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Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, while the boy remained to minister to the Lord, in the presence of the priest Eli.
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Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord
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or for the duties of the priests to the people. When anyone offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,
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and 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. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
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Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, "Give meat for the priest to roast; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw."
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And if the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat first, and then take whatever you wish," he would say, "No, you must give it now; if not, I will take it by force."
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Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord; for they treated the offerings of the Lord with contempt.
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Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod.
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His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
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Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord"; and then they would return to their home.
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And the Lord took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.