1 Samuel 3:1-4
Christian Standard Bible
Samuel’s Call
3 The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence.(A) In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.(B)
2 One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing,(C) was lying in his usual place. 3 Before the lamp of God had gone out,(D) Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel,[a] and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”
Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who hears about it to shudder.[b](E) 12 On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end.(F) 13 I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God,[c] and he has not stopped them.(G) 14 Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.”(H)
15 Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” answered Samuel.
17 “What was the message he gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.”(I) 18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.”(J)
19 Samuel grew.(K) The Lord was with him,(L) and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied.[d](M) 20 All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord.(N) 21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word.(O)
4 And Samuel’s words came to all Israel.
The Ark Captured by the Philistines
Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and[e] camped at Ebenezer(P) while the Philistines camped at Aphek.(Q)
Footnotes
- 3:4 DSS, LXX read called, “Samuel! Samuel!”
- 3:11 Lit about it, his two ears will tingle; Hb obscure
- 3:13 LXX, Old Lat; MT reads them
- 3:19 Lit he let none of his words fall to the ground
- 4:1 LXX reads In those days the Philistines gathered together to fight against Israel, and Israel went out to engage them in battle. They
1 Samuel 3:1-4
International Standard Version
The Lord Calls Samuel
3 Meanwhile the boy Samuel was serving the Lord before Eli. A word from the Lord was rare in those days, and visions were infrequent. 2 At that time Eli, whose vision was growing dim,[a] was lying down in his bedroom.[b] 3 The lamp of God had not yet been extinguished, and Samuel was lying down in the tent[c] of the Lord where the Ark of God was. 4 The Lord called out to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”
5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am! You called me.”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli[d] said. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Then the Lord again called out, “Samuel!”
So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am! You called me.”
He said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord and had not yet had the word of the Lord revealed to him.
8 Then the Lord called out to Samuel again a third time, and he got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am! You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy, 9 so Eli told Samuel, “Go lie down, and then if he calls you, answer, ‘Speak, Lord, because your servant is listening.’” Then Samuel[e] went and lay down.
10 Later, the Lord came and stood there, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!” as he had before.
Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.”
11 “Look,” the Lord told Samuel. “I’m about to do something[f] in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears it tingle. 12 I’ll fulfill every promise that I’ve spoken concerning Eli’s family, from beginning to end. 13 I’ve told him that I’m about to judge his family forever because of the iniquity that he knew about. His sons committed blasphemy[g] and he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I’ve sworn concerning Eli’s family that the iniquity of his family is not to be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Samuel Delivers God’s Message
15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord, but he[h] was afraid to report the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel: “Samuel, my son.”
He said, “Here I am.”
17 Eli[i] said, “What did the Lord[j] say to you? Please don’t conceal anything[k] from me. May God do this to you and even more[l] if you conceal from me one word of all that he spoke to you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything—he did not conceal anything[m] from him. Eli[n] said, “He is the Lord. May he do what seems good to him.”
19 As Samuel grew, the Lord was with him and did not let any of Samuel’s[o] predictions fail.[p] 20 All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as the Lord’s prophet. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, because he[q] revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by means of messages from[r] the Lord.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
4 What Samuel had to say was directed to all Israel, and Israel went out to engage the Philistines in battle. The Israelis[s] were camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines were camped at Aphek.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 3:2 Lit. dim so that he was unable to see
- 1 Samuel 3:2 Lit. place
- 1 Samuel 3:3 Or temple
- 1 Samuel 3:5 Lit. He
- 1 Samuel 3:9 Lit. he
- 1 Samuel 3:11 Lit. do a work
- 1 Samuel 3:13 LXX cursed God; MT cursed themselves
- 1 Samuel 3:15 Lit. Samuel
- 1 Samuel 3:17 Lit. He
- 1 Samuel 3:17 Lit. he
- 1 Samuel 3:17 The Heb. lacks anything
- 1 Samuel 3:17 I.e. May God punish you
- 1 Samuel 3:18 The Heb. lacks anything
- 1 Samuel 3:18 Lit. He
- 1 Samuel 3:19 Lit. his
- 1 Samuel 3:19 Lit. words fall to the ground
- 1 Samuel 3:21 Lit. the Lord
- 1 Samuel 3:21 Lit. by the word of
- 1 Samuel 4:1 Lit. They
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
