1   Then Hannah offered this prayer:

  My heart rejoices in the Lord,
  in the Lord I now hold my head high;
  my mouth is full of derision of my foes,
  exultant because thou hast saved me.
     2   There is none except thee,
    none so holy as the Lord,
    no rock like our God.
   3   Cease your proud boasting,
  let no word of arrogance pass your lips;
  for the Lord is a god of all knowledge:
  he governs all that men do.


   4   Strong men stand in mute ^note dismay
  but those who faltered put on new strength.
   5   Those who had plenty sell themselves for a crust,

The birth and call of Samuel
  and the hungry grow strong again.
  The barren woman has seven children,
  and the mother of many sons is left to languish.


   6   The Lord kills and he gives life,
  he sends down to Sheol, he can bring the dead up again.
   7   The Lord makes a man poor, he makes him rich,
  he brings down and he raises up.
   8   He lifts the weak out of the dust
  and raises the poor from the dunghill;
  to give them a place among the great,
  to set them in seats of honour.


  For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's,
  he has built the world upon them.
   9   He will guard the footsteps of his saints,
  while the wicked sink into silence and gloom;
  not by mere strength shall a man prevail.


   10   Those that stand against the Lord will be terrified
  when the High God ^note thunders out of heaven.
  The Lord is judge even to the ends of the earth,
  he will give strength to his king
  and raise high the head of his anointed prince.

11   Then Elkanah went to Ramah with his household, but the boy remained behind in the service of the Lord under Eli the priest.

12   Now Eli's sons were scoundrels and had no regard for the Lord. 13   The custom of the priests in their dealings with the people was this: when a man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while 14   the flesh was stewing and would thrust a three-pronged fork into the cauldron or pan or kettle or pot; and the priest would take whatever the fork brought out. This should have been their practice whenever Israelites came to sacrifice at Shiloh; 15   but now under Eli's sons, ^note even before the fat was burnt, the priest's servant came and said to the man who was sacrificing, ‘Give me meat to roast for the priest; he will not accept what has been already stewed, only raw meat.’ 16   And if the man answered, ‘Let them burn the fat first, and then take what you want’, he said, ‘No, give it to me now, or I will take it by force.’ 17   The young men's sin was very great in the Lord's sight; for they brought the Lord's sacrifice into general contempt.

18   Samuel continued in the service of the Lord, a mere boy with a linen ephod fastened round him. 19   Every year his mother made him a little cloak and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer

The birth and call of Samuel the annual sacrifice. 20   Eli would give his blessing to Elkanah and his wife and say, ‘The Lord grant you children by this woman in place of the one for which you asked him.’ ^noteThen they went home again.

21   The Lord showed his care for 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.

22   Eli, now a very old man, had heard how his sons were treating all the Israelites, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the Tent of the Presence. 23   So he said to them, ‘Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people how wickedly you behave. 24   Have done with it, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear spreading among the Lord's people. 25   If a man sins against another man, God will intervene; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?’ For all this, they did not listen to their father's rebuke, for the Lord meant that they should die. 26   But the young Samuel, as he grew up, commended himself to the Lord and to men.

27   Now a man of God came to Eli and said, ‘This is the word of the Lord: You know that I revealed myself to your forefather when he and his family were in Egypt in slavery ^note in the house of Pharaoh. 28   You know that I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to mount the steps of my altar, to burn sacrifices and to carry ^note the ephod before me; and that I assigned all the food-offerings of the Israelites to your family. 29   Why then do you show disrespect for my sacrifices and the offerings which I have ordained? What makes you resent them? ^noteWhy do you honour your sons more than me by letting them batten on the choicest offerings of ^note my people Israel? 30   The Lord's word was, “I promise that your house and your father's house shall serve before me for all time”; but now his word is, “I will have no such thing: I will honour those who honour me, and those who despise me shall meet with contempt. 31   The time is coming when I will lop off every limb of your own and of your father's family, so that no man in your house shall come to old age. 32   You will even resent ^note the prosperity I give ^note to Israel; never again shall there be an old man in your house. 33   If I allow any to survive to serve my altar, his ^note eyes will grow dim and his ^note appetite fail, his ^note issue will be weaklings and die off. 34   The fate of your two sons shall be a sign to you: Hophni and Phinehas shall both die on the same day. 35   I will appoint for myself a priest who will be faithful, who will do what I have in my mind and in my heart. I will establish his family to serve in perpetual succession before my anointed king. 36   Any

The birth and call of Samuel of your family that still live will come and bow humbly before him to beg a fee, a piece of silver and a loaf, and will ask for a turn of priestly duty to earn a crust of bread.”’

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