31 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli . And word from the Lord was rare in those days , visions were infrequent e . 2 It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where e the ark of God was, 4 that the Lord called Samuel ; and he said , " Here I am." 5 Then he ran to Eli and said , "Here I am, for you called me." But he said , "I did not call , lie down again ." So he went and lay down . 6 The Lord called yet again , "Samuel !" So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said , "Here I am, for you called me." But he answered , "I did not call , my son , lie down again ." 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord , nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. 8 So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time . And he arose and went to Eli and said , "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy . 9 And Eli said to Samuel , "Go lie down , and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say , 'Speak , Lord , for Your servant is listening .' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place . 10 Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times , "Samuel ! Samuel !" And Samuel said , "Speak , for Your servant is listening ."
11 The Lord said to Samuel , "Behold , I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle . 12 "In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house , from beginning to end . 13 "For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever e for the iniquity which he knew , because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. 14 "Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever e ." 15 So Samuel lay down until morning . Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord . But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli . 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said , "Samuel , my son ." And he said , "Here I am." 17 He said , "What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also , if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you." 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said , " It is the Lord ; let Him do what seems good to Him."
19 Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none e of his words fail e . 20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord . 21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh , because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord .
