| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the LORD had given her no children. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the LORD had kept her from having children. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?” Hannah’s Prayer for a Son |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut. ” |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14“Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15“Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17“In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18“Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. Samuel’s Birth and Dedication |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the LORD once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the LORD remembered her plea, |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the LORD for him.” |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the LORD and to keep his vow. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the LORD permanently. ” |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23“Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the LORD help you keep your promise. ” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26“Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD. |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life.” And they worshiped the LORD there. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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