Samuel Is Born

1 A certain man from Ramathaim in the hill country of Ephraim was named Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham. Jeroham was the son of Elihu. Elihu was the son of Tohu. Tohu was the son of Zuph. Elkanah belonged to the family line of Zuph. Elkanah lived in the territory of Ephraim. ² Elkanah had two wives. One was named Hannah. The other was named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah didn’t.

³ Year after year Elkanah went up from his town to Shiloh. He went there to worship and sacrifice to the Lord who rules over all. Hophni and Phinehas served as priests of the Lord at Shiloh. They were the two sons of Eli. ⁴ Every year at Shiloh, the day would come for Elkanah to offer a sacrifice. On that day, he would give a share of the meat to his wife Peninnah. He would also give a share to each of her sons and daughters. ⁵ But he would give two shares of meat to Hannah. That’s because he loved her. He also gave her two shares because the Lord had kept her from having children. ⁶ Peninnah teased Hannah to make her angry. She did it because the Lord had kept Hannah from having children. ⁷ Peninnah teased Hannah year after year. Every time Hannah would go up to the house of the Lord, Elkanah’s other wife would tease her. She would keep doing it until Hannah cried and wouldn’t eat. ⁸ Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why don’t you eat? Why are you so unhappy? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

⁹ One time when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. ¹⁰ Hannah was very sad. She wept and wept. She prayed to the Lord. ¹¹ She made a promise to him. She said, “Lord, you rule over all. Please see how I’m suffering! Show concern for me! Don’t forget about me! Please give me a son! If you do, I’ll give him back to the Lord. Then he will serve the Lord all the days of his life. He’ll never use a razor on his head. He’ll never cut his hair.”

¹² As Hannah kept on praying to the Lord, Eli watched her lips. ¹³ She was praying in her heart. Her lips were moving. But she wasn’t making a sound. Eli thought Hannah was drunk. ¹⁴ He said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Stop drinking your wine.”

¹⁵ “That’s not true, sir,” Hannah replied. “I’m a woman who is deeply troubled. I haven’t been drinking wine or beer. I was telling the Lord all my troubles. ¹⁶ Don’t think of me as an evil woman. I’ve been praying here because I’m very sad. My pain is so great.”

¹⁷ Eli answered, “Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for.”

¹⁸ She said, “May you be pleased with me.” Then she left and had something to eat. Her face wasn’t sad anymore.

¹⁹ Early the next morning Elkanah and his family got up. They worshiped the Lord. Then they went back to their home in Ramah. Elkanah slept with his wife Hannah. And the Lord blessed her. ²⁰ So after some time, Hannah became pregnant. She had a baby boy. She said, “I asked the Lord for him.” So she named him Samuel.

Hannah Gives Samuel to the Lord

²¹ Elkanah went up to Shiloh to offer the yearly sacrifice to the Lord. He also went there to keep a promise he had made. His whole family went with him. ²² But Hannah didn’t go. She said to her husband, “When the boy doesn’t need me to breast-feed him anymore, I’ll take him to the Lord’s house. I’ll give him to the Lord there. He’ll stay there for the rest of his life.”

²³ Her husband Elkanah told her, “Do what you think is best. Stay here at home until Samuel doesn’t need you to breast-feed him anymore. May the Lord make his promise to you come true.” So Hannah stayed home. She breast-fed her son until he didn’t need her milk anymore.

²⁴ When the boy didn’t need her to breast-feed him anymore, she took him with her to Shiloh. She took him there even though he was still very young. She brought him to the Lord’s house. She brought along a bull that was three years old. She brought 36 pounds of flour. She also brought a bottle of wine. The bottle was made out of animal skin. ²⁵ After the bull was sacrificed, Elkanah and Hannah brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶ Hannah said to Eli, “Pardon me, sir. I’m the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. And that’s just as sure as you are alive. ²⁷ I prayed for this child. The Lord has given me what I asked him for. ²⁸ So now I’m giving him to the Lord. As long as he lives he’ll be given to the Lord.” And there Eli worshiped the Lord.

Hannah’s Prayer

2 Then Hannah prayed. She said,

¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest.

Eli’s Evil Sons

¹² Eli’s sons were good for nothing. They didn’t honor the Lord. ¹³ When any of the people came to offer a sacrifice, here is what the priests would do. While the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a large fork in his hand. ¹⁴ He would stick the fork into the pan or pot or small or large kettle. Then the priest would take for himself everything the fork brought up. That’s how Eli’s sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵ Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come over. He would speak to the person who was offering the sacrifice. He would say, “Give the priest some meat to cook. He won’t accept boiled meat from you. He’ll only accept raw meat.”

¹⁶ Sometimes the person would say to him, “Let the fat be burned first. Then take what you want.” But the servant would answer, “No. Hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it away from you by force.”

¹⁷ That sin of Eli’s sons was very great in the Lord’s sight. That’s because they were not treating his offering with respect.

¹⁸ But the boy Samuel served the Lord. He wore a sacred linen apron. ¹⁹ Each year his mother made him a little robe. She took it to him when she went up to Shiloh with her husband. She did it when her husband went to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife. He would say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman. May they take the place of the boy she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. ²¹ The Lord was gracious to Hannah. Over a period of years she had three more sons and two daughters. During that whole time the boy Samuel grew up serving the Lord.

²² Eli was very old. He kept hearing about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites. He also heard how his sons were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ So Eli said to his sons, “Why are you doing these things? All the people are telling me about the evil things you are doing. ²⁴ No, my sons. The report I hear isn’t good. And it’s spreading among the Lord’s people. ²⁵ If a person sins against someone else, God can help that sinner. But if anyone sins against the Lord, who can help them?” In spite of what their father Eli said, his sons didn’t pay any attention to his warning. That’s because the Lord had already decided to put them to death.

²⁶ The boy Samuel continued to grow stronger. He also became more and more pleasing to the Lord and to people.

Prophecy Against Eli’s Family

²⁷ A man of God came to Eli. He told him, “The Lord says, ‘I made myself clearly known to your relatives who lived long ago. I did it when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s rule. ²⁸ At that time, I chose Aaron from your family line to be my priest. I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel. I told him to go up to my altar. I told him to burn incense. I chose him to wear a linen apron when he served me. I also gave his family all the food offerings presented by the Israelites. ²⁹ Why don’t you treat my sacrifices and offerings with respect? I require them to be brought to the house where I live. Why do you honor your sons more than me? Why do you fatten yourselves on the best parts of every offering that is made by my people Israel?’

³⁰ “The Lord is the God of Israel. He announced, ‘I promised that members of your family line would serve me as priests forever.’ But now the Lord announces, ‘I will not let that happen! I will honor those who honor me. But I will turn away from those who look down on me. ³¹ The time is coming when I will cut your life short. I will also cut short the lives of those in your family line of priests. No one in your family line will grow old. ³² You will see nothing but trouble in the house where I live. Good things will still happen to Israel. But no one in your family line will ever grow old. ³³ I will prevent the members of your family from serving me at my altar. I will destroy the eyesight of all of you I allow to live. I will also cause you to lose your strength. And everyone in your family line will die while they are still young.

³⁴ “ ‘Something is going to happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. When it does, it will show you that what I am saying is true. They will both die on the same day. ³⁵ I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what my heart and mind want him to do. I will make his family line of priests very secure. They will always serve as priests to my anointed king. ³⁶ Everyone left in your family line will come and bow down to him. They will beg him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread. They will say, “Please give me a place to serve among the priests. Then I can have food to eat.” ’ ”

The Lord Calls Out to Samuel

3 The boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of Eli. In those days the Lord didn’t give many messages to his people. He didn’t give them many visions.

² One night Eli was lying down in his usual place. His eyes were becoming so weak he couldn’t see very well. ³ Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s house. That’s where the ark of God was kept. The lamp of God was still burning. ⁴ The Lord called out to Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ He ran over to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶ Again the Lord called out, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.”

⁷ Samuel didn’t know the Lord yet. That’s because the Lord still hadn’t given him a message.

⁸ The Lord called out for the third time. He said, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If someone calls out to you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I’m listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there. He called out, just as he had done the other times. He said, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel replied, “Speak. I’m listening.”

¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel, “Pay attention! I am about to do something terrible in Israel. It will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. ¹² At that time I will do everything to Eli and his family that I said I would. I will finish what I have started. ¹³ I told Eli I would punish his family forever. He knew his sons were sinning. He knew they were saying bad things about me. In spite of that, he did not stop them. ¹⁴ So I made a promise to the family of Eli. I said, ‘The sins of Eli’s family will never be paid for by bringing sacrifices or offerings.’ ”

¹⁵ Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision he had received. ¹⁶ But Eli called out to him. He said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷ “What did the Lord say to you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide from me anything he told you. If you do, may God punish you greatly.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything. He didn’t hide anything from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best.”

¹⁹ As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him. He made everything Samuel said come true. ²⁰ So all the Israelites recognized that Samuel really was a prophet of the Lord. Everyone from Dan all the way to Beersheba knew it. ²¹ The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh. There he made himself known to Samuel through the messages he gave him.