Chronological

I. The Last Judges, Eli and Samuel

Chapter 1

Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh. ¹ There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.^{(A) 2} He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. ³ Each year this man went up from his city to worship and offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were ministering as priests of the Lord.^{(B) 4} When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice, he used to give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters, ⁵ but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.^{(C) 6} Her rival,^[a] to upset her, would torment her constantly, since the Lord had closed her womb.^{(D) 7} Year after year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.^{[b] 8} Elkanah, her husband, would say to her: “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why are you so miserable? Am I not better for you than ten sons?”^(E)

Hannah’s Prayer. ⁹ Hannah rose after one such meal at Shiloh, and presented herself before the Lord; at the time Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁰ In her bitterness she prayed to the Lord, weeping freely, ¹¹ and made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. No razor shall ever touch his head.”^{[c](F) 12} As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth, ¹³ for Hannah was praying silently; though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, thinking she was drunk, ¹⁴ said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up from your wine!” ¹⁵ “No, my lord!” Hannah answered. “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my heart to the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not think your servant a worthless woman; my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.” ¹⁷ Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have requested.” ¹⁸ She replied, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” and left. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downhearted. ¹⁹ Early the next morning they worshiped before the Lord, and then returned to their home in Ramah. When they returned Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

Hannah Bears a Son. ²⁰ She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.^[d] “Because I asked the Lord for him.” ²¹ The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, ²² Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and leave him there forever.”^{[e] 23} Her husband Elkanah answered her: “Do what you think best; wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord fulfill his word!” And so she remained at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.^(G)

Hannah Presents Samuel to the Lord. ²⁴ Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah^[f] of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the Lord in Shiloh. ²⁵ After they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. ²⁸ Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” Then they worshiped there before the Lord.

Chapter 2

¹ And Hannah prayed:^[g]

¹¹ When Elkanah returned home to Ramah, the child remained in the service of the Lord under the priest Eli.

Wickedness of Eli’s Sons. ¹² Now the sons of Eli were wicked; they had respect neither for the Lord ¹³ nor for the priests’ duties toward the people. When someone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork, while the meat was still boiling,^{(P) 14} and would thrust it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot. Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. They treated all the Israelites who came to the sanctuary at Shiloh in this way. ¹⁵ In fact, even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one offering the sacrifice, “Give me some meat to roast for the priest. He will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw meat.” ¹⁶ And if this one protested, “Let the fat be burned first, then take whatever you wish,” he would reply, “No, give it to me now, or else I will take it by force.”^{(Q) 17} Thus the young men sinned grievously in the presence of the Lord, treating the offerings to the Lord with disdain.

The Lord Rewards Hannah. ¹⁸ Meanwhile the boy Samuel, wearing a linen ephod,^[i] was serving in the presence of the Lord. ¹⁹ His mother used to make a little garment for him, which she would bring him each time she went up with her husband to offer the customary sacrifice. ²⁰ And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, as they were leaving for home. He would say, “May the Lord repay you with children from this woman for the gift she has made to the Lord!” ²¹ The Lord favored Hannah so that she conceived and gave birth to three more sons and two daughters, while young Samuel grew up in the service of the Lord.^(R)

Eli’s Futile Rebuke. ²² When Eli was very old, he kept hearing how his sons were treating all Israel, and that they were behaving promiscuously^[j] with the women serving at the entry of the meeting tent. ²³ So he said to them: “Why are you doing such things? I hear from everyone that your behavior is depraved. ²⁴ Stop this, my sons! The report that I hear the Lord’s people spreading is not good. ²⁵ If someone sins against another, anyone can intercede for the sinner with the Lord; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who can intercede^[k] for the sinner?” But they disregarded their father’s warning, since the Lord wanted them dead. ²⁶ Meanwhile, young Samuel was growing in stature and in worth in the estimation of the Lord and the people.^(S)

The Fate of Eli’s House.^{[l] 27} A man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: I went so far as to reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt as slaves to the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸ I chose them out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the ephod^[m] in my presence; and I assigned all the fire offerings of the Israelites to your father’s house.^{(T) 29} Why do you stare greedily at my sacrifices and at the offerings that I have prescribed? Why do you honor your sons more than you honor me, fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of my people Israel? ^30 (U)This, therefore, is the oracle of the Lord, the God of Israel: I said in the past that your family and your father’s house should minister in my presence forever. But now—oracle of the Lord: Far be it from me! I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me shall be cursed. ³¹ Yes, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in your family lives to old age. ³² You shall witness, like a disappointed rival, all the benefits enjoyed by Israel, but no member of your household shall ever grow old. ³³ I will leave you one man at my altar to wear out his eyes and waste his strength, but the rest of your family shall die by the sword. ³⁴ This is a sign for you—what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Both of them will die on the same day.^{(V) 35} I will choose a faithful priest who shall do what I have in heart and mind. I will establish a lasting house for him and he shall serve in the presence of my anointed forever. ³⁶ Then whoever is left of your family will grovel before him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, saying: Please assign me a priestly function, that I may have a crust of bread to eat.”^(W)

Chapter 3

Revelation to Samuel. ¹ During the time young Samuel was minister to the Lord under Eli, the word of the Lord was scarce and vision infrequent. ^2 [n]One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see. ³ The lamp of God was not yet extinguished,^[o] and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was.^{(X) 4} The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.” “I did not call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to sleep.” So he went back to sleep. ⁶ Again the Lord called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “You called me.” But he answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”

⁷ Samuel did not yet recognize the Lord, since the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ The Lord called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the youth. ⁹ So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” When Samuel went to sleep in his place, ¹⁰ the Lord came and stood there, calling out as before: Samuel, Samuel! Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel: I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it ring.^{(Y) 12} On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have said about his house, beginning to end. ¹³ I announce to him that I am condemning his house once and for all, because of this crime: though he knew his sons were blaspheming God, he did not reprove them.^{(Z) 14} Therefore, I swear to Eli’s house: No sacrifice or offering will ever expiate its crime.^{[p] 15} Samuel then slept until morning, when he got up early and opened the doors of the temple of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶ but Eli called to him, “Samuel, my son!” He replied, “Here I am.” ¹⁷ Then Eli asked, “What did he say to you? Hide nothing from me! May God do thus to you, and more,^[q] if you hide from me a single thing he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything, and held nothing back. Eli answered, “It is the Lord. What is pleasing in the Lord’s sight, the Lord will do.”

Samuel Acknowledged as Prophet. ¹⁹ Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to go unfulfilled.^{(AA) 20 (AB)}Thus all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba came to know that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. ²¹ The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, manifesting himself to Samuel at Shiloh through his word. Samuel’s word spread throughout Israel.