New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Then Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD! The LORD has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because you rescued me.

1Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

2No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

2"There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.

3“Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don’t speak with such arrogance! For the LORD is a God who knows what you have done; he will judge your actions.

3"Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed.

4The bow of the mighty is now broken, and those who stumbled are now strong.

4"The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength.

5Those who were well fed are now starving, and those who were starving are now full. The childless woman now has seven children, and the woman with many children wastes away.

5"Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes.

6The LORD gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.

6"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

7The LORD makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up.

7"The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.

8He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the LORD’s, and he has set the world in order.

8"He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them.

9“He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone.

9"He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail.

10Those who fight against the LORD will be shattered. He thunders against them from heaven; the LORD judges throughout the earth. He gives power to his king; he increases the strength of his anointed one.”

10"Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed."

11Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the LORD by assisting Eli the priest. Eli’s Wicked Sons

11Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

12Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD

12Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD

13or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling,

13and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.

14the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way.

14Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

15Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.

15Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw."

16The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.”

16If the man said to him, "They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire," then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force."

17So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD’s sight, for they treated the LORD’s offerings with contempt.

17Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD.

18But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the LORD. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest.

18Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

19Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice.

19And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

20Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the LORD give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the LORD. ”

20Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD." And they went to their own home.

21And the LORD blessed Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

21The LORD visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the LORD.

22Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

22Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

23Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning?

23He said to them, "Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?

24You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the LORD’s people are not good.

24"No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD'S people circulating.

25If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?” But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death.

25"If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death.

26Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and grew in favor with the LORD and with the people. A Warning for Eli’s Family

26Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men.

27One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD: “I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt.

27Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house?

28I chose your ancestor Aaron from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests.

28Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

29So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!

29Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?'

30“Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me.

30"Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me-- for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.

31The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age.

31'Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house.

32You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days.

32You will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever.

33The few not cut off from serving at my altar will survive, but only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break, and their children will die a violent death.

33Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.

34And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day!

34'This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die.

35“Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever.

35'But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.

36Then all of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food. ‘Please,’ they will say, ‘give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.’”

36'Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, "Please assign me to one of the priest's offices so that I may eat a piece of bread."'"

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.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org