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Samuel Is Born
Elkanah and his family got up early the next morning and worshiped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Later the Lord blessed Elkanah and Hannah
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with a son. She named him Samuel because she had asked the Lord for him.
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Hannah Gives Samuel to the Lord
The next time Elkanah and his family went to offer their yearly sacrifice, he took along a gift that he had promised to give to the Lord.
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But Hannah stayed home, because she had told Elkanah, “Samuel and I won't go until he's old enough for me to stop nursing him. Then I'll give him to the Lord, and he can stay there at Shiloh for the rest of his life.”
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“You know what's best,” Elkanah said. “Stay here until it's time to stop nursing him. I'm sure the Lord will help you do what you have promised.” Hannah did not go to Shiloh until she stopped nursing Samuel.
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When it was the time of year to go to Shiloh again, Hannah and Elkanah took Samuel to the Lord's house. They brought along a three-year-old bull, a sack containing about nine kilograms of flour, and a clay jar full of wine. Hannah and Elkanah offered the bull as a sacrifice, then brought the little boy to Eli.
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Samuel Stays with Eli
Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the Lord.
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Hannah Visits Samuel
The boy Samuel served the Lord and wore a special linen garment
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Eli always blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, “Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the Lord. I pray that the Lord will bless you with more children to take his place.” After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home.
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The Lord was kind to Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. But Samuel grew up at the Lord's house in Shiloh.
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A Prophet Speaks to Eli
Each day, as Samuel grew older, the Lord was pleased with him, and so were the people.
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The Lord Speaks to Samuel
Samuel served the Lord by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the Lord hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room,
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and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the Lord's house. They had not been asleep very long
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when the Lord called out Samuel's name. “Here I am!” Samuel answered.
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Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?” “I didn't call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.” Samuel went back.
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Again the Lord called out Samuel's name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?” Eli told him, “Son, I didn't call you. Go back to sleep.”
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The Lord had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice.
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When the Lord called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?” Eli finally realized that it was the Lord who was speaking to Samuel.
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So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I'm listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?’ ” Once again Samuel went back and lay down.
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The Lord then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!” “I'm listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?”
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The Lord said: Samuel, I am going to do something in Israel that will shock everyone who hears about it!
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The next morning, Samuel got up and opened the doors to the Lord's house. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said.
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But Eli told him, “Samuel, my boy, come here!” “Yes, sir!” Samuel answered.
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Samuel told Eli everything. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord, and he will do what's right.”
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The Lord Helps Samuel
As Samuel grew up, the Lord helped him and made everything Samuel said come true.
