1 Samuel 2:5-15

5 Those who were well-fed hire themselves out for a piece of bread, but those who were hungry hunger no more. Even the woman who was childless gives birth to seven children, but the mother of many children grieves all alone.

6 "The LORD kills, and he gives life. He makes [people] go down to the grave, and he raises them up [again].

7 The LORD causes poverty and grants wealth. He humbles [people]; he also promotes them.

8 He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from the trash heap in order to make them sit with nobles and even to make them inherit a glorious throne. "The pillars of the earth are the LORD's. He has set the world on them.

9 He safeguards the steps of his faithful ones, but wicked people are silenced in darkness because humans cannot succeed by their own strength.

10 "Those who oppose the LORD are broken into pieces. He thunders at them from the heavens. The LORD judges the ends of the earth. He gives strength to his King and lifts the head of his Messiah."

11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy [Samuel] served the LORD under the priest Eli.

12 Eli's sons, [Hophni and Phinehas,] were good-for-nothing priests; they had no faith in the LORD.

13 Now, this was how the priests dealt with the people who were offering sacrifices: While the meat was boiling, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand.

14 Then he would stick it into the pot, kettle, cauldron, or pan. Whatever the fork brought up [from the pot] belonged to the priest. This is what the priests did in Shiloh to all the people of Israel who came there [to sacrifice].

15 But [in the case of Eli's sons,] even before the people burned the fat, their servants would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the meat to the priest to roast. He doesn't want boiled meat from you. He wants it raw."

1 Samuel 2:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2

In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, 1Sa 2:1-10, and an account is given of the return of Elkanah and Hannah to their own home, and of the care she took yearly to provide a coat for Samuel, and of her being blessed with many other children, and of the growth and ministry of Samuel before the Lord, 1Sa 2:11,18-21,26, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:12-17, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, 1Sa 2:22-25 and of a sharp message sent him from the Lord on that account, threatening destruction to his house, of which the death of his two sons would be a sign, 1Sa 2:27-36.