1 Samuel 1

1 There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah [town] in the hilly area where [the tribe of] Ephraim lived. His father was Jeroham, his grandfather was Elihu, and his great-grandfather was Tohu. He belonged to the Zuph clan.

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 He had two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had several 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 Once every year Elkanah went up [with his family] from Ramah to Shiloh [city]. He went there to worship Yahweh, [the commander] of the armies [of angels], and to offer sacrifices to him. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, [helped their father to do the work as] priests of Yahweh 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 Each time Elkanah offered sacrifices there, he gave some of the meat to Peninnah and some to each of her sons and daughters.

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

5 But even though he loved Hannah very much, he gave her only one special amount of meat because Yahweh had not permitted her to give birth to any children.

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 his other wife, Peninnah, would ridicule Hannah to make her feel miserable, because Yahweh had not allowed her to bear children.

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 This happened every year. When they went up to the temple of Yahweh [at Shiloh], Peninnah ridiculed Hannah so much that Hannah cried and would not 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 Then Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, (why are you crying?/please quit crying!) [RHQ] (Why are you not eating?/Please eat something!) [RHQ] Why are you so upset/sad? You have me; is that not more important to you than if you had ten sons? (OR, I [love you] more than your sons [would love you], even if you had 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 One year, after they had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah stood up [to pray]. Eli the priest was nearby, sitting on a chair by the doorway of the sacred tent of Yahweh.

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 Hannah was very distressed, and she cried very sorrowfully as she prayed to Yahweh.

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

11 She made a vow saying, “O Almighty Commander of the armies of angels, if you will look at me and see how miserable I am, and think about me and allow me to give birth to a son, then I will dedicate him to you [to serve you] for the rest of his life. And [to show that he is dedicated to you], (no one will ever [be allowed to] cut his hair/his hair will never be cut).”

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 As she was praying like that to Yahweh, Eli the priest saw Hannah’s lips [moving as she was praying].

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

13 But Hannah was only praying silently; she was not making any sound. So Eli thought that 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 He said to her, “How long will you continue to get drunk [RHQ]? (Throw away your wine/Quit drinking wine)!”

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 Hannah replied, “Sir, I am not drunk! I have not been drinking wine or any other alcoholic drink. I feel very distressed and I have been telling Yahweh about how I feel.

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 think that I am a worthless/wicked woman! I have been praying like this because I am very distressed [DOU].”

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 Eli replied, “I wish/desire that things will go well for you. I desire that God, the one we Israeli people [worship], will give you what you requested from 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 replied, “I want you to think highly/well about me.” Then she returned [to her family] and after she ate something, her face no longer looked sad.

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 Early the next morning, Elkanah and his family got up and worshiped Yahweh [again], and then they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah (slept with/had sex with) Hannah. Then Yahweh answered her prayer,

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 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, [which sounds like the words in the Hebrew language that mean ‘heard by God’], because she said “Yahweh [heard me when] I requested from him [a son].”

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 following year, Elkanah again went up [to Shiloh] with his family to make the kind of sacrifice he made each year, and also to give a special offering to God that he had promised [to give him previously].

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 [with them]. She said to her husband, “After I have weaned the baby, I will take him [to Shiloh and present him] to Yahweh, and he will stay there for the rest of his life.”

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 said, “Do what seems the best to you. Stay here until you have weaned him. What I desire is that Yahweh will [enable you to] do what you have promised.” So Hannah stayed at home 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 After she weaned him, even though Samuel was very young, she took him to the temple/house of Yahweh at Shiloh. [To offer as a sacrifice], she took along a three-year-old bull, [a sack containing] (20 pounds/9 kg.) of flour, and a container of wine.

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 After the priest had slaughtered the bull [and offered it to Yahweh on the altar], Hannah and Elkanah brought the boy 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 Then Hannah said to him, “Sir, (Do you remember me?/I solemnly affirm), I am the woman who prayed as I stood here beside you [several years ago].

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 I prayed that Yahweh would enable me to give birth to a child, and this is the child whom I requested Yahweh to give me.

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

28 So now I am presenting him to Yahweh. He will belong to Yahweh as long as he lives.” Then Elkanah [and his family] worshiped Yahweh there.

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