7
(Now Samuel didn't yet know the LORD, and the LORD's word hadn't yet been revealed to him.)
8
A third time the LORD called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, "I'm here. You called me?" Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy.
9
So Eli said to Samuel, "Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD. Your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down where he'd been.
10
Then the LORD came and stood there, calling just as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel said, "Speak. Your servant is listening."
11
The LORD said to Samuel, "I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of all who hear it tingle!
12
On that day, I will bring to pass against Eli everything I said about his household—every last bit of it!
13
I told him that I would punish his family forever because of the wrongdoing he knew about—how his sons were cursing God, but he wouldn't stop them.
14
Because of that I swore about Eli's household that his family's wrongdoing will never be reconciled by sacrifice or by offering."
15
Samuel lay there until morning, then opened the doors of the LORD's house. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
16
But Eli called Samuel, saying: "Samuel, my son!" "I'm here," Samuel said.
17
"What did he say to you?" Eli asked. "Don't hide anything from me. May God deal harshly with you and worse still if you hide from me a single word from everything he said to you."