Elkanah and His Wives

1 Now there was a certain man from ^(A)Ramathaim-zophim from the ^(B)hill country of Ephraim, and his name was ^(C)Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² He had ^(D)two wives: the name of one was ^(E)Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³ Now this man would go up from his city ^(F)yearly ^(G)to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in ^(H)Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord there. ⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he ^(I)would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; ⁵ but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, ^(J)but the Lord had closed her womb. ⁶ Her rival, however, ^(K)would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷ It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat. ⁸ Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? ^(L)Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹ Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of ^(M)the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ She, ^[a]greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. ¹¹ She ^(N)made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed ^(O)look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a ^[b]son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and ^(P)a razor shall never come on his head.”

¹² Now it came about, as she ^[c]continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. ¹³ As for Hannah, ^(Q)she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. ¹⁴ Then Eli said to her, “^(R)How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.” ¹⁵ But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman ^[d]oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I ^(S)have poured out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not ^[e]consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and ^[f]provocation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered and said, “^(T)Go in peace; and may the God of Israel ^(U)grant your petition that you have asked of Him.” ¹⁸ She said, “^(V)Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and ^(W)her face was no longer sad.

Samuel Is Born to Hannah

¹⁹ Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to their house in ^(X)Ramah. And Elkanah ^[g]had relations with Hannah his wife, and ^(Y)the Lord remembered her. ²⁰ It came about ^[h]in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “^(Z)Because I have asked him of the Lord.”

²¹ Then the man Elkanah ^(AA)went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will ^(AB)bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and ^(AC)stay there forever.” ^23 (AD)Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best ^[i]to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only ^(AE)may the Lord confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ Now when she had weaned him, ^(AF)she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to ^(AG)the house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the child was young. ²⁵ Then ^(AH)they slaughtered the bull, and ^(AI)brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶ She said, “Oh, my lord! ^(AJ)As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. ^27 (AK)For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. ^28 (AL)So I have also ^[j]dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is ^[k]dedicated to the Lord.” And ^(AM)he worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving

2 Then Hannah ^(AN)prayed and said,

¹¹ Then Elkanah went to his home at ^(BQ)Ramah. ^(BR)But the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli’s Sons

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^[q](BS)worthless men; they did not know the Lord ^13 (BT)and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Also, before ^(BU)they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.” ¹⁶ If the man said to him, “They must surely ^[r]burn the fat ^[s]first, and then take as much as ^[t]you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men ^(BV)despised the offering of the Lord.

Samuel before the Lord as a Boy

¹⁸ Now ^(BW)Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy ^[u](BX)wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And his mother would make him a little ^(BY)robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer ^(BZ)the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would ^(CA)bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you ^[v]children from this woman in place of ^[w]the one she ^(CB)dedicated to the Lord.” And they went to their own ^[x]home.

^21 (CC)The Lord visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ^(CD)the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard ^(CE)all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with ^(CF)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ²³ He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? ²⁴ No, my sons; for the report is not good ^(CG)which I hear ^[y]the Lord’s people circulating. ²⁵ If one man sins against another, ^(CH)God will mediate for him; but ^(CI)if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the ^(CJ)Lord desired to put them to death.

²⁶ Now the boy ^(CK)Samuel ^[z]was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.

²⁷ Then ^(CL)a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘^(CM)Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? ^28 (CN)Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not ^(CO)give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? ²⁹ Why do you ^(CP)kick at My sacrifice and at My offering ^(CQ)which I have commanded in My ^(CR)dwelling, and ^(CS)honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the ^[aa]choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ ³⁰ Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘^(CT)I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for ^(CU)those who honor Me I will honor, and those ^(CV)who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. ³¹ Behold, ^(CW)the days are coming when I will break your ^[ab]strength and the ^[ac]strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² You will see ^(CX)the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that ^[ad]I do for Israel; and an ^(CY)old man will not be in your house forever. ³³ Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar ^[ae]so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die ^[af]in the prime of life. ³⁴ This will be ^(CZ)the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: ^(DA)on the same day both of them will die. ³⁵ But ^(DB)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and ^(DC)I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before ^(DD)My anointed always. ³⁶ Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a ^[ag]piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, “Please ^[ah]assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”