Beginning
Elkanah and his family go to Shiloh
1 There was a man whose name was Elkanah. He lived in a town called Ramah.[a] This town was in the hill country where Ephraim's tribe lived. Elkanah was the son of Jeroham. Jeroham was the son of Elihu. Elihu was the son of Tohu. Tohu was the son of Zuph. Zuph belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. 2 Elkanah had two wives. One wife was called Hannah and the other wife was called Peninnah. Peninnah had children but Hannah did not have any children.
3 Every year, Elkanah left his home in Ramah to go to the town of Shiloh.[b] He went there to worship the Lord Almighty and to offer sacrifices to him.[c] Hophni and Phinehas served the Lord at Shiloh as his priests. Eli was their father.
4 Every year, when Elkanah offered his sacrifices to God, he gave some of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to her sons and daughters. 5 Because Elkanah loved Hannah very much, he always gave twice as much meat to her. But the Lord had not let Hannah give birth to any children.
6 Peninnah was not kind to Hannah and she made Hannah very upset. She did this because the Lord had not let Hannah give birth to any children. 7 This happened every year when they went to the Lord's house in Shiloh. Peninnah would cause Hannah to be upset. Then Hannah would weep. She would refuse to eat anything. 8 Hannah's husband, Elkanah, said to her, ‘Why should you weep and refuse to eat? Do not be so sad. I love you, and that is better than ten sons.’
Hannah and Eli
9 One day they had offered sacrifices at Shiloh. They had finished eating and drinking. Hannah stood up to pray to God. Eli the priest was sitting on his chair beside the door of the Lord's temple.[d] 10 Hannah was very upset as she prayed to the Lord. She could not stop weeping. 11 She made a promise to God. She prayed, ‘Lord Almighty, you can see how sad I am. Please be kind to me, your servant. Remember me and do not forget me. Please give a son to me, your servant. If you do that, I will give him to serve you for all of his life. Nobody will ever cut his hair.’[e]
12 Hannah continued to pray to the Lord. Eli watched her mouth while it moved. 13 Hannah was praying quietly inside herself. Her lips moved but Eli could not hear her voice. So he thought that she was drunk. 14 He said to her, ‘Are you always drunk like that? Throw away your wine.’
15 Hannah replied, ‘No, sir, I have not drunk any wine or strong drink. I have much trouble deep inside myself. I have told the Lord about all my problems. 16 Please sir, do not think that I am a bad woman. I am praying like this because I am very sad and upset.’
17 Eli said to Hannah, ‘Go and let your mind have peace. I pray that Israel's God will give you what you have asked him for.’
18 Hannah said to him, ‘I will try to do what pleases you, sir.’
Then Hannah went away and she ate some food. Her face was not sad now.
19 Elkanah and his family got up early the next morning and they worshipped the Lord. Then they went back to their home in Ramah. Elkanah had sex with his wife Hannah. The Lord remembered what she had asked him for. 20 Hannah became pregnant. Later, she gave birth to a son. She gave him the name ‘Samuel’. She said, ‘His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him.’[f]
Hannah gives Samuel to serve God
21 Next year, Elkanah went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to the Lord, as he had promised to do. His family went with him. 22 But Hannah did not go as well. She said to her husband, ‘I will not go until the boy is older. When he can eat proper food, I will take him to Shiloh to give him to the Lord. Then he will live there for all his life.’
23 Elkanah said to Hannah, ‘You must do what seems right to you. Stay here at home until the boy begins to eat proper food. May the Lord help you, as he has promised.’
So Hannah stayed at home with her son while he continued to drink milk from her breasts.
24 When Samuel started to eat proper food, Hannah took him to Shiloh. She took him to the Lord's house there when he was still a young boy. She took with her a bull that was three years old. She also took a big bag of flour and a leather bag full of wine. 25 They killed the bull for the sacrifice. Then Hannah took Samuel to Eli. 26 Hannah said to Eli, ‘Please believe me sir. I am the woman who stood here before. You saw me when I was praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed that the Lord would give me a son and he answered my prayer. 28 Now I will give this child to serve the Lord. He will be the Lord's servant for his whole life.’
Then Elkanah's family worshipped the Lord there.
Hannah praises the Lord
2 Hannah prayed and she said,
‘I am very happy when I think about what the Lord has done.
The Lord has made me very strong.
I can laugh at my enemies because you, Lord, have saved me.
That makes me very happy.
2 Nobody else is holy like the Lord.
There is no other God except you, our God.
You are the only Rock where we can be safe.[g]
3 Do not boast or speak proud words!
The Lord is a God who knows everything.
He judges everything that people do.
4 The weapons of brave soldiers may break.
But weak people who fall become strong again.
5 People who had plenty of food to eat have to work for it now.
But the people who were hungry have enough food now.
Women who could not have any children have now given birth to seven children.
But those who had many children are now alone.
6 The Lord gives both life and death.
He sends some people to their graves,
and he raises other people up.
7 The Lord makes some people poor
and he makes other people rich.
He causes some people to be important
and he puts other people low down.
8 He raises up weak people from the ground.
He lifts poor people up out of the dirt.
He makes them become friends of princes.
He puts them in places of honour.
The deep places of the earth belong to the Lord.
He built the world on a strong foundation.
9 He takes care of his faithful people.
But he puts wicked people in a dark place where they can do nothing.
It is not a person's own strength that makes him great.
10 The Lord will destroy his enemies.
He will shout against them from heaven like loud thunder.
The Lord will judge everyone on earth.
He will make his king strong.
He will give power to the king that he has chosen to rule.’
11 Then Elkanah went back to his home at Ramah with his family. But the young boy, Samuel, stayed in Shiloh. He served the Lord there, while Eli the priest took care of him.
Eli's wicked sons
12 Eli's sons were wicked men. They did not respect the Lord. 13 They did not do what the priests should do.
People brought sacrifices to offer to the Lord at Shiloh. When the meat was still boiling in a pot, a servant of the priest would come. He would bring a fork that had three points. 14 He then pushed the fork into the pot. The priest took for himself any meat that came out on the fork. The priests did that to all the Israelites when they came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. 15 Their servant would even come before the fat was removed from the meat to be burned as a sacrifice. He would say to the person who had brought the sacrifice, ‘Give me some of the meat for the priest to bake. He will not accept meat that has already boiled. He will only accept meat that is fresh.’
16 Sometimes, the person said, ‘We must burn the fat first. Then you can take any meat that you want.’ The servant would reply, ‘No. Give the meat to me now, or I will take it from you anyway.’
17 The Lord knew what Eli's sons were doing. They did not respect the sacrifices that people were offering to the Lord. The Lord saw that their sin was very bad.
Samuel at Shiloh
18 But Samuel served the Lord faithfully, as a young boy. He wore a linen ephod. 19 Every year, Samuel's mother made a little coat for him. She took it to him when she went to Shiloh. She and her husband went there every year to offer their sacrifice to God. 20 Each year, Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife. He said, ‘I pray that the Lord will give you more children to take the place of Samuel. Hannah has given her son to serve the Lord, so may she give birth to other children too.’
Then they would return to their own home. 21 The Lord blessed Hannah. She gave birth to three more sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel continued to grow as he served at the Lord's house in Shiloh.
22 Eli was very old now. He heard about everything that his sons were doing to all the Israelites. He knew that his sons had sex with some of the women helpers. Those women worked at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 23 Eli said to his sons, ‘People have told me about all the evil things that you do. 24 No, my sons, you should not do these terrible things. The Lord's people all complain about you. 25 If you do something bad to another person, God can speak on your behalf. But if you do something bad against the Lord, nobody can speak on your behalf.’
Eli's sons did not listen to their father. The Lord had already decided to kill them.
26 The young boy Samuel continued to grow. The Lord was pleased with him, and so were the people.
God's message to Eli
27 A servant of God came and he spoke to Eli.[h] This is what he said:
‘The Lord says, “A long time ago, when your ancestors were in Egypt, I showed myself to them. At that time they were slaves of Egypt's king. 28 I chose your ancestor, Aaron, out of all the tribes of Israel. I chose him and his descendants to be my priests. I chose them to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense and to wear the special ephod.[i] I also gave them authority to eat part of the sacrifices and burnt offerings that the Israelites offered to me. 29 But you and your sons do not respect the sacrifices that I have commanded people to offer in my house. Eli, you give more honour to your sons than you give to me. Your family eat all the best parts of the offerings that the Israelites bring to me. You have all become fat!”
30 Because of what you have done, the Lord, Israel's God, says this to you: “I promised your family and your ancestors that they would serve me as priests for ever.” But now the Lord says, “That will never happen! I will give honour to people who respect me. But I will curse people who insult me. 31 So you and your family will soon come to an end. No one in your family will live to become old men. 32 You will see how trouble comes to my home here. Good things will happen to the Israelite people, but there will never be an old man in your family. 33 One of your descendants may continue to serve me as a priest. But he will be very sad and his eyes will become weak. Anyone who is born in your family will die when they are young.
34 This will show you that what I have said is true: Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will both die on the same day.
35 I will choose another priest to serve me. He will be faithful. He will do everything that I want him to do. I will give him a strong family and he will serve my chosen king for ever. 36 Everyone in your family who continues to live will have to bend down low to this priest. They will ask him for a few coins and a piece of bread. ‘Please let me help the priests so that I can have something to eat,’ they will say.” ’
God chooses Samuel
3 The boy Samuel continued to serve the Lord. Eli the priest taught him what to do. In those days, the Lord did not often give his messages to people. He did not often show things to them in visions.
2 Eli's eyes had become weak. He could not see very well. One night, he was sleeping in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God was still burning.[j] Samuel was lying down to sleep near the Covenant Box in the Lord's house. 4 Then the Lord called out to Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ 5 Samuel ran to Eli and he said, ‘You called my name. Here I am.’
But Eli said, ‘I did not call your name. Go back and lie down again.’ So Samuel went and he lay down again.
6 Again the Lord called out, ‘Samuel’. So Samuel went to Eli and he said, ‘You called my name. Here I am.’
Eli answered, ‘My son, I did not call your name. Go back and lie down again.’
7 Samuel did not know the Lord yet. The Lord had not spoken to him before. 8 Then the Lord called Samuel's name for the third time. Samuel got up again. He went to Eli and he said, ‘You called my name. Here I am.’
Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy's name. 9 So Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go back and lie down again. If he calls your name again, you must say, “Speak, Lord. I am your servant and I am listening.” ’ So Samuel went back and he lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and he stood near to Samuel. He called Samuel's name again, as he had done before. He said, ‘Samuel, Samuel’. Samuel said, ‘Speak. I am your servant and I am listening.’[k]
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to me. I am ready to do something great among the Israelite people. When people hear about it, they will shake with fear. 12 When that day arrives, I will punish Eli and his family in all the ways that I have said. I will start at the beginning and I will continue to the end. 13 I have warned Eli that I would punish his family for all time. He knew that his sons were doing very bad things. They were insulting me, God, and Eli did not stop them. 14 So I made a strong promise and I said, “I will never forgive the sins of Eli's family. No sacrifices or offerings will ever take away those sins.” ’
15 Samuel lay down again until the morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord's house. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision that he had received from God. 16 But Eli called out to Samuel, ‘Samuel, my son.’ Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’
17 Eli asked Samuel, ‘What message did the Lord speak to you? You must not hide it from me. God will certainly punish you if you do not tell me everything that he said to you.’
18 So Samuel told Eli everything. He did not hide any of God's message. Then Eli said, ‘The Lord. must do what he thinks is right.’
19 The Lord was with Samuel while he continued to grow up. So every message that Samuel spoke became true. 20 In all Israel, from the north to the south, everyone realized that Samuel was truly the Lord's prophet.[l] 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh. He showed himself to Samuel and he spoke to him there.
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