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You make me strong
and happy, Lord .
You rescued me.
Now I can be glad
and laugh at my enemies.
2No other god is like you.[#2.2 The Hebrew text has “holy one,” a term for supernatural beings or gods.]
And with you we are safer
than on a high mountain.
3I can tell those proud people,
“Stop your boasting!
Nothing is hidden from the Lord ,
and he judges what we do.”
4Our Lord , you break
the bows of warriors,
but you give strength
to everyone who stumbles.
5People who once
had plenty to eat
must now hire themselves out
for only a piece of bread.
But you give the hungry more
than enough to eat.
A woman did not have a child,
and you gave her seven,
but a woman who had many
was left with none.
6You take away life,[#Ws 16.13; Tb 13.2.]
and you give life.
You send people down
to the world of the dead
and bring them back again.
7Our Lord , you are the one
who makes us rich or poor.
You put some in high positions
and bring disgrace on others.
8You lift the poor and homeless
out of the garbage dump
and give them places of honor
in royal palaces.
You set the world on foundations,
and they belong to you.
9You protect your loyal people,
but everyone who is evil
will die in darkness.
We cannot win a victory
by our own strength.
10Our Lord , those who attack you
will be broken in pieces
when you fight back
with thunder from heaven.
You will judge the whole earth
and give power and strength
to your chosen king.
11Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the Lord .
12-13Eli's sons were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the Lord . So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork.
14The servant would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever meat came out on the fork was taken back to Eli's two sons. That was how they treated every Israelite who came to offer sacrifices in Shiloh.
15Sometimes, when people were offering sacrifices, the servant would come over, even before the fat had been cut off and sacrificed to the Lord .[#2.15 The fat belonged to the and was supposed to be burned as a sacrifice before the rest of the animal was cooked and eaten (see Leviticus 3.3,4,9,10,14,15).]
Then the servant would tell them, “The priest doesn't want his meat boiled! Give him some raw meat that he can roast!”
16Usually the people answered, “Take what you want. But first, let us sacrifice the fat to the Lord .”
“No,” the servant would reply. “If you don't give it to me now, I'll take it by force.”
17Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the Lord very angry.
18The boy Samuel served the Lord and wore a special linen garment[#2.18 Either a loin cloth or a jacket or a vest worn only by priests.]
19and the clothes his mother made for him. She brought new clothes every year, when she and her husband came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh.[#2.19 The Hebrew word means a sleeveless coat or robe that was worn by priests. Samuel was a small child, but his mother made him clothes just like those worn by priests.]
20Eli always blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, “Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the Lord . I pray that the Lord will bless you with more children to take his place.” After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home.
21The Lord was kind to Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. But Samuel grew up at the Lord 's house in Shiloh.
22Eli was now very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to the people of Israel.[#2.22 The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text adds “He heard that his sons were even sleeping with the women who worked at the entrance to the sacred tent.”]
23-24“Why are you doing these awful things?” he asked them. “I've been hearing nothing but complaints about you from all of the Lord 's people.
25If you harm another person, God can help make things right between the two of you. But if you commit a crime against the Lord , no one can help you!”
But the Lord had already decided to kill them. So he kept them from listening to their father.
26Each day, as Samuel grew older, the Lord was pleased with him, and so were the people.[#Si 46.13; Lk 2.52.]
27One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord :