12
Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord.
13
And the priests' way with the people was this: when any man made an offering, the priest's servant came while the flesh was being cooked, having in his hand a meat-hook with three teeth;
14
This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15
And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked.
16
And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force.
17
And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings.
18
But Samuel did the work of the Lord's house, while he was a child, dressed in a linen ephod.
19
And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering.
20
And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house.
21
And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord.
22
Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel.