1 Samuel 2:27-36

Revised Standard Version

²⁷ And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, “Thus the Lord has said, ‘I revealed^[a] myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸ And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me; and I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹ Why then look with greedy eye at^[b] my sacrifices and my offerings which I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves upon the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ ³⁰ Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me for ever’; but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹ Behold, the days are coming, when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity which shall be bestowed upon Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house for ever. ³³ The man of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep out his^[c] eyes and grieve his^[d] heart; and all the increase of your house shall die by the sword of men.^{[e] 34} And this which shall befall your two sons, Hophni and Phin′ehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. ³⁵ And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed for ever. ³⁶ And every one who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, and shall say, “Put me, I pray you, in one of the priest’s places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”