1 Samuel 2 (New American Standard)

Hannah's Song of Thanksgiving

1 Then Hannah ¹prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD ; ²My ^ahorn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth ^bspeaks boldly against my enemies, Because ³I rejoice in Your salvation. 2 "⁴There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, ⁵there is no one besides You, ⁶Nor is there any rock like our God. 3 "^cBoast no more so very proudly, ⁷Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth ; ⁸For the LORD is a God of knowledge, ⁹And with Him actions are weighed. 4 "¹⁰The bows of the mighty are shattered, ¹¹But the feeble gird on strength. 5 "Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. ¹²Even the barren gives birth to seven, But ¹³she who has many children languishes. 6 "¹⁴The LORD kills and makes alive ; ¹⁵He brings down to ^dSheol and raises up. 7 "¹⁶The LORD makes poor and rich ; ¹⁷He brings low, He also exalts. 8 "¹⁸He raises the poor from the dust, ¹⁹He lifts the needy from the ash heap ²⁰To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor ; ²¹For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them. 9 "²²He keeps the feet of His godly ones, ²³But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness ; ²⁴For not by might shall a man prevail. 10 "²⁵Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered ; ²⁶Against them He will thunder in the heavens, ²⁷The LORD will judge the ends of the earth ; ²⁸And He will give strength to His king, ²⁹And will exalt the ^ehorn of His anointed." 11 Then Elkanah went to his home at ³⁰Ramah. ³¹But the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli's Sons

12 Now the sons of Eli were ^f32worthless men ; they did not know the LORD 13 ³³and 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 ³⁴they 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 ^gburn the fat ^hfirst, and then take as much as ⁱyou 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 ³⁵despised the offering of the LORD.

Samuel before the LORD as a Boy

18 Now ³⁶Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy ^j37wearing a linen ephod. 19 And his mother would make him a little ³⁸robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer ³⁹the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would ⁴⁰bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the LORD give you ^kchildren from this woman in place of ^lthe one she ⁴¹dedicated to the LORD." And they went to their own ^mhome. 21 ⁴²The LORD visited Hannah ; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ⁴³the boy Samuel grew before the LORD.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

22 Now Eli was very old ; and he heard ⁴⁴all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with ⁴⁵the 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 ⁴⁶which I hear ⁿthe LORD'S people circulating. 25 "If one man sins against another, ⁴⁷God will mediate for him; but ⁴⁸if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the ⁴⁹LORD desired to put them to death. 26 Now the boy ⁵⁰Samuel ^owas growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men. 27 Then ⁵¹a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, '⁵²Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house ? 28 '⁵³Did 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 ⁵⁴give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel ? 29 'Why do you ⁵⁵kick at My sacrifice and at My offering ⁵⁶which I have commanded in My ⁵⁷dwelling, and ⁵⁸honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the ^pchoicest of every offering of My people Israel ?' 30 "Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, '⁵⁹I 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 ⁶⁰those who honor Me I will honor, and those ⁶¹who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. 31 'Behold, ⁶²the days are coming when I will break your ^qstrength and the ^rstrength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 'You will see ⁶³the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that ^sI do for Israel ; and an ⁶⁴old man will not be in your house forever . 33 'Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar ^tso that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die ^uin the prime of life. 34 'This will be ⁶⁵the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas : ⁶⁶on the same day both of them will die. 35 'But ⁶⁷I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul ; and ⁶⁸I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before ⁶⁹My anointed always . 36 'Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a ^vpiece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, "Please ^wassign me to one of the priest's offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.""'