Chapter 2
1 Hannah prayed , and said , " My heart exults in the LORD ! My horn is exalted in the LORD . My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation .
2 There is no one as holy as the LORD , for there is no one besides you , nor is there any rock like our God .
3 "Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly . Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth , for the LORD is a God of knowledge . By him actions are weighed .
4 "The bows of the mighty men are broken . Those who stumbled are armed with strength .
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread . Those who were hungry are satisfied . Yes, the barren has borne seven . She who has many children languishes.
6 " The LORD kills and makes alive . He brings down to Sheol and brings up .
7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich . He brings low , he also lifts up .
8 He raises up the poor out of the dust . He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and inherit the throne of glory . For the pillars of the earth are the LORD ’s. He has set the world on them .
9 He will keep the feet of his holy ones , but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness ; for no man will prevail by strength .
10 Those who strive with the LORD shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky . " The LORD will judge the ends of the earth . He will give strength to his king , and exalt the horn of his anointed ."
11 Elkanah went to Ramah to his house . The child served the LORD before Eli the priest .
12 Now the sons of Eli were wicked men . They didn’t know the LORD .
13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when anyone offered a sacrifice , the priest ’s servant came while the meat was boiling , with a fork of three teeth in his hand ;
14 and he stabbed it into the pan , or kettle , or cauldron, or pot . The priest took all that the fork brought up for himself . They did this to all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh .
15 Yes , before they burnt the fat , the priest ’s servant came , and said to the man who sacrificed , " Give meat to roast for the priest ; for he will not accept boiled meat from you , but raw ."
16 If the man said to him , " Let the fat be burnt first , and then take as much as your soul desires ;" then he would say, " No , but you shall give it to me now ; and if not , I will take it by force ."
17 The sin of the young men was very great before the LORD ; for the men despised the LORD ’s offering .
18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD , being a child , clothed with a linen ephod.
19 Moreover his mother made him a little robe , and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice .
20 Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, " May the LORD give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of the LORD ." Then they went to their own home .
21 The LORD visited Hannah , and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters . The child Samuel grew before the LORD .
22 Now Eli was very old ; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel , and how that they slept with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting .
23 He said to them , " Why do you do such things ? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people .
24 No , my sons ; for it is not a good report that I hear ! You make the LORD ’s people disobey.
25 If one man sins against another , God will judge him ; but if a man sins against the LORD , who will intercede for him ?" Notwithstanding, they didn’t listen to the voice of their father, because the LORD intended to kill them .
26 The child Samuel grew on , and increased in favour both with the LORD and also with men .
27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him , " The LORD says , ‘ Did I reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh ’s house ?
28 Didn’t I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest , to go up to my altar , to burn incense , to wear an ephod before me ? Didn’t I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
29 Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering , which I have commanded in my habitation , and honour your sons above me , to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel my people ?’
30 " Therefore the LORD , the 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 , ‘ Far be it from me ; for those who honour me I will honour , and those who despise me will be cursed .
31 Behold , ", means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection. the days come that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house , that there will not be an old man in your house .
32 You will see the affliction of my habitation , in all the wealth which I will give Israel . There shall not be an old man in your house forever .
33 The man of yours whom I don’t cut off from my altar will consume your eyes and grieve your heart . All the increase of your house will die in the flower of their age.
34 This will be the sign to you that will come on your two sons , on Hophni and Phinehas : in one day they will both die .
35 I will raise up a faithful priest for myself who will do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind . I will build him a sure house . He will walk before my anointed forever .
36 It will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread , and will say, " Please put me into one of the priests’ offices , that I may eat a morsel of bread ."’"