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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.

Hannah’s Thanksgiving Psalm

Then Hannah prayed:

“My heart exults in the Lord;
    my strength[a] is increased by the Lord.
I will open my mouth to speak[b] against my enemies,
    because I rejoice in your deliverance.

Indeed,[c] there is no one holy like the Lord,
    indeed, there is no one besides you,
there is no rock like our God.

Don’t continue to talk proudly,
    and don’t speak arrogantly,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
    and by him actions are weighed.

The bows of warriors are shattered,[d]
    but those who stumble are equipped with[e] strength.
Those who had an abundance of bread
    now hire themselves out,
and those who were hungry
    hunger no more.[f]
While the barren woman gives birth to seven children,[g]
    she who had many children languishes.

The Lord kills and gives life,
    he brings people down to where the dead are[h]
        and he raises them up.
The Lord makes people poor
    and he makes people rich,
he brings them low,
    and he also exalts them.
He raises the poor up from the dust,
    he lifts up the needy from the trash heap
to make them sit with princes
    and inherit a seat of honor.
Indeed the pillars of the earth belong to the Lord,
    and he has set the world on them.
He guards the steps[i] of his faithful ones,
    while the wicked are made silent[j] in darkness.
He grants the request of the one who prays.[k]
    He blesses the year of the righteous.[l]
Indeed it’s not by strength that a person prevails.

10 The Lord will shatter his enemies[m]
    —those who contend against him.
Who is holy?[n]
    The one who will thunder[o] against them in the heavens.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth,
    he will give strength to his king,
        and he will increase the strength of His anointed one.”

11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah, while the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 2:1 Lit. horn; i.e. a symbol of strength and well-being
  2. 1 Samuel 2:1 The Heb. lacks to speak
  3. 1 Samuel 2:2 So 4QSama LXX; MT lacks Indeed
  4. 1 Samuel 2:4 Lit. are shattering; 4QSama reads warriors shatter
  5. 1 Samuel 2:4 Lit. stumble gird on
  6. 1 Samuel 2:5 Lit. cease
  7. 1 Samuel 2:5 The Heb. lacks children
  8. 1 Samuel 2:6 Lit. Sheol; i.e. the realm of the dead
  9. 1 Samuel 2:9 Lit. feet; cf. 4QSama
  10. 1 Samuel 2:9 Or are destroyed
  11. 1 Samuel 2:9 So 4QSama LXX; MT lacks this line
  12. 1 Samuel 2:9 So 4QSama LXX; MT lacks this line
  13. 1 Samuel 2:10 So 4QSama LXX; MT lacks his enemies
  14. 1 Samuel 2:10 So 4QSama; MT lacks this line; LXX reads The Lord is holy
  15. 1 Samuel 2:10 So MT; or He thundered; 4QSama reads And he thundered