1 Samuel 1

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Toah, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

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.

2 And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

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.

3 This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to YHWH of hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests of YHWH, were there.

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.

4 When the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and her daughters.

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

5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion because he loved Hannah. Now YHWH had kept her from conceiving.

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.

6 And because YHWH kept her from conceiving, her rival used to taunt her severely, to irritate her.

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.

7 And this went on year after year, as often as she went up to the house of YHWH, she taunted her; therefore she would weep and refuse to eat.

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.

8 And her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? And why are you not eating? And why are you so sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"

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?

9 So Hannah got up after eating and drinking in Shiloh, and stood before YHWH. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of YHWH.

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.

10 And she was greatly distressed and prayed to YHWH, and wept uncontrollably.

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

11 And she vowed a vow and said, "YHWH of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will set him before you as a Nazirite until the day of his death. And he will not drink wine or strong drink, and no razor will come on his head."

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.

12 Now it happened, as she continued praying before YHWH, that Eli observed her mouth.

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

13 And she was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

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

14 So Eli said to her, "How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine, and go from before YHWH."

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.

15 And Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before YHWH.

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.

16 Do not count your servant as a worthless woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my distress and my anguish."

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

17 Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him."

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.

18 She said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way, and entered her quarters, and ate; and her facial expression wasn't sad any more.

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.

19 They rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before YHWH, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and YHWH remembered her.

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.

20 It happened, when the time had come, that Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked him of YHWH."

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.

21 The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to YHWH the yearly sacrifice, and to redeem his vow and all the tithes of his land.

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.

22 But Hannah did not go up; for she said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before YHWH, and stay there forever."

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.

23 Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems good in your eyes. Wait until you have weaned him; only may YHWH establish what you have said." So the woman waited and nursed her son, until she weaned him.

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.

24 Then she took him to Shiloh along with a three-year old bull, and bread, and an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. And she came to the house of YHWH in Shiloh, and the boy was with them. And they went before YHWH and his father slaughtered the sacrifice, which he did annually to YHWH. Then he brought the boy,

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.

25 and he slaughtered the bull. And Hannah, the mother of the boy, brought him to Eli.

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.

26 She said, "Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to YHWH.

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.

27 For this child I prayed; and YHWH has given me my petition which I asked of him.

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

28 Therefore also I have lent him to YHWH. As long as he lives he is lent to YHWH." Then she left him there, and she worshipped before YHWH.

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