Eli's Worthless Sons
12 Now the sons of Eli were
1worthless men.
2They did not know the LORD.
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The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,
14
and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron 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.
15
Moreover,
3before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man 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 as much as you wish," he would say, "No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force."
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Thus the sin of the young men was very great
4in the sight of the LORD,
5for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.
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6Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy
7clothed with a linen ephod.
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And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year
8when 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 give you children by this woman
9for the petition she asked of the LORD." So then they would return to their home.
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10Indeed the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters.
11And the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.