Old/New Testament
The Family of Elkanah
1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.[a] 2 He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah, and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 Now this man used to go up from his town year by year[b] to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of hosts in Shiloh, where[c] the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to Yahweh. 4 On[d] the day Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion,[e] because he loved Hannah, though Yahweh had closed her womb. 6 (Now her rival wife would provoke her severely in order to upset her because Yahweh had closed her womb.) 7 And so he used to do[f] year after year; whenever[g] she went up to the house of Yahweh, she[h] would provoke her so that she[i] would weep and would not eat. 8 So Elkanah her husband would say to her: “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat? And why are you heartsick?[j] Am I not better to you than ten sons?” 9 Then Hannah got up after eating and drinking at Shiloh. (Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the temple[k] of Yahweh.) 10 She was deeply troubled,[l] so she prayed to Yahweh and wept bitterly. 11 She made a vow[m] and said: “O Yahweh of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the misery of your female servant, and will remember me, and not forget your female servant, and will give to your female servant a male child[n] then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor will never pass over his head.”[o] 12 While[p] she continued to pray before Yahweh, Eli was observing her mouth. 13 Now Hannah had been speaking in her heart; her lips were moving, but her voice could not be heard, so Eli considered her to be drunk. 14 Then Eli said to her, “How long will you behave like someone who is drunk? Put away your wine!” 15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord. I am a woman deeply distressed,[q] but I have not drunk wine or strong drink. Rather, I have poured out my soul before Yahweh. 16 Do not regard your female servant as worthless,[r] but because of the extent of my worries and my provocation I have spoken all of this.” 17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of him.” 18 And she said, “May your female slave find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went on her way and ate something, and her face did not look sad any longer.[s]
The Birth of Samuel
19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before Yahweh and returned[t] to their house at Ramah. Then Elkanah had sexual relations with[u] Hannah his wife, and Yahweh remembered her. 20 In due time,[v] Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She called his name Samuel, for she said, “I requested him from Yahweh.”
21 So the man Elkanah went up with all his household to make the annual sacrifice[w] to Yahweh and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear before Yahweh; and he will remain there forever.” 23 So her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what seems right to you;[x] stay until you wean him. Only may Yahweh fulfill his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 Then she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, along with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin[y] of wine. She brought him to the house of Yahweh at Shiloh while the boy was still young. 25 They slaughtered the bull, and they brought the boy to Eli. 26 She said, “Excuse me, my lord. As you live,[z] my lord, I am the woman who stood with you in this place to pray to Yahweh. 27 I prayed for this boy, and Yahweh has given me my request that I asked from him. 28 I in turn have lent him to Yahweh. As long as he lives[aa] he is lent to Yahweh.” Then they worshiped Yahweh there.
2 Then Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength is exalted in Yahweh; I grin[ab] over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.
2 There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you,
and there is no rock like our God.
3 Do not increase speaking very proud[ac] words!
Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth,
for Yahweh is a God of knowledge
whose deeds are not weighed.[ad]
4 The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,
but those who stumble gird themselves with strength.
5 Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread,
but those who are hungry will become fat.
As for the infertile, she will bear seven,
but she who has many sons withers away.
6 Yahweh kills and restores alive,
he brings down to Sheol[ae] and raises up.
7 Yahweh makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and also exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust.
From the ash heap he lifts up the needy,
to cause them to sit with noble people
and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh
and he has set the inhabited world on them.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful[af] ones,
but the wicked will be destroyed[ag] in the darkness,
because a man will not prevail by his might.
10 Yahweh will shatter[ah] his adversaries;[ai]
he will thunder against them in the heavens.
Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth.
He will give strength to his king
and will exalt the might of his anointed one.
11 Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh in the presence of[aj] Eli the priest.
The Family of Eli the Priest
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless scoundrels;[ak] they did not know[al] Yahweh. 13 And the custom of the priests with the people was this: When any man brought a sacrifice,[am] as the meat was boiling, the servant of the priest would take a three-pronged meat fork in his hand 14 and would thrust it into the pan or into the kettle or into the cauldron or into the cooking pot. All that the meat fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all of the Israelites who came there at Shiloh. 15 Also, before they offered up[an] the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only raw.”[ao] 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat completely first,[ap] then take for yourself as you[aq] desire,” then he would say to him, “No![ar] Give it now! If not, I will take it by force!” 17 So the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh, because the men treated the offering of Yahweh with contempt.
Samuel’s Life in the Tabernacle
18 Now Samuel was serving before Yahweh, as a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 His mother used to make for him a small robe and take it to him year by year[as] whenever she came up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.[at] 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and he said, “May Yahweh give you an offspring from this woman in place of the petitioned one that she requested from Yahweh.” Then they went to their home. 21 Yahweh took note of Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters, while the young man Samuel grew up with Yahweh.
Eli Rebukes His Evil Sons
22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were having sexual relations with the women who were serving at the entrance of the tent of assembly.[au] 23 And he asked them, “Why are you doing all these things that I am hearing, namely, your evil dealings with all these people? 24 No, my sons, the report is not good that I am hearing the people of Yahweh spreading. 25 If a man sins against a man, then God can intercede for him. But if a man sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?” But they did not obey[av] their father, because Yahweh wanted to kill them. 26 But the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor[aw] with Yahweh and with the people.
Yahweh Rebukes Eli
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor[ax] when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh? 28 And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor[ay] all the offerings made by fire by the Israelites.[az] 29 Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel? 30 Therefore,’ declares[ba] Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor[bb] would walk before me forever, but now,’ declares[bc] Yahweh, ‘far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt! 31 Look, days are coming when I will cut off your strength[bd] and the strength[be] of the house of your ancestor[bf] so that no one in your house will live to old age.[bg] 32 You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, despite all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old man in your household forever![bh] 33 The only one I will not cut off from my altar is you.[bi] Rather, to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, all the members of your household[bj] will die as men.[bk] 34 This is the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day! 35 But I will raise up for myself a reliable[bl] priest; he will do just according to what is in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting[bm] house and he will walk continually before my anointed one forever.[bn] 36 All the remainder of your household will come to bow down before[bo] him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, “Please assign me to one of the priestly offices[bp] so that I can eat a morsel of bread.”’”
Samuel’s First Encounter with Yahweh
3 Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh in the presence[bq] of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2 And then[br] one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak so that he was not able to see) 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the temple[bs] of Yahweh where the ark of God was. 4 Then Yahweh called out to Samuel and he said, “Here I am!” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” But he said, “I did not call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 And Yahweh called Samuel again, so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Again Yahweh called Samuel a third time, so he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy. 9 So Eli said to Samuel “Go lie down. If he calls[bt] to you, then you must say, ‘Speak Yahweh, because your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Then Yahweh came and stood there and called out as before,[bu] “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.” 11 So Yahweh said to Samuel, “Look, I am doing something in Israel which will cause[bv] the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, from beginning to end.[bw] 13 I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons were bringing curses on themselves,[bx] but he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned for[by] by sacrifice or by offering forever.”
15 So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And he said, “What is the message[bz] that he spoke to you? Please do not conceal it from me. May God punish you severely[ca] if you conceal anything from me of all the words that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal anything from him. And he[cb] said, “He is Yahweh, he will do what is[cc] good in his sight.”[cd]
19 And Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him. He did not allow any of his prophecies to go unfulfilled.[ce] 20 All Israel from Dan to Beersheba realized that Samuel was faithful[cf] as a prophet to Yahweh. 21 And Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh, for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh.
A Demon-possessed Gerasene Healed
26 And they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And as[a] he got out on the land, a certain man from the town met him[b] who had demons and for a considerable time had not worn clothes and did not live in a house, but among the tombs. 28 And when he[c] saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What do I have to do with you,[d] Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles and[e] was guarded, and breaking the bonds he would be driven by the demon into the deserted places.) 30 So Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered into him. 31 And they began imploring[f] him that he would not order them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding there on the hill, and they implored him that he would permit them to enter into those pigs. And he permitted them. 33 So the demons came out of the man and[g] entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed headlong down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned. 34 And when[h] the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and reported it[i] in the town and in the countryside. 35 So they went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting there clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it[j] reported to them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed. 37 And all the people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, because they had been seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and[k] returned. 38 And the man from who the demons had gone out was begging him to stay with him, but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home and tell all that God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.
A Woman Healed and a Daughter Raised
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, because they were all waiting for him. 41 And behold, a man who was named[l] Jairus came, and this man was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at the feet of Jesus and[m] began imploring[n] him to come to his house, 42 because he had[o] an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.
Now as he was going, the crowds were pressing against him. 43 And a woman who was suffering from hemorrhages[p] for twelve years (who, although she[q] had spent all her[r] assets on physicians, was not able to be healed by anyone) 44 came up behind him and[s] touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her hemorrhaging[t] stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched me?” And when they[u] all denied it,[v] Peter said, “Master, the crowds are pressing you hard and crowding you!”[w] 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, because I know power has gone out from me.” 47 And when[x] the woman saw that she did not escape notice, she came trembling and falling down before him. In the presence of all the people, she told for what reason she had touched him, and that she was healed immediately. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
49 While[y] he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue ruler’s house, saying, “Your daughter is dead! Trouble the Teacher no longer!” 50 But Jesus, when he[z] heard this,[aa] replied to him, “Do not be afraid! Only believe, and she will be healed.” 51 Now when he[ab] came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him except Peter and John and James and the father and mother of the child. 52 And they were all weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep! For she is not dead, but is sleeping.” 53 And they began laughing[ac] at him, because they[ad] knew that she was dead. 54 But he took her hand and[ae] called, saying, “Child, get up.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately, and he ordered something[af] to be given to her to eat. 56 And her parents were astonished, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.
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