1 Samuel 2
2
Hannah’s Prayer of Praise
1Then Hannah prayed:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord!
The Lord has made me strong.#2:1 Hebrew has exalted my horn.
Now I have an answer for my enemies;
I rejoice because you rescued me.
2No one is holy like the Lord!
There is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3“Stop acting so proud and haughty!
Don’t speak with such arrogance!
For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done;
he will judge your actions.
4The bow of the mighty is now broken,
and those who stumbled are now strong.
5Those who were well fed are now starving,
and those who were starving are now full.
The childless woman now has seven children,
and the woman with many children wastes away.
6The Lord gives both death and life;
he brings some down to the grave#2:6 Hebrew to Sheol. but raises others up.
7The Lord makes some poor and others rich;
he brings some down and lifts others up.
8He lifts the poor from the dust
and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes,
placing them in seats of honor.
For all the earth is the Lord’s,
and he has set the world in order.
9“He will protect his faithful ones,
but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
10Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
the Lord judges throughout the earth.
He gives power to his king;
he increases the strength#2:10 Hebrew he exalts the horn. of his anointed one.”
11Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest.
Eli’s Wicked Sons
12Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord 13or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, 14the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. 15Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.
16The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.” 17So the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt.
18But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest.#2:18 Hebrew He wore a linen ephod. 19Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice. 20Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the Lord.#2:20 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads this one he requested of the Lord.” 21And the Lord blessed Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
22Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.#2:22 Hebrew Tent of Meeting. Some manuscripts lack this entire sentence. 23Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? 24You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the Lord’s people are not good. 25If someone sins against another person, God#2:25 Or the judges. can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede?” But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to put them to death.
26Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and grew in favor with the Lord and with the people.
A Warning for Eli’s Family
27One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord: “I revealed myself#2:27 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Did I reveal myself. to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. 28I chose your ancestor Aaron#2:28a Hebrew your father. from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest#2:28b Hebrew an ephod. as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. 29So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!
30“Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi#2:30 Hebrew that your house and your father’s house. would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me. 31The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age. 32You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. 33The few not cut off from serving at my altar will survive, but only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break, and their children will die a violent death.#2:33 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version, which read die by the sword; Masoretic Text reads die like mortals. 34And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day!
35“Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever. 36Then all of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food. ‘Please,’ they will say, ‘give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.’”
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1 Samuel 2: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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1 Kings 2
2
1My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I have joyed in thy salvation.
2There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside thee, and there is none strong like our God.
3Do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting: let old matters depart from your mouth. For the Lord is a God of all knowledge, and to him are thoughts prepared.
4The bow of the mighty is overcome: and the weak are girt with strength.
5They that were full before have hired out themselves for bread: and the hungry are filled; so that the barren hath borne many: and she that had many children is weakened.
6The Lord killeth and maketh alive: he bringeth down to hell and bringeth back again.
7The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich: he humbleth and he exalteth.
8He raiseth up the needy from the dust, and lifteth up the poor from the dunghill: that he may sit with princes, and hold the throne of glory. For the poles of the earth are the Lord's, and upon them he hath set the world.
9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness: because no man shall prevail by his own strength.
10The adversaries of the Lord shall fear him: and upon them shall he thunder in the heavens. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth: and he shall give empire to his king, and shall exalt the horn of his Christ.
11And Elcana went to Ramatha, to his house: but the child ministered in the sight of the Lord before the face of Heli the priest.
12Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the Lord,
13Nor the office of the priests to the people: but whosoever had offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest came, while the flesh was in boiling, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;
14And thrust it into the kettle, or into the caldron, or into the pot, or into the pan: and all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took to himself. Thus did they to all Israel that came to Silo.
15Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the priest came, and said to the man that sacrificed: Give me flesh to boil for the priest: for I will not take of thee sodden flesh, but raw.
16And he that sacrificed said to him: Let the fat first be burnt to-day according to the custom, and then take as much as thy soul desireth. But he answered and said to him: Not so; but thou shalt give it me now, or else I will take it by force.
17Wherefore the sin of the young men was exceeding great before the Lord: because they withdrew men from the sacrifice of the Lord.
18But Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord: being a child girded with a linen ephod.
19And his mother made him a little coat, which she brought to him on the appointed days, when she went up with her husband, to offer the solemn sacrifice.
20And Heli blessed Elcana and his wife. And he said to him: The Lord give thee seed of this woman, for the loan thou hast lent to the Lord. And they went to their own home.
21And the Lord visited Anna, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel became great before the Lord.
22Now Heli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel: and how they lay with the women that waited at the door of the tabernacle.
23And he said to them: Why do ye these kinds of things, which I hear, very wicked things, from all the people?
24Do not so, my sons: for it is no good report that I hear, that you make the people of the Lord to transgress.
25If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf: but if a man shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him? And they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.
26But the child Samuel advanced, and grew on, and pleased both the Lord and men.
27And there came a man of God to Heli, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Did I not plainly appear to thy father's house, when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharao?
28And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, and burn incense to me, and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to thy father's house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel.
29Why have you kicked away my victims, and my gifts which I commanded to be offered in the temple: and thou hast rather honoured thy sons than me, to eat the first-fruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel?
30Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father should minister in my sight, for ever. But now saith the Lord: Far be this from me. But whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify; but they that despise me, shall be despised.
31Behold, the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.
32And thou shalt see thy rival in the temple, in all the prosperity of Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.
33However I will not altogether take away a man of thee from my altar: but that thy eyes may faint and thy soul be spent. And a great part of thy house shall die when they come to man's estate.
34And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees: In one day they shall both of them die.
35And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart, and my soul; and I will build him a faithful house; and he shall walk all days before my anointed.
36And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall remain in thy house shall come that he may be prayed for; and shall offer a piece of silver, and a roll of bread; and shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the priestly office, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.