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
1The boy Samuel served before the Lord under Eli's supervision. At that time messages from the Lord were rare—visions were not common. 2One evening, Eli had gone to bed in his room. His eyes were now so weak that he couldn't see. 3The lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Lord's Temple where the Ark of God was.
4Then the Lord called, “Samuel!”
He answered, “I'm here.” 5He ran to Eli, and said, “I'm here—you called me.”
“I didn't call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So Samuel went back to bed.
6Then the Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up, went to Eli and said, “I'm here—you called me.”
“I didn't call you, my son,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.”
7(Samuel hadn't yet come to know the Lord and had not received any message from him.)
8The Lord called again for the third time, “Samuel!” He got up went to Eli and said, “I'm here—you called me.” Then Eli realized that it was the Lord calling the boy.
9Eli told Samuel, “Go back to bed, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, because your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to his bed.
10The Lord came and stood there, calling just as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel answered, “Speak, because your servant is listening.”
11The Lord told Samuel: “Pay attention, because I'm going to do something in Israel that will surprise everyone who hears it.#3:11. “Surprise everyone who hears it”: literally, “will make the ears of all who hear it tingle.” 12That's when I will carry out against Eli and his family everything I have said, from beginning to end. 13I told him that I will judge his family forever because of the sins he knows about, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not try and stop them. 14That's why I swore to Eli and his family, ‘The guilt of Eli and his descendants will never be removed by sacrifice or offering.’”
15Samuel remained in bed until the morning. Then he got up and opened the doors of the Lord's Temple as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. 16But Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
“I'm here,” Samuel answered.
17“What did he tell you?” Eli asked. “Don't hide it from me. May God punish you very severely if you hide anything he told you from me!”
18So Samuel told him everything and didn't hide anything from him.
“It's the Lord,” Eli replied. “May he do what he thinks is good.”
19Samuel continued to grow up. The Lord was with him and made sure all he said was trustworthy. 20Everyone in the whole of Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. 21The Lord went on appearing at Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel and delivered his messages,
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com