1Sa 2 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then Hannah prayed and said , “My heart rejoices in the Lord ; My horn is exalted in the Lord , My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies , Because I rejoice in Your salvation .

1 Samuel 2

Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving

1 Then Hannah ^aprayed and said,

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
^bMy ^{▼▼I.e., strength}horn is exalted in the Lord,
My mouth ^{▼▼Lit is enlarged}speaks boldly against my enemies,
Because ^eI rejoice in Your salvation.
2 “ ^fThere is no one holy like the Lord,
Indeed, ^gthere is no one besides You,
^hNor is there any rock like our God.
3 “Do not go on ^{▼▼Lit talk much}boasting so very proudly,
^jDo not let arrogance come out of your mouth;
^kFor the Lord is a God of knowledge,
^lAnd ^{▼▼Or disgraceful actions have no place}with Him actions are weighed.
4 “ ⁿThe bows of the mighty are broken to pieces,
^oBut those who have stumbled strap on strength.
5 “Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,
But those who were hungry cease to be hungry.
^pEven the infertile woman gives birth to seven,
But ^qshe who has many children languishes.
6 “ ^rThe Lord puts to death and makes alive;
^sHe brings down to ^{▼▼I.e., the netherworld}Sheol and brings up.
7 “ ^uThe Lord makes poor and rich;
^vHe humbles, He also exalts.
8 “ ^wHe raises the poor from the dust,
^xHe lifts the needy from the garbage heap
^yTo seat them with nobles,
And He gives them a seat of honor as an inheritance;
^zFor the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He set the world on them.
9 “ ^aaHe watches over the feet of His godly ones,
^abBut the wicked ones are silenced in darkness;
^acFor not by might shall a person prevail.
10 “ ^adThose who contend with the Lord will be terrified;
^aeAgainst them He will thunder in the heavens,
^afThe Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
^agAnd He will give strength to His king,
^ahAnd will exalt the ^{▼▼I.e., strength}horn of His anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went to his home at ^ajRamah. ^akBut the boy continued to attend to the service of the Lord before Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli’s Sons

12 Now the sons of Eli were ^{▼▼Lit sons of Belial
,} ^amuseless men; they did not know the Lord. 13 ^anAnd this was the custom of the priests with the people: when anyone was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was cooking, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. 14 And he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; everything that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. They did so in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before ^aothey ^{▼▼Lit offered up in smoke}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 cooked meat from you, only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “They must ^{▼▼Lit offer up in smoke}burn the fat ^{▼▼Lit as the day}first, then take as much as ^{▼▼Lit your soul desires}you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you must give it to me now; and if not, I am taking it by force!” 17 And so the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men ^attreated the offering of the Lord disrespectfully.

Samuel before the Lord as a Boy

18 Now ^auSamuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy ^avwearing a linen ephod. 19 And his mother would make for him a little ^awrobe and bring it up to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer ^axthe yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would ^aybless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you ^{▼▼Lit seed}children from this woman in place of the ^{▼▼Lit request}one she ^bbrequested of the Lord.” And they went to their own ^{▼▼Lit place}home.

21 ^{▼▼Or When the Lord visited...then she; DSS And the Lord visited
,} ^beThe Lord indeed visited Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ^bfthe boy Samuel grew up ^{▼▼Lit with}before the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard about ^bheverything that his sons were doing to all Israel, and that they slept with ^bithe women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why are you doing such things as these, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24 No, my sons; for the report is not good ^bjwhich I hear the Lord’s people circulating. 25 If one person sins against another, ^bkGod will mediate for him; but ^blif a person sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the ^bmLord desired to put them to death.

26 Now the boy ^bnSamuel was continuing to grow and to be in favor both with the Lord and with people.

27 Then ^boa man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘ ^bpDid I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 28 ^bqDid 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 ^brgive to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? 29 Why are you ^{▼▼Lit giving a kick to
,} ^btshowing contempt for My sacrifice and My offering ^buwhich I have commanded for My ^bvdwelling, and why are you ^bwhonoring your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the ^{▼▼Or first}choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘ ^byI did indeed say that your house and the house of your father was to walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me--for ^bzthose who honor Me I will honor, and those ^cawho despise Me will be insignificant. 31 Behold, ^cbthe days are coming when I will eliminate your ^{▼▼Lit arm}strength and the ^{▼▼Lit arm}strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will look at ^cethe distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that ^{▼▼Lit He does}I do for Israel; and there will never be an ^cgold man in your house. 33 Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar, ^{▼▼Lit to make your eyes fail and to grieve your soul}so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the ^{▼▼I.e., new children}increase of your house will die ^{▼▼Lit as men}in the prime of life. 34 And this will be ^ckthe sign to you which will come in regard to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: ^clon the same day both of them will die. 35 But ^cmI will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and My soul; and ^cnI will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before ^coMy anointed always. 36 And everyone who is left in your house will come to bow down to him for a ^{▼▼Or payment}silver coin or a loaf of bread and say, “Please ^{▼▼Lit attach}assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”