Hannah, Eli and the boy Samuel: a new prophet for a failing priesthood

1Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ²He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. ³Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD. ⁴And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. ⁵But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. ⁶Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously. ⁷And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat. ⁸“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” ⁹So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. ¹⁰In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. ¹¹And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.” ¹²As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth. ¹³Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!” ¹⁵“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman oppressed in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD. ¹⁶Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.” ¹⁷“Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.” ¹⁸“May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began eating again, and her face was no longer downcast. ¹⁹The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. ²⁰So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” ²¹Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, ²²but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.” ²³“Do what you think is best,” her husband Elkanah replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD confirm His word.” So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. ²⁴Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. ²⁵And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him, ²⁸I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

2At that time Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD in whom my horn is exalted. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation. ²There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God. ³Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed. ⁴The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength. ⁵The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away. ⁶The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ⁷The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts. ⁸He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world. ⁹He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail. ¹⁰Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.” ¹¹Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹²Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD ¹³or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling ¹⁴and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” ¹⁶And if any man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you may take whatever you want,” the servant would reply, “No, you must give it to me right now. If you refuse, I will take it by force!” ¹⁷Thus the sin of these young men was severe in the sight of the LORD, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt. ¹⁸Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. ²⁰And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home. ²¹So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD. ²²Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²³“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people. ²⁴No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people. ²⁵If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death. ²⁶And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man. ²⁷Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the Israelites made by fire. ²⁹Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’ ³⁰Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained. ³¹Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no older man will be left in your house. ³²You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age. ³³And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, your eyes will fail and your heart will grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men. ³⁴And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day. ³⁵Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time. ³⁶And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”

3And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce. ²And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room. ³Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located. ⁴Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” ⁵He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. ⁶Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy. ⁹“Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” ¹¹Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle. ¹²On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his family, from beginning to end. ¹³I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’” ¹⁵Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel. ¹⁷“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.” ¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. ²⁰So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. ²¹And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.