Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband: 'Until the child be weaned, when I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.' 23And Elkanah her husband said unto her: 'Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the Lord establish His word.' So the woman tarried and gave her son suck, until she weaned him. 24And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh; and the child was young. 25And when the bullock was slain, the child was brought to Eli. 26And she said: 'Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. 27For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath granted me my petition which I asked of Him; 28therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is lent to the Lord.' And he worshipped the Lord there.
2And Hannah prayed, and said:
My heart exulteth in the Lord,My horn is exalted in the Lord;My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies;Because I rejoice in Thy salvation.2There is none holy as the Lord,For there is none beside Thee;Neither is there any rock like our God. 3Multiply not exceeding proud talk;Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth;For the Lord is a God of knowledge,And by Him actions are weighed.4The bows of the mighty men are broken,And they that stumbled are girded with strength.5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread;And they that were hungry have ceased;While the barren hath borne seven,She that had many children hath languished. 6The Lord killeth, and maketh alive;He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.7The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich;He bringeth low, He also lifteth up.8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,He lifteth up the needy from the dung-hill,To make them sit with princes,And inherit the throne of glory;For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,And He hath set the world upon them. 9He will keep the feet of His holy ones,But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;For not by strength shall man prevail.10They that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces;Against them will He thunder in heaven;The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;And He will give strength unto His king,And exalt the horn of His anointed.
11And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.
12Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not the Lord. 13And the custom of the priests with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his band; 14and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took therewith. So they did unto all the Israelites that came thither in Shiloh. 15Yea, before the fat was made to smoke, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed: 'Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.' 16And if the man said unto him: 'Let the fat be made to smoke first of all, and then take as much as thy soul desireth'; then he would say: 'Nay, but thou shalt give it me now; and if not, I will take it by force.' 17And the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for the men dealt contemptuously with the offering of the Lord.
18But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. 19Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say: 'The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which was lent to the Lord.' And they would go unto their own home. 21So the Lord remembered Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.
22Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how that they lay with the women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting. 23And he said unto them: 'Why do ye such things? for I hear evil reports concerning you from all this people. 24Nay, my sons; for it is no good report which I hear the Lord's people do spread abroad. 25If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?' But they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. 26And the child Samuel grew on, and increased in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.
27And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the Lord: Did I reveal Myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house? 28And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to go up unto Mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29Wherefore kick ye at My sacrifice and at Mine offering, which I have commanded in My habitation; and honourest thy sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel My people? 30Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, saith: I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before Me for ever; but now the Lord saith: Be it far from Me: for them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. 32And thou shalt behold a rival in My habitation, in all the good which shall be done to Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. 33Yet will I not cut off every man of thine from Mine altar, to make thine eyes to fail, and thy heart to languish; and all the increase of thy house shall die young men. 34And this shall be the sign unto thee, that which shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. 35And I will raise Me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever. 36And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thy house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say: Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.'
3And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place—now his eyes had begun to wax dim, that he could not see—3and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, 4that the Lord called Samuel; and he said: 'Here am I.' 5And he ran unto Eli, and said: 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.' And he said: 'I called not; lie down again.' And he went and lay down. 6And the Lord called yet again Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said: 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.' And he answered: 'I called not, my son; lie down again.' 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. 8And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said: 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.' And Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the child. 9Therefore Eli said unto Samuel: 'Go, lie down; and it shall be, if thou be called, that thou shalt say: Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth.' So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times: 'Samuel, Samuel.' Then Samuel said: 'Speak; for Thy servant heareth.' 11And the Lord said to Samuel: 'Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even unto the end. 13For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity, in that he knew that his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he rebuked them not. 14And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever.' 15And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell Eli the vision. 16Then Eli called Samuel, and said: 'Samuel, my son.' And he said: 'Here am I.' 17And he said: 'What is the thing that He hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me, God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the