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1 SAM UEL 3
page 247
burned first.” Then the servant would demand,
“No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.”
17 So the sin of these young men was very serious
in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s
offerings with contempt.
18 But Samuel, though he was only a boy,
served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like
that of a priest.* 19 Each year his mother made a
small coat for him and brought it to him when
she came with her husband for the sacrifice.
20 Before 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.*” 21 And 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.
22 Now 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.* 23 Eli said to them,
“I have been hearing reports from all the people
about the wicked things you are doing. Why do
you keep sinning? 24 You must stop, my sons!
The reports I hear among the Lord’s people
are not good. 25 If 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.
26 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and
grew in favor with the Lord and with the people.
A Warning for Eli’s Family
27 One 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. 28 I 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. 29 So 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!
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. 31 The time is
2:18 Hebrew He wore a linen ephod. 2:20 As in Dead Sea
Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads this one he
requested of the Lord. 2:22 Hebrew Tent of Meeting. Some
manuscripts lack this entire sentence. 2:25 Or the judges.
2:27 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Did I reveal
myself. 2:28a Hebrew your father. 2:28b Hebrew an ephod.
2:30 Hebrew that your house and your father’s house. 2:33 As
in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version, which read die by the
sword; Masoretic Text reads die like mortals. 3:3 Hebrew the
Temple of the Lord.
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. 32 You 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. 33 The 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.* 34 And 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!
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. 36 Then 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.’”
The LORD Speaks to Samuel
Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the
Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days
messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.
2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now,
had gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet
gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle* near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the
Lord called out, “Samuel!”
“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” 5 He got
up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to
bed.” So he did.
6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”
Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I
am. Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back
to bed.”
7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because
he had never had a message from the Lord before. 8 So the Lord called a third time, and once
more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am.
Did you call me?”
Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was
calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and
lie down again, and if someone calls again, say,
‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So
Samuel went back to bed.
10 And the Lord came and called as before,
“Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is
listening.”
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about
to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going
to carry out all my threats against Eli and his
family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned
him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming
3