1 Samuel 1
1
The Birth of Samuel
1Now there was a certain man of Ramatha´im–zo´phim, of mount E´phra-im, and his name was Elka´nah, the son of Jero´ham, the son of Eli´hu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Eph´rathite: 2and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Penin´nah: and Penin´nah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phin´ehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 4And when the time was that Elka´nah offered, he gave to Penin´nah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5but unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb. 6And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. 7And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 8Then said Elka´nah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?
9So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. 10And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. 11#Num 6.5. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
12And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. 13Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. 16Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Be´li-al: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.
19And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elka´nah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her. 20Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.
21And the man Elka´nah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 22But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever. 23And Elka´nah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the Lord establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. 24And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young. 25And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. 27For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
1 Samuel 1
1
Samuel’s Birth
1There was a man named Elkanah son of Jeroham. He was from Ramathaim in the mountains of Ephraim. Elkanah was from the family of Zuph. (Jeroham was Elihu’s son. Elihu was Tohu’s son. And Tohu was the son of Zuph from the family group of Ephraim.) 2Elkanah had two wives. One was named Hannah, and the other was named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
3Every year Elkanah left his town Ramah and went up to Shiloh. There he worshiped the Lord of heaven’s armies and offered sacrifices to him. Shiloh was where Hophni and Phinehas served as priests of the Lord. They were the sons of Eli. 4When Elkanah offered sacrifices, he always gave a share of the meat to his wife Peninnah. He also gave shares of the meat to her sons and daughters. 5But Elkanah always gave a special share of the meat to Hannah. He did this because he loved Hannah and because the Lord had made Hannah unable to have children. 6Peninnah would upset Hannah and make her feel bad. She did this because the Lord had made Hannah unable to have children. 7This happened every year when they went up to the Tent of the Lord at Shiloh. Peninnah would upset Hannah until Hannah would cry and not eat anything. 8Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won’t you eat? Why are you sad? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”
9Once, after they had eaten their meal in Shiloh, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the entrance to the Lord’s Holy Tent. 10Hannah was very sad. She cried much and prayed to the Lord. 11She made a promise. She said, “Lord of heaven’s armies, see how bad I feel. Remember me! Don’t forget me. If you will give me a son, I will give him back to you all his life. And no one will ever use a razor to cut his hair.”# People who made special promises not to cut their hair or to drink wine or beer were called Nazirites. These people gave their lives to the Lord. See Numbers 6:1–5.
12While Hannah kept praying, Eli watched her mouth. 13She was praying in her heart. Her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14He said to her, “Stop getting drunk! Throw away your wine!”
15Hannah answered, “No, master, I have not drunk any wine or beer. I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I was telling the Lord about all my problems. 16Don’t think of me as an evil woman. I have been praying because of my many troubles and much sadness.”
17Eli answered, “Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you asked of him.”
18Hannah said, “I want to be pleasing to you always.” Then she left and ate something. She was not sad anymore.
19Early the next morning Elkanah’s family got up and worshiped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intimate relations with his wife Hannah. And the Lord remembered her. 20So Hannah became pregnant, and in time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “God heard.” She said, “His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him.”
Hannah Gives Samuel to God
21Every year Elkanah went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. He went to keep the promise he had made to God. He brought his whole family with him. So once again he went up to Shiloh. 22But Hannah did not go with him. She told him, “When the boy is old enough to eat solid food, I will take him to Shiloh. Then I will give him to the Lord. He will become a Nazirite. He will always live there at Shiloh.”
23Elkanah, Hannah’s husband, said to her, “Do what you think is best. You may stay home until the boy is old enough to eat. May the Lord do what you have said.” So Hannah stayed at home to nurse her son until he was old enough to eat.
24When Samuel was old enough to eat, Hannah took him to the Tent of the Lord at Shiloh. She also took a three-year-old bull, one-half bushel of flour and a leather bag filled with wine. 25They killed the bull for the sacrifice. Then Hannah brought Samuel to Eli. 26She said to Eli, “As surely as you live, my master, I am the same woman who stood near you praying to the Lord. 27I prayed for this child. The Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me. 28Now I give him back to the Lord. He will belong to the Lord all his life.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
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