Chapter 2

A¹t that time Hannah prayed: ²There is no one holy like the LORD. ³Do not boast so proudly,

⁴The bows of the mighty are broken, ⁵The well-fed hire themselves out for food, ⁶The LORD brings death and gives life; ⁷The LORD sends poverty and wealth; ⁸He raises the poor from the dust

⁹He guards the steps of His faithful ones, ¹⁰Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered.

¹¹Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest.

N¹²ow the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD ¹³or for the custom of the priests with the people. ¹⁴When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” ¹⁶And if any man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you may take whatever you want,” the servant would reply, “No, you must give it to me right now. If you refuse, I will take it by force!” ¹⁷Thus the sin of these young men was severe in the sight of the LORD, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.

¹⁸Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD — a boy wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹Each year his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. ²⁰And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD. ” Then they would go home. ²¹So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters.

²²Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²³“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people. ²⁴No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people. ²⁵If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?”

²⁶And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man.

T²⁷hen a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the food offerings of the Israelites. ²⁹Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

³⁰Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ³¹Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in it will reach old age. ³²You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age. ³³And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men. ³⁴And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.

³⁵Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time. ³⁶And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”