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh in the presence of[i] Eli the priest.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 2:1 Literally “my mouth is broad”
  2. 1 Samuel 2:3 Literally “proud, proud”
  3. 1 Samuel 2:3 So Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib); the reading tradition (Qere) reads “and by him deeds are weighed”
  4. 1 Samuel 2:6 “Sheol” is a Hebrew term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the underworld.
  5. 1 Samuel 2:9 Or “loyal”
  6. 1 Samuel 2:9 Or “will be silenced”
  7. 1 Samuel 2:10 Singular verb supported by Syriac, Targums, Septuagint, and Old Latin versions.
  8. 1 Samuel 2:10 The Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) has the singular “adversary”; the reading tradition (Qere) reads the plural
  9. 1 Samuel 2:11 Literally “in the face of”