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God Calls Samuel

¹ The boy Samuel was Eli's helper and served the Lord with him. At that time the Lord did not speak directly to people very often. There were very few visions.

² Eli's eyes were getting so weak that he was almost blind. One night he went to his room to go to bed. ³ The special lamp in the Lord's temple^[a] was still burning, so Samuel lay down in the temple near where the Holy Box was. ⁴ The Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, "Here I am." ⁵ Samuel thought Eli was calling him, so he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me."

But Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed."

So Samuel went back to bed. ⁶ Again the Lord called, "Samuel!" Again Samuel ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me."

Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed."

⁷ Samuel did not yet know the Lord because the Lord had not spoken directly to him before.^[b]

⁸ The Lord called Samuel the third time. Again Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me."

Finally, Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Eli told Samuel, "Go to bed. If he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I am your servant, and I am listening.'"

So Samuel went back to bed. ¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there. He called as he did before, saying, "Samuel, Samuel!"

Samuel said, "Speak. I am your servant, and I am listening."

¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel, "I will soon do things in Israel that will shock anyone who hears about them. ¹² I will do everything I said I would do against Eli and his family, everything from the beginning to the end. ¹³ I told Eli I would punish his family forever. I will do this because Eli knew his sons were saying and doing bad things against God. But he failed to control them. ¹⁴ That is why I swore an oath that sacrifices and offerings will never take away the sins of the people in Eli's family.^[c]"

¹⁵ Samuel lay down in bed until the morning came. He got up early and opened the doors of the Lord's house. Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.

¹⁶ But Eli said to Samuel, "Samuel, my son."

Samuel answered, "Yes, sir."

¹⁷ Eli asked, "What did God say to you? Don't hide it from me. God will punish you if you hide anything from the message he spoke to you."

¹⁸ So Samuel told Eli everything. He did not hide anything from him.

Eli said, "He is the Lord. Let him do whatever he thinks is right."

¹⁹ The Lord was with Samuel while he grew up. He did not let any of Samuel's messages prove false. ²⁰ Then all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was a true prophet of the Lord. ²¹ And the Lord continued to appear to Samuel at Shiloh. There he told Samuel what he wanted.