Parallel Bible results for "1 samuel 2"

1 Samuel 2

The Message Bible MSG

1 Hannah prayed: I'm bursting with God-news! I'm walking on air. I'm laughing at my rivals. I'm dancing my salvation.

2 Nothing and no one is holy like God, no rock mountain like our God.

3 Don't dare talk pretentiously - not a word of boasting, ever! For God knows what's going on. He takes the measure of everything that happens.

4 The weapons of the strong are smashed to pieces, while the weak are infused with fresh strength.

5 The well-fed are out begging in the streets for crusts, while the hungry are getting second helpings. The barren woman has a houseful of children, while the mother of many is bereft.

6 God brings death and God brings life, brings down to the grave and raises up.

7 God brings poverty and God brings wealth; he lowers, he also lifts up.

8 He puts poor people on their feet again; he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope, Restoring dignity and respect to their lives - a place in the sun! For the very structures of earth are God's; he has laid out his operations on a firm foundation.

9 He protectively cares for his faithful friends, step by step, but leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark. No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle!

10 God's enemies will be blasted out of the sky, crashed in a heap and burned. God will set things right all over the earth, he'll give strength to his king, he'll set his anointed on top of the world!

11 Elkanah went home to Ramah. The boy stayed and served God in the company of Eli the priest. Samuel Serves God

12 Eli's own sons were a bad lot. They didn't know God and could not have cared less

13 about the customs of priests among the people. Ordinarily, when someone offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant was supposed to come up and, while the meat was boiling,

14 stab a three-pronged fork into the cooking pot. The priest then got whatever came up on the fork. But this is how Eli's sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to God.

15 Before they had even burned the fat to God, the priest's servant would interrupt whoever was sacrificing and say, "Hand over some of that meat for the priest to roast. He doesn't like boiled meat; he likes his rare."

16 If the man objected, "First let the fat be burned - God's portion! - then take all you want," the servant would demand, "No, I want it now. If you won't give it, I'll take it."

17 It was a horrible sin these young servants were committing - and right in the presence of God! - desecrating the holy offerings to God.

18 In the midst of all this, Samuel, a boy dressed in a priestly linen tunic, served God.

19 Additionally, every year his mother would make him a little robe cut to his size and bring it to him when she and her husband came for the annual sacrifice.

20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "God give you children to replace this child you have dedicated to God." Then they would go home.

21 God was most especially kind to Hannah. She had three more sons and two daughters! The boy Samuel stayed at the sanctuary and grew up with God. A Hard Life with Many Tears

22 By this time Eli was very old. He kept getting reports on how his sons were ripping off the people and sleeping with the women who helped out at the sanctuary.

23 Eli took them to task: "What's going on here? Why are you doing these things? I hear story after story of your corrupt and evil carrying on.

24 Oh, my sons, this is not right! These are terrible reports I'm getting, stories spreading right and left among God's people!

25 If you sin against another person, there's help - God's help. But if you sin against God, who is around to help?"

26 But the boy Samuel was very much alive, growing up, blessed by God and popular with the people.

27 A holy man came to Eli and said: "This is God's message: I revealed myself openly to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt.

28 Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests: to preside at the altar, to burn incense, to wear the priestly robes in my presence. I put your ancestral family in charge of all the sacrificial offerings of Israel.

29 So why do you now treat as mere loot these very sacrificial offerings that I commanded for my worship? Why do you treat your sons better than me, turning them loose to get fat on these offerings, and ignoring me?

30 Therefore - this is God's word, the God of Israel speaking - I once said that you and your ancestral family would be my priests indefinitely, but now - God's word, remember! - there is no way this can continue. I honor those who honor me; those who scorn me I demean.

31 "Be well warned: It won't be long before I wipe out both your family and your future family. No one in your family will make it to old age!

32 You'll see good things that I'm doing in Israel, but you'll see it and weep, for no one in your family will live to enjoy it.

33 I will leave one person to serve at my altar, but it will be a hard life, with many tears. Everyone else in your family will die before their time.

34 What happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be the proof: Both will die the same day.

35 Then I'll establish for myself a true priest. He'll do what I want him to do, be what I want him to be. I'll make his position secure and he'll do his work freely in the service of my anointed one.

36 Survivors from your family will come to him begging for handouts, saying, 'Please, give me some priest work, just enough to put some food on the table.'" "Speak, God. I'm Ready to Listen"

New Century Version NCV

1 Hannah prayed: "The Lord has filled my heart with joy; I feel very strong in the Lord. I can laugh at my enemies; I am glad because you have helped me!

2 "There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no God but you; there is no Rock like our God.

3 "Don't continue bragging, don't speak proud words. The Lord is a God who knows everything, and he judges what people do.

4 "The bows of warriors break, but weak people become strong.

5 Those who once had plenty of food now must work for food, but people who were hungry are hungry no more. The woman who could not have children now has seven, but the woman who had many children now is sad.

6 "The Lord sends death, and he brings to life. He sends people to the grave, and he raises them to life again.

7 The Lord makes some people poor, and others he makes rich. He makes some people humble, and others he makes great.

8 The Lord raises the poor up from the dust, and he lifts the needy from the ashes. He lets the poor sit with princes and receive a throne of honor. "The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and the Lord set the world upon them.

9 He protects those who are loyal to him, but evil people will be silenced in darkness. Power is not the key to success.

10 The Lord destroys his enemies; he will thunder in heaven against them. The Lord will judge all the earth. He will give power to his king and make his appointed king strong."

11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy continued to serve the Lord under Eli the priest.

12 Now Eli's sons were evil men; they did not care about the Lord.

13 This is what the priests would normally do to the people: Every time someone brought a sacrifice, the meat would be cooked in a pot. The priest's servant would then come carrying a fork that had three prongs.

14 He would plunge the fork into the pot or the kettle. Whatever the fork brought out of the pot belonged to the priest. But this is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices.

15 Even before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come to the person offering sacrifices and say, "Give the priest some meat to roast. He won't accept boiled meat from you, only raw meat."

16 If the one who offered the sacrifice said, "Let the fat be burned up first as usual, and then take anything you want," the priest's servant would answer, "No, give me the meat now. If you don't, I'll take it by force."

17 The Lord saw that the sin of the servants was very great because they did not show respect for the offerings made to the Lord.

18 But Samuel obeyed the Lord. As a boy he wore a linen holy vest.

19 Every year Samuel's mother made a little coat for him and took it to him when she went with her husband to Shiloh for the sacrifice.

20 When Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, he would say, "May the Lord repay you with children through Hannah to take the place of the boy Hannah prayed for and gave back to the Lord." Then Elkanah and Hannah would go home.

21 The Lord was kind to Hannah, so she became the mother of three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up serving the Lord.

22 Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites and how his sons had sexual relations with the women who served at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.

23 Eli said to his sons, "Why do you do these evil things that the people tell me about?

24 No, my sons. The Lord's people are spreading a bad report about you.

25 If you sin against someone, God can help you. But if you sin against the Lord himself, no one can help you!" But Eli's sons would not listen to him, because the Lord had decided to put them to death.

26 The boy Samuel grew physically. He pleased the Lord and the people.

27 A man of God came to Eli and said, "This is what the Lord says: 'I clearly showed myself to the family of your ancestor Aaron when they were slaves to the king of Egypt.

28 I chose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests. I wanted them to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the holy vest. I also let the family of your ancestor have part of all the offerings sacrificed by the Israelites.

29 So why don't you respect the sacrifices and gifts? You honor your sons more than me. You grow fat on the best parts of the meat the Israelites bring to me.'

30 "So the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I promised that your family and your ancestor's family would serve me always.' But now the Lord says: 'This must stop! I will honor those who honor me, but I will dishonor those who ignore me.

31 The time is coming when I will destroy the descendants of both you and your ancestors. No man will grow old in your family.

32 You will see trouble in my house. No matter what good things happen to Israel, there will never be an old man in your family.

33 I will not totally cut off your family from my altar. But your eyes will cry and your heart be sad, because all your descendants will die.

34 "'I will give you a sign. Both your sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day.

35 I will choose a loyal priest for myself who will listen to me and do what I want. I will make his family continue, and he will always serve before my appointed king.

36 Then everyone left in your family will come and bow down before him. They will beg for a little money or a little food and say, "Please give me a job as priest so I can have food to eat."' "