Chapter 3

A¹nd the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. ²Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare, and visions were scarce. And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room. ³Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.

⁴Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” ⁵He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” ⁶Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” ⁹Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy. “Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” ¹⁰Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

¹¹Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle. ¹²On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end. ¹³I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

S¹⁵amuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.” ¹⁷“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him.

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. ²⁰So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. ²¹And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.