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Hannah's Song of Thanksgiving

¹ Then Hannah ^(C1)prayed and said,

"My heart exults in Yahweh;
^(C2)My ^(F1)horn is exalted in Yahweh;
My mouth ^(F2)speaks boldly against my enemies,
Because ^(C3)I am glad in Your salvation.

² "^(C1)There is no one holy like Yahweh;
Indeed, ^(C2)there is no one besides You,
^(C3)Nor is there any rock like our God.

³ "Do not multiply speaking so very proudly;
^(C1)Let arrogance not come out of your mouth;
^(C2)For Yahweh is a God of knowledge,
^(C3)And with Him actions are weighed.

⁴ "^(C1)The bows of the mighty are shattered,
^(C2)But those who stumble gird on strength.

⁵ "Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,
But those who were hungry cease to hunger.
^(C1)Even the barren gives birth to seven,
But ^(C2)she who has many children languishes.

⁶ "^(C1)Yahweh puts to death and makes alive;
^(C2)He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

⁷ "^(C1)Yahweh makes poor and rich;
^(C2)He brings low; He also exalts.

⁸ "^(C1)He raises the poor from the dust;
^(C2)He exalts the needy from the ash heap
^(C3)To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of glory;
^(C4)For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh's,
And He set the world on them.

⁹ "^(C1)He keeps the feet of His holy ones,
^(C2)But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness,
^(C3)For not by power shall a man prevail.

¹⁰ "^(C1)Those who contend with Yahweh will be dismayed;
^(C2)Against them He will thunder in the heavens;
^(C3)Yahweh will render justice to the ends of the earth,
^(C4)And He will give strength to His king,
^(C5)And He will exalt the ^(F1)horn of His anointed."

¹¹ Then Elkanah went to his home at ^(C1)Ramah. ^(C2)But the young boy ministered to Yahweh before Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli's Sons

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^(F1)(C1)vile men; they did not know Yahweh.^13 (C1)And this was the legal judgment for the priests with the people: when any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's young man would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot; all that the fork would bring up the priest would take for himself. Thus they would do in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.¹⁵ Also, before ^(C1)they offered up the fat in smoke, the priest's young man would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting; he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw."¹⁶ Then the man would say to him, "They must surely offer up the fat in smoke ^(F1)first, and then take as much as your soul desires," then he would say, "No, you shall give it now; and if not, I will take it by force."¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh, for the men ^(C1)spurned the offering of Yahweh.

Samuel Before Yahweh as a Boy

¹⁸ Now ^(C1)Samuel was ministering before Yahweh, as a ^(F1)young boy ^(C2)girded with a linen ephod.¹⁹ And his mother would make him a little ^(C1)robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer ^(C2)the yearly sacrifice.²⁰ Then Eli would ^(C1)bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May Yahweh establish for you a seed from this woman in place of ^(F1)the one she ^(C2)dedicated to Yahweh." And they went to their own ^(F2)home.

^21 (C1)Yahweh indeed visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ^(C2)the young boy Samuel grew before Yahweh.

Eli Hears About His Sons' Evils

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard ^(C1)all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with ^(C2)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.²³ So he said to them, "Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?²⁴ "No, my sons; for the report is not good ^(C1)which I hear the people of Yahweh ^(F1)passing about.²⁵ "If one man sins against another, ^(C1)God will mediate for him; but ^(C2)if a man sins against Yahweh, who can pray for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for ^(C3)Yahweh desired to put them to death.

²⁶ Now the young boy ^(C1)Samuel ^(F1)was growing in stature and in favor both with Yahweh and with men.

Eli Honors His Sons Above Yahweh

²⁷ Then ^(C1)a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, '^(C2)Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt, enslaved to Pharaoh's house?²⁸ '^(C1)And did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not ^(C2)give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?²⁹ 'Why do you ^(C1)kick at My sacrifice and at My offering ^(C2)which I have commanded in My ^(C3)habitation, and ^(C4)honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the ^(F1)choicest of every offering of My people Israel?'³⁰ "Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, declares, '^(C1)I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now Yahweh declares, 'Far be it from Me—for ^(C2)those who honor Me I will honor, and those ^(C3)who despise Me will be cursed.³¹ 'Behold, ^(C1)the days are coming, and I will break your ^(F1)strength and the ^(F1)strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house.³² 'And you will look upon ^(C1)the distress of My habitation, in spite of all the good that ^(F1)I do for Israel; and an ^(C2)old man will not be in your house all the days.³³ 'Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar ^(F1)so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will be put to death ^(F2)in the prime of life.³⁴ 'Now this will be ^(C1)the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: ^(C2)on the same day both of them will be put to death.³⁵ 'But ^(C1)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and ^(C2)I will build him a faithful house, and he will walk before ^(C3)My anointed always.³⁶ 'And it will be that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a ^(F1)piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, "Please ^(F2)assign me to one of the priest's offices so that I may eat a piece of bread."'"