¹¹ And God said to him, ^(A)“I am God Almighty:^[a] be ^(B)fruitful and multiply. ^(C)A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.^[b]

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[a] walk before me, and be ^(A)blameless,

³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(A)God Almighty,^[a] but by my name the ^(B)Lord I did not make myself known to them.

¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^(A)give^[a] you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^(B)she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram,^[a] but ^(A)your name shall be Abraham,^{[b] (B)}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^(C)you into nations, and ^(D)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(E)establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^(F)to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring ^(A)as the stars of heaven and ^(B)as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess ^(C)the gate of his^[a] enemies,

The Birth of Samuel

1 There was a certain man of ^(A)Ramathaim-zophim of ^(B)the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, ^(C)an Ephrathite. ² He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³ Now this man used to go up ^(D)year by year from his city ^(E)to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts ^(F)at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. ⁴ On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, ^(G)he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. ⁵ But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.^{[a] 6} And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷ So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. ⁸ And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? ^(H)Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

⁹ After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of ^(I)the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ She was ^(J)deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. ¹¹ And she ^(K)vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed ^(L)look on the affliction of your servant and ^(M)remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, ^(N)and no razor shall touch his head.”

¹² As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. ¹⁴ And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” ¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but ^(O)I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not regard your servant as ^(P)a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered, ^(Q)“Go in peace, and the God of Israel ^(R)grant your petition that you have made to him.” ¹⁸ And she said, ^(S)“Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman ^(T)went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

¹⁹ They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at ^(U)Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord ^(V)remembered her. ²⁰ And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”^[b]

Samuel Given to the Lord

²¹ The man Elkanah and all his house ^(W)went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord ^(X)and dwell there forever.” ^23 (Y)Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; ^(Z)only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ And when she had weaned him, ^(AA)she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,^[c] an ephah^[d] of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to ^(AB)the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. ²⁵ Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ And she said, “Oh, my lord! ^(AC)As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ For this child I prayed, ^(AD)and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. ²⁸ Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

^(AE)And he worshiped the Lord there.

A Census of Israel's Warriors

1 The Lord spoke to Moses ^(A)in the wilderness of Sinai, ^(B)in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ^2 (C)“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, ^(D)by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. ^3 (E)From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, ^(F)company by company. ⁴ And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. ⁵ And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, ^(G)Elizur the son of Shedeur; ⁶ from Simeon, ^(H)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷ from Judah, ^(I)Nahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸ from Issachar, ^(J)Nethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹ from Zebulun, ^(K)Eliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰ from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, ^(L)Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, ^(M)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹ from Benjamin, ^(N)Abidan the son of Gideoni; ¹² from Dan, ^(O)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³ from Asher, ^(P)Pagiel the son of Ochran; ¹⁴ from Gad, Eliasaph the son of ^(Q)Deuel; ¹⁵ from Naphtali, ^(R)Ahira the son of Enan.” ¹⁶ These were the ones ^(S)chosen from the congregation, ^(T)the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men ^(U)who had been named, ¹⁸ and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, ¹⁹ as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰ The people of ^(V)Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²¹ those listed of the tribe of Reuben were ^(W)46,500.

²² Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²³ those listed of the tribe of Simeon were ^(X)59,300.

²⁴ Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: ²⁵ those listed of the tribe of Gad were ^(Y)45,650.

²⁶ Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: