1 Samuel 2
1 At that time Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD in whom my horn is exalted. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation.
My heart is established in the Lord, my horn is exalted in my God; my mouth is enlarged over my enemies, I have rejoiced in thy salvation.
2 There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
For there is none holy as the Lord, and there is none righteous as our God; there is none holy besides thee.
3 Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
Boast not, and utter not high things; let not high-sounding words come out of your mouth, for the Lord [is] a God of knowledge, and God prepares his own designs.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.
The bow of the mighty has waxed feeble, and the weak have girded themselves with strength.
5 The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.
They that were full of bread are brought low; and the hungry have forsaken the land; for the barren has born seven, and she that abounded in children has waxed feeble.
The Lord kills and makes alive; he brings down to the grave, and brings up. (Sheol h7585)
7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
The Lord makes poor, and makes rich; he brings low, and lifts up.
8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
He lifts up the poor from the earth, and raises the needy from the dunghill; to seat him with the princes of the people, and causing them to inherit the throne of glory:
9 He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
granting his petition to him that prays; and he blesses the years of the righteous, for by strength cannot man prevail.
10 Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest.
and departed to Armathaim: and the child ministered in the presence of the Lord before Heli the priest.
12 Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD
And the sons of Heli the priest [were] evil sons, not knowing the Lord.
13 or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling
And the priest's claim from every one of the people that sacrificed [was this: ] the servant of the priest came when the flesh was in seething, and a flesh-hook of three teeth [was] in his hand.
14 and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.
And he struck it into the great caldron, or into the brazen vessel, or into the pot, and whatever came up with the flesh-hook, the priest took for himself: so they did to all Israel that came to sacrifice to the Lord in Selom.
15 Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
And before the fat was burnt for a sweet savour, the servant of the priest would come, and say to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, and I will by no means take of thee sodden flesh out of the caldron.
16 And if any man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you may take whatever you want,” the servant would reply, “No, you must give it to me right now. If you refuse, I will take it by force!”
And [if] the man that sacrificed said, First let the fat be burned, as it is fit, and take for thyself of all things which thy soul desires: then he would say, Nay, for thou shalt give it me now; and if not I will take it by force.
17 Thus the sin of these young men was severe in the sight of the LORD, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.
So the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for they set at nought the offering of the Lord.
18 Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.
And Samuel ministered before the Lord, a child girt with a linen ephod.
19 Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
And his mother made him a little doublet, and brought it to him from year to year, in her going up in company with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home.
And Heli blessed Helcana and his wife, saying The Lord recompense to thee seed of this woman, in return for the loan which thou hast lent to the Lord: and the man returned to his place.
21 So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
And the Lord visited Anna, and she bore yet three sons, and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.
22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
And Heli [was] very old, and he heard what his sons did to the children of Israel.
23 “Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people.
And he said to them, Why do ye according to this thing, which I hear from the mouth of all the people of the Lord?
24 No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people.
Nay [my] sons, for the report which I hear [is] not good; do not so, for the reports which I hear [are] not good, so that the people do not serve God.
25 If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.
If a man should at all sin against another, then shall they pray for him to the Lord; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? But they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord would by all means destroy them.
26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man.
And the child Samuel advanced, and was in favour with God and with men.
27 Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house?
And a man of God came to Heli, and said, Thus says the Lord, I plainly revealed myself to the house of thy father, when they were servants in Egypt to the house of Pharao.
28 And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the Israelites made by fire.
And I chose the house of thy father out of all the tribes of Israel to minister to me in the priest's office, to go up to my altar, and to burn incense, and to wear an ephod. And I gave to the house of thy father all the offerings by fire of the children of Israel for food.
29 Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’
And wherefore hast thou looked upon my incense-offering and my meat-offering with a shameless eye, and hast honoured thy sons above me, so that they should bless themselves with the first-fruits of every sacrifice of Israel before me?
30 Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel, I said, Thy house and the house of thy father shall pass before me for ever: but now the Lord says, That be far from me; for I will only honour them that honour me, and he that sets me at nought shall be despised.
31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no older man will be left in your house.
Behold, the days come when I will destroy thy seed and the seed of thy father's house.
32 You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age.
And thou shalt not have an old man in my house for ever.
33 And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, your eyes will fail and your heart will grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.
And [if] I do not destroy a man of thine from my altar, [it shall be] that his eyes may fail and his soul may perish; and every one that remains in thy house shall fall by the sword of men.
34 And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.
And this which shall come upon thy two sons Ophni and Phinees shall be a sign to thee; in one day they shall both die.
35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.
And I will raise up to myself a faithful priest, who shall do all that is in my heart and in my soul; and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before my Christ for ever.
36 And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”
And it shall come to pass that he that survives in thy house, shall come to do obeisance before him for a little piece of silver, saying, Put me into one of thy priest's offices to eat bread.
