CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub]. Common English Bible
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and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which means "I asked the LORD for him."f
Samuel's dedication
21When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and keep his solemn promise, 22Hannah didn't go.
"I'll bring the boy when he is weaned," she told her husband, "so he can be presented to the LORD and stay there permanently. I will offer him as a nazirite forever."g
23"Do what seems best to you," said her husband Elkanah. "Stay here until you've weaned him. But may the LORD bring to pass what you'veh promised." So the woman stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
24When he had been weaned and was still very young,i Hannah took him, along with a three-year-old bull,j an ephahk of flour, and a jar of wine, and brought him to the LORD's house at Shiloh. 25They slaughtered the bull, then brought the boy to Eli.
26"Excuse me, sir!" Hannah said. "As surely as you live, sir, I am the woman who stood here next to you, praying to the LORD. 27I prayed for this boy, and the LORD gave me what I asked from him. 28So now I give this boy back to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is given to the LORD."
Then they worshipped there before the LORD.l
Hannah's song
1Samuel 2Then Hannah prayed:
My heart rejoices in the LORD.
My strengthm rises up in the LORD!
My mouth mocks my enemies
because I rejoice in your deliverance.
2No one is holy like the LORD--
no, no one except you!
There is no rock like our God!
3Don't go on and on, talking so proudly,
spouting arrogance from your mouth,
because the LORD is the God who knows,
and he weighs every act.
4The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,
but those who were stumbling now dress themselves in power!
5Those who were filled full now sell themselves for bread,
but the ones who were starving are now fat from food!
The woman who was barren has birthed seven children,
but the mother with many sons has lost them all!
6The LORD!
He brings death, gives life,
takes down to the grave,n and raises up!
7The LORD!
He makes poor, gives wealth,
brings low, but also lifts up high!
8God raises the poor from the dust,
lifts up the needy from the garbage pile.
God sits them with officials,
gives them the seat of honor!
The pillars of the earth belong to the LORD;
he set the world on top of them!
9God guards the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked die in darkness
because no one succeeds by strength alone.
10The LORD!
His enemies are terrified!
God thunders against them from heaven!
The LORD!
He judges the far corners of the earth!
May God give strength to his king
and raise high the strength of his anointed one.
11Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the LORD under Eli the priest.
Corruption of Eli's sons
12Now Eli's sons were despicable men who didn't know the LORD. 13This was how the priest was supposed to act with the people: Whenever anyone made a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest's assistant would come with a three-pronged fork in hand. 14He would thrust it into the cauldron or the pot.o Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is how it was done for all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.
15But with Eli's sons,p even before the fat was burned, the priest's assistant would come and say to the person offering the sacrifice, "Give the priest some meat to roast. He won't accept boiled meat from you."q 16If anyone said, "Let the fat be burned off first, as usual, then take whatever you like for yourself," the assistant would reply, "No, hand it over now. If not, I'll take it by force."17The sin of these priestly assistants was very serious in the LORD's sight because they were disrespecting the Lord's own offering.
18Now Samuel was serving the LORD. He was a young boy, clothed in a linen priestly vest.r 19His mother would make a small robe for him and take it to him every year when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: "May the LORD replaces the child of this woman that you gave back to the LORD." Then they would return home. 21The LORD paid attention to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the LORD's service.
22Eli was very old, but he heard everything his sons were doing to the Israelites, and how they had sex with the women who served at the meeting tent's entrance. 23Eli said to his sons, "Why are you doing these terrible things that I'm hearing about from everybody?24No, my sons. Don't do this.t The report I hear spreading among God's people isn't good. 25If someone sins against someone else, God can intercede; but if someone sins against the LORD, who will intercede then?" But they wouldn't obey their father because the LORD wanted to kill them. 26Meanwhile, the boy Samuel kept growing up and was more and more liked by both the LORD and the people.
27Now a man of God came to Eli and said, "This is what the LORD says: I revealed myself very clearly to your father's household when they were slavesu in Egypt to the house of Pharaoh. 28I chose your father from all of Israel's tribes to be my priest, to go up onto my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vestv in my presence. I also gave all of the Israelites' food offerings to your father's household. 29Why then do you kick my sacrifices and my offerings--the very ones I commanded for my dwelling place? Why do you respect your sons more than me, getting fat off the best parts of every offering from my people Israel?30Because of all that, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: I had promised that your household and your father's household would serve me forever. But now--this is what the LORD declares: I'll do no such thing! No. I honor those who honor me, and whoever despises me will be cursed. 31The days are coming soon when I will eliminate both your childrenw and the children of your father's household. There won't be an old person left in your family tree. 32You'll see trouble in my dwelling place, though all will go well for Israel.x But there will never be an old person in your family tree. 33One of your descendants whom I don't eliminate from serving at my altar will cry hisy eyes out and be full of grief. Any descendants in your household will die by the sword.z 34And what happens to your two sons Hophni and Phinehas will be a sign for you: they will both die on the same day. 35Then I will establish for myself a trustworthy priest who will act in accordance with my thoughts and desires. I will build a trustworthy household for him, and he will serve before