Kings I 1

1 There was a man of Armathaim Sipha, of mount Ephraim, and his name [was] Helkana, a son of Jeremeel the son of Elias the son of Thoke, in Nasib Ephraim.

Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:

2 And he [had] two wives; the name of the one [was] Anna, and the name of the second Phennana. And Phennana had children, but Anna had no child.

And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children.

3 And the man went up from year to year from his city, from Armathaim, to worship and sacrifice to the Lord God of Sabaoth at Selom: and [there were] Heli and his two sons Ophni and Phinees, the priests of the Lord.

Now this man went up from his town every year to give worship and to make offerings to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.

4 And the day came, and Helkana sacrificed, and gave portions to his wife Phennana and her children.

And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast:

5 And to Anna he gave a prime portion, because she had no child, only Helkana loved Anna more than the other; but the Lord [had] closed her womb.

But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children.

6 For the Lord gave her no child in her affliction, and according to the despondency of her affliction; and she was dispirited on this account, that the Lord shut up her womb so as not to give her a child.

And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children;

7 So she did year by year, in going up to the house of the Lord; and she was dispirited, and wept, and did not eat.

And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food.

8 And Helkana her husband said to her, Anna: and she said to him, Here [am] I, my lord: and he said to her, What ails you that you weep? and why do you not eat? and why does your heart strike you? [am] I not better to you than ten children?

Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons?

9 And Anna rose up after they had eaten in Selom, and stood before the Lord: and Heli the priest [was] on a seat by the threshold of the temple of the Lord.

So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord.

10 And she [was] very much grieved in spirit, and prayed to the Lord, and wept abundantly.

And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord.

11 And she vowed a vow to the Lord, saying, O Lord God of Sabaoth, if you welt indeed look upon the humiliation of your handmaid, and remember me, and give to your handmaid a boy, then will I indeed dedicate him to you till the day of his death; and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and no razor shall come upon his head.

And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.

12 And it came to pass, while she was long praying before the Lord, that Heli the priest marked her mouth.

Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth.

13 And she was speaking in her heart, and her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: and Heli accounted her a drunken woman.

For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine.

14 And the servant of Heli said to her, How long will you be drunken? take away your wine from you, and go out from the presence of the Lord.

And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink? Put away the effects of your wine from you.

15 And Anna answered and said, Nay, my lord, [I live] in a hard day, and I have not drunk wine or strong drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord.

And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord.

16 Count not your handmaid for a pestilent woman, for by reason of the abundance of my importunity I have continued [my prayer] until now.

Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain.

17 And Heli answered and said to her, Go in peace: the God of Israel give you all your petition, which you have asked of him.

Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him.

18 And she said, Your handmaid has found favour in your eyes: and the woman went her way, and entered into her lodging, and ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was no more sad.

And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad.

19 And they rise early in the morning, and worship the Lord, and they go their way: and Helkana went into his house at Armathaim, and knew his wife Anna; and the Lord remembered her, and she conceived.

And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind.

20 And it came to pass when the time was come, that she brought forth a son, and called his name Samuel, and said, Because I asked him of the Lord God of Sabaoth.

Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him.

21 And the man Helkana and all his house went up to offer in Selom the yearly sacrifice, and his vows, and all the tithes of his land.

And the man Elkanah with all his family went up to make the year's offering to the Lord, and to give effect to his oath.

22 But Anna did not go up with him, for she said to her husband, [I will not go up] until the child goes up, when I have weaned him, and he shall be presented before the Lord, and he shall abide there continually.

But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go till the child has been taken from the breast, and then I will take him with me and put him before the Lord, where he may be for ever.

23 And Helkana her husband said to her, Do that which is good in your eyes, abide still until you shall have weaned him; but may the Lord establish that which comes out of your mouth: and the woman tarried, and suckled her son until she had weaned him.

And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast.

24 And she went up with him to Selom with a calf of three years old, and loaves, and an ephah of fine flour, and a bottle of wine: and she entered into the house of the Lord in Selom, and the child with them.

Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh: now the child was still very young.

25 And they brought him before the Lord; and his father killed his offering which he offered from year to year to the Lord; and he brought near the child, and killed the calf; and Anna the mother of the child brought him to Heli.

And when they had made an offering of the ox, they took the child to Eli.

26 And she said, I pray you, my lord, as your soul lives, I [am] the woman that stood in your presence with you while praying to the Lord.

And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side:

27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord has given me my request that I asked of him.

My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request:

28 And I lend him to the Lord all his days that he lives, a loan to the Lord: and she said,

So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord's. Then he gave the Lord worship there.