1 Samuel 3
3
The Lord Calls Samuel
1 # ch. 2:11, 18 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. #[ver. 21; Ps. 74:9; Amos 8:11]And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
2At that time Eli, #ch. 4:15; Gen. 27:1; 48:10; [Deut. 34:7]whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3#Ex. 27:20, 21; Lev. 24:2, 3; 2 Chr. 13:11 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down #ch. 1:9in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
4Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
6And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel #2 Kgs. 21:12; Jer. 19:3at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli #See ch. 2:30-36all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13#[See ver. 12 above] And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, #ch. 2:12, 17, 22 because his sons were blaspheming God,#3:13 Or blaspheming for themselves #ch. 2:23-25and he did not restrain them. 14Therefore I swear to the house of Eli #[Isa. 22:14]that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. #[Ruth 1:17]May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, #[2 Sam. 10:12; Job 1:21; 2:10; Ps. 39:9; Isa. 39:8]“It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”
19 # See ch. 2:21 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him #[ch. 9:6]and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel #See 2 Sam. 3:10from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. 21And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel #[Josh. 18:1] at Shiloh #ver. 1, 4by the word of the Lord.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 3
3
The LORD speaks to Samuel
1-2Samuel served the LORD by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the LORD hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, 3and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the LORD's house. They had not been asleep very long#3.3 They…long: The Hebrew text has “The lamp was still burning.” An olive oil lamp would go out after a few hours if the wick was not adjusted. 4when the LORD called out Samuel's name.
“Here I am!” Samuel answered. 5Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
“I didn't call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.”
Samuel went back.
6Again the LORD called out Samuel's name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?”
Eli told him, “Son, I didn't call you. Go back to sleep.”
7The LORD had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. 8When the LORD called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
Eli finally realized that it was the LORD who was speaking to Samuel. 9So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I'm listening, LORD. What do you want me to do?’ ”
Once again Samuel went back and lay down.
10The LORD then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
“I'm listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?”
11The LORD said:
Samuel, I am going to do something in Israel that will shock everyone who hears about it! 12I will punish Eli and his family, just as I promised. 13He knew that his sons refused to respect me,#3.13 refused…me: Or “were insulting everyone”. and he let them get away with it, even though I said I would punish his family for ever. 14I warned Eli that sacrifices or offerings could never make things right! His family has done too many disgusting things.
15The next morning, Samuel got up and opened the doors to the LORD's house. He was afraid to tell Eli what the LORD had said. 16But Eli told him, “Samuel, my boy, come here!”
“Here I am,” Samuel answered.
17Eli said, “What did God say to you? Tell me everything. I pray that God will punish you terribly if you don't tell me every word he said!”
18Samuel told Eli everything. Then Eli said, “He is the LORD, and he will do what's right.”
The LORD helps Samuel
19As Samuel grew up, the LORD helped him and made everything Samuel said come true. 20From the town of Dan in the north to the town of Beersheba in the south, everyone in the country knew that Samuel was truly the LORD's prophet. 21The LORD often appeared to Samuel at Shiloh and told him what to say.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012