1 Samuel 3

1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no manifest vision.

The child Samuel served Yahweh under Eli. Yahweh's word was rare in those days; there was no frequent prophetic vision.

2 Then it happened that, on a certain day, Eli was lying in his place. And his eyes had dimmed, so that he was unable to see.

At that time, when Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see well, was lying down in his own bed.

3 And so, to prevent the lamp of God from going out, Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down to sleep in the temple of Yahweh, where the ark of God was.

4 And the Lord called Samuel. And responding, he said, “Here I am.”

Yahweh called to Samuel, who said, “Here I am.”

5 And he ran to Eli, and he said, “Here I am. For you called me.” And he said: “I did not call. Return and sleep.” And he went away, and he slept.

Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Eli said, “I did not call you; lie down again.” So Samuel went and lay down.

6 And again, the Lord continued to call to Samuel. And rising up, Samuel went to Eli, and he said: “Here I am. For you called me.” And he responded: “I did not call you, my son. Return and sleep.”

Yahweh called again, “Samuel.” Again Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son; lie down again.”

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him.

Now Samuel did not yet have any experience of Yahweh, nor had any message from Yahweh ever been revealed to him.

8 And the Lord continued, and he called to Samuel still a third time. And rising up, he went to Eli.

Yahweh called Samuel again the third time. Again Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli realized that Yahweh had called the boy.

9 And he said: “Here I am. For you called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord had called the boy. And he said to Samuel: “Go and sleep. And if he calls to you from now on, you will say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” Therefore, Samuel went away, and he slept in his place.

Then Eli said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again; if he calls you again, you must say, 'Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his own place once more.

10 And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, just as he had called the other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” And Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Yahweh came and stood; he called as at the other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I am accomplishing a word in Israel. Whoever will hear about it, both his ears will ring.

Yahweh said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

12 In that day, I will raise up against Eli all the things that I have spoken over his house. I will begin, and I will finish.

On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have said about his house, from beginning to end.

13 For I have foretold to him that I will judge his house unto eternity, because of iniquity. For he had known that his sons acted shamefully, and he did not chastise them.

I have told him that I am about to judge his house once for all for the sin that he knew about, because his sons brought a curse upon themselves and he did not stop them.

14 For this reason, I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house will not be expiated, with victims or with gifts, even forever.”

Because of this I have sworn to the house of Eli that the sins of his house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”

15 Then Samuel slept until morning, and he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.

16 Then Eli called Samuel, and he said, “Samuel, my son?” And responding, he said, “I am here.”

Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” Samuel said, “Here I am.”

17 And he questioned him: “What is the word that the Lord has spoken to you? I beg you that you may not conceal it from me. May God do these things to you, and may he add these other things, if you hide from me one word out of all the things that were told to you.”

He said, “What was the word he spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and even more, if you hide anything from me of all the words that he spoke to you.”

18 And so, Samuel revealed to him all the words, and he did not hide them from him. And he responded: “He is the Lord. May he do what is good in his own eyes.”

Samuel told him everything; he hid nothing from him. Eli said, “It is Yahweh. Let him do what seems good to him.”

19 And Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground.

Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him, and he let none of his prophetic words fall to the ground.

20 And all of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew Samuel to be a faithful prophet of the Lord.

All Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was appointed to be a prophet of Yahweh.

21 And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh. For the Lord had revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh, according to the word of the Lord. And the word about Samuel went forth to all of Israel.

Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh, for he revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by his word.