Beginning
Samuel’s Birth
1 There was a man named Elkanah son of Jeroham. He was from Ramathaim in the mountains of Ephraim. Elkanah was from the family of Zuph. (Jeroham was Elihu’s son. Elihu was Tohu’s son. And Tohu was the son of Zuph from the family group of Ephraim.) 2 Elkanah had two wives. One was named Hannah, and the other was named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
3 Every year Elkanah left his town Ramah and went up to Shiloh. There he worshiped the Lord of heaven’s armies and offered sacrifices to him. Shiloh was where Hophni and Phinehas served as priests of the Lord. They were the sons of Eli. 4 When Elkanah offered sacrifices, he always gave a share of the meat to his wife Peninnah. He also gave shares of the meat to her sons and daughters. 5 But Elkanah always gave a special share of the meat to Hannah. He did this because he loved Hannah and because the Lord had made Hannah unable to have children. 6 Peninnah would upset Hannah and make her feel bad. She did this because the Lord had made Hannah unable to have children. 7 This happened every year when they went up to the Tent of the Lord at Shiloh. Peninnah would upset Hannah until Hannah would cry and not eat anything. 8 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won’t you eat? Why are you sad? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”
9 Once, after they had eaten their meal in Shiloh, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the entrance to the Lord’s Holy Tent. 10 Hannah was very sad. She cried much and prayed to the Lord. 11 She made a promise. She said, “Lord of heaven’s armies, see how bad I feel. Remember me! Don’t forget me. If you will give me a son, I will give him back to you all his life. And no one will ever use a razor to cut his hair.”[a]
12 While Hannah kept praying, Eli watched her mouth. 13 She was praying in her heart. Her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14 He said to her, “Stop getting drunk! Throw away your wine!”
15 Hannah answered, “No, master, I have not drunk any wine or beer. I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I was telling the Lord about all my problems. 16 Don’t think of me as an evil woman. I have been praying because of my many troubles and much sadness.”
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you asked of him.”
18 Hannah said, “I want to be pleasing to you always.” Then she left and ate something. She was not sad anymore.
19 Early the next morning Elkanah’s family got up and worshiped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intimate relations with his wife Hannah. And the Lord remembered her. 20 So Hannah became pregnant, and in time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel.[b] She said, “His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him.”
Hannah Gives Samuel to God
21 Every year Elkanah went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. He went to keep the promise he had made to God. He brought his whole family with him. So once again he went up to Shiloh. 22 But Hannah did not go with him. She told him, “When the boy is old enough to eat solid food, I will take him to Shiloh. Then I will give him to the Lord. He will become a Nazirite. He will always live there at Shiloh.”
23 Elkanah, Hannah’s husband, said to her, “Do what you think is best. You may stay home until the boy is old enough to eat. May the Lord do what you have said.” So Hannah stayed at home to nurse her son until he was old enough to eat.
24 When Samuel was old enough to eat, Hannah took him to the Tent of the Lord at Shiloh. She also took a three-year-old bull, one-half bushel of flour and a leather bag filled with wine. 25 They killed the bull for the sacrifice. Then Hannah brought Samuel to Eli. 26 She said to Eli, “As surely as you live, my master, I am the same woman who stood near you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child. The Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me. 28 Now I give him back to the Lord. He will belong to the Lord all his life.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
Hannah Gives Thanks
2 Hannah said:
“The Lord has filled my heart with joy.
I feel very strong in the Lord.
I can laugh at my enemies.
I am glad because you have helped me!
2 “There is no one holy like the Lord.
There is no God but you.
There is no Rock like our God.
3 “Don’t continue bragging.
Don’t speak proud words.
The Lord is a God who knows everything.
He judges what people do.
4 “The bows of warriors break,
but weak people become strong.
5 Those who once had plenty of food now must work for food.
But people who once were hungry now grow fat on food.
The woman who was unable to have children now has had seven.
But the woman who had many sons now is sad.
6 “The Lord causes people to die,
and he causes them to live.
He brings people down to where the dead are,
and he raises them to life again.
7 The Lord makes people poor,
and he makes people rich.
He makes people humble,
and he makes people great.
8 The Lord raises the poor up from the dust.
And he picks needy people up from the ashes.
He lets the poor sit with princes.
He lets them sit on a throne of honor.
“The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord.
The Lord set the world upon them.
9 He protects his holy people.
But those who do evil will be silenced in darkness.
Their power will not help them win.
10 The Lord destroys his enemies.
He will thunder in heaven against them.
The Lord will judge all the earth.
He will give power to his king.
He will make his appointed king strong.”
Eli’s Evil Sons
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy continued to serve the Lord under Eli the priest.
12 Now Eli’s sons were evil men. They did not care about the Lord. 13 This is what the priests would do to the people: Every time someone brought a sacrifice, the meat would be cooked in a pot. The priest’s servant would then come with a fork in his hand. The fork had three prongs. 14 He would plunge the fork into the pot or the kettle. Whatever the fork brought out of the pot belonged to the priest. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. 15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come to the person offering sacrifices. The servant would say, “Give the priest some meat to roast. The priest won’t accept boiled meat from you. He will only accept raw meat.”
16 But the man who offered the sacrifice might say, “Let the fat be burned up first as usual. Then you may take anything you want.”
If so, the priest’s servant would answer, “No, give me the meat now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
17 The Lord saw that the sin of the servants was very great. They did not show respect for the offerings made to the Lord.
Samuel Grows Up
18 But Samuel obeyed the Lord. He wore a linen holy vest. 19 Every year Samuel’s mother would make a little coat for him. She would take it to him when she went to Shiloh. She went there with her husband for the sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife. Eli would say, “May the Lord repay you with children through Hannah. They will take the place of the boy Hannah prayed for and gave back to the Lord.” Then Elkanah and Hannah would go home. 21 The Lord was kind to Hannah. She became the mother of three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up serving the Lord.
22 Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites. He also heard about how his sons had physical relations with the women who served at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. 23 Eli said to his sons, “The people here tell me about the evil you do. Why do you do these evil things? 24 No, my sons. The Lord’s people are saying bad things about you. 25 If someone sins against another person, God can help him. But if he sins against the Lord himself, no one can help him!” But Eli’s sons would not listen to him. This was because the Lord had decided to put them to death.
26 The boy Samuel kept growing. He pleased God and the people.
27 A man of God came to Eli. He said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I clearly showed myself to the family of your ancestor Aaron. This was when they were slaves to the king of Egypt. 28 I chose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests. I wanted them to go up to my altar, to burn incense and to wear the holy vest. I also let the family of your ancestor have part of all the offerings sacrificed by the Israelites. 29 So why don’t you respect the sacrifices and gifts? You honor your sons more than me. You become fat on the best parts of the meat the Israelites bring to me.’
30 “Here’s what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I promised that your family and your ancestor’s family would serve me forever.’ But now the Lord says this: ‘That will never be! I will honor those who honor me. But I will take honor away from those who do not honor me. 31 The time is coming when I will destroy the descendants of both you and your ancestors. No man will grow old in your family. 32 You will see trouble in my house. Good things will be done to Israel. But there will never be an old man in your family. 33 I will save one man to serve as priest at my altar. He will wear out his eyes and use up his strength. The rest of your descendants will die by the sword.
34 “‘I will give you a sign. Both your sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day. 35 I will choose a loyal priest for myself. He will listen to me and do what I want. I will make his family strong. He will always serve before my appointed king. 36 Then everyone left in your family will come and bow down before him. They will beg for a little money or a little food. They will say, “Please give me a job as priest so I can have food to eat.”’”
God Calls Samuel
3 The boy Samuel served the Lord under Eli. In those days the Lord did not speak directly to people very often. There were very few visions.
2 Eli’s eyes were so weak he was almost blind. One night he was lying in bed. 3 Samuel was also in bed in the Lord’s Holy Tent. The Ark of the Covenant was in the Holy Tent. God’s lamp was still burning.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “I am here!” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “I am here. You called me.”
But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” So Samuel went back to bed.
6 The Lord called again, “Samuel!”
Samuel again went to Eli and said, “I am here. You called me.”
Again Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.”
7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord. The Lord had not spoken directly to him yet.
8 The Lord called Samuel for the third time. Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “I am here. You called me.”
Then Eli realized the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So he told Samuel, “Go to bed. If he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I am your servant, and I am listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in bed.
10 The Lord came and stood there. He called as he had before. He said, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel said, “Speak, Lord. I am your servant, and I am listening.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am going to do something in Israel. It will shock those who hear about it. 12 At that time I will do to Eli and his family everything I promised. I will not stop until I have finished. 13 I told Eli I would punish his family forever. I will do it because Eli knew his sons were evil. They spoke against me, but he did not control them. 14 So here is what I promised Eli’s family: ‘Your guilt will never be removed by sacrifice or offering.’”
15 Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Tent of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. 16 But Eli said to him, “Samuel, my son!”
Samuel answered, “I am here.”
17 Eli asked, “What did the Lord say to you? Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you terribly if you hide from me anything he said to you.” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything. He did not hide anything from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best.”
19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up. He did not let any of Samuel’s messages fail to come true. 20 Then all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,[c] knew Samuel was a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord continued to show himself to Samuel at Shiloh. He also showed himself to Samuel through his word.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.