1 Samuel 3:15-20

15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning; then he got up and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.

16 Eli called him, "Samuel, my boy!" "Yes, sir," answered Samuel.

17 "What did the Lord tell you?" Eli asked. "Don't keep anything from me. God will punish you severely if you don't tell me everything he said."

18 So Samuel told him everything; he did not keep anything back. Eli said, "He is the Lord; he will do whatever seems best to him."

19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and made come true everything that Samuel said.

20 So all the people of Israel, from one end of the country to the other, knew that Samuel was indeed a prophet of the Lord.

1 Samuel 3:15-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 3

This chapter gives an account of the Lord's calling to Samuel in the night season, which he first took for the voice of Eli, but being instructed by him, made answer to the voice, 1Sa 3:1-10, and of a message sent from him by Samuel to Eli, foretelling the destruction of his family, 1Sa 3:11-14 and of the delivery of it to him, which Samuel was first fearful of doing, but, encouraged by Eli, he delivered it to him, to which he patiently submitted, 1Sa 3:15-18 and the chapter is closed with the establishment of Samuel as a prophet of the Lord, who continued to appear and reveal himself to him, 1Sa 3:19-21.