3Talk no more so exceedingly proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. 4The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they who stumbled are girded with strength. 5They who were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they who were hungry stopped hungering; so that the barren has born seven; and she who has many children languishes.

6The LORD kills, and makes alive; He brings down to the grave, and brings up. 7The LORD makes poor, and makes rich; He brings low, and lifts up. 8He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the beggar from the refuse, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and He has set the world upon them.

9He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10The 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.”

11And Elkanah went to his house in Ramah. And the child (Samuel) ministered unto the LORD before Eli, the priest.

12Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; who did not know or reverence the LORD. 13And the priests' custom with the people was that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a three-pronged fleshhook 14And struck it into the pan, kettle, caldron, or pot; whatever the fleshhook brought up, the priest took for himself. So it was done in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give flesh for the priest to roast; for he will not have boiled flesh from you, but raw”. 16And if any man said to him, “Let them first burn the fat, and then take as much as your soul desires”; then they (Eli’s sons) would reply, “No; but you shall give it to me now: and if not, I will take it by force”. 17Therefore the sin of those young men was very great before the LORD; for these men dishonored the offering of the LORD.

18But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. 19And his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “The LORD give you children of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD.” And they returned to their own home. 21And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child, Samuel, grew before the LORD.

22Now Eli was very old, and he heard all the evil his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 23And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear from all the people of your evil doings. 24No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I hear: you cause the LORD's people to transgress. 25If one man sins against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who shall intercede for him?” Yet, they did not listen to their father, because it was the intent of the LORD to slay them. 26And the child, Samuel, grew, and had favor with both the LORD, and also with men.

27And a man of God came to Eli, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Did I plainly appear unto the house of your father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? 28And did I choose him (Aaron) out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me? And did I give to the house of your father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? 29Why do you trample upon My sacrifice and at My offering, which I have commanded in My habitation; and honor your sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel, My people? 30Therefore the LORD God of Israel says, “I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before Me forever”; but now the LORD says, “Be it far from Me; for them who honor Me, I will honor, and they who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed”. 31Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father's house, that there shall not be an old man in your house. 32And you shall see an enemy in My habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33And the man of yours, whom I shall not cut off from My altar, shall be to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34And this shall be a sign to you, that shall come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall both die. 35And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to that which is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. 36And it shall come to pass, that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, “Put me, I pray you, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”