21 Then Hannah prayed and said , "My heart exults in the Lord ; My horn is exalted in the Lord , My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies , Because I rejoice in Your salvation . 2 " There is no one holy like the Lord , Indeed , there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God . 3 "Boast no more so very proudly , Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth ; For the Lord is a God of knowledge , And with Him actions are weighed . 4 " The bows of the mighty are shattered , But the feeble gird on strength . 5 "Those who were full hire themselves out for bread , But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven , But she who has many children languishes . 6 " The Lord kills and makes alive ; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. 7 " The Lord makes poor and rich ; He brings low , He also exalts . 8 " He raises the poor from the dust , He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles , And inherit a seat of honor ; For the pillars of the earth are the Lord'S , And He set the world on them. 9 " He keeps the feet of His godly ones , But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness ; For not by might shall a man prevail . 10 " Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered ; Against them He will thunder in the heavens , The Lord will judge the ends of the earth ; And He will give strength to His king , And will exalt the horn of His anointed ."
11 Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah . But the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest .
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men ; they did not know the Lord 13 and the custom of the priests with the people . When any man was offering a sacrifice , the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling , with a three-pronged e fork in his hand . 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan , or kettle , or caldron , or pot ; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there . 15 Also , before they burned the fat , the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing , "Give the priest meat for roasting , as he will not take boiled meat from you, only e raw ." 16 If the man said to him, "They must surely burn the fat first , and then take as much as you desire ," then he would say , "No , but you shall give it to me now ; and if not, I will take it by force ." 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord , for the men despised the offering of the Lord . 18 Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord , as a boy wearing a linen ephod . 19 And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice . 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say , "May the Lord give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated e to the Lord ." And they went to their own home . 21 The Lord visited Hannah ; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters . And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord . 22 Now Eli was very old ; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel , and how e they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 23 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 which I hear the Lord'S people circulating . 25 "If one man sins against another , God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord , who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father , for the Lord desired to put them to death . 26 Now the boy Samuel was growing e in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men .
27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord , ' Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house ? 28 ' 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 give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel ? 29 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling , and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel ?' 30 "Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares , ' I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever e '; but now the Lord declares , 'Far be it from Me-for those who honor Me I will honor , and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed . 31 'Behold , the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house . 32 'You will see the distress of My dwelling , in spite of all the good that I do for Israel ; and an old man will not be in your house forever e . 33 'Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve , and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life . 34 'This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons , Hophni and Phinehas : on the same day both of them will die . 35 'But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul ; and I will build him an enduring house , and he will walk before My anointed always e . 36 'Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say , "Please assign me to one of the priest's offices so that I may eat a piece of bread .""'
