Samuel I_Chapter 2

Hannah prayed, saying, My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is lifted up by the Lord. My mouth opens to the enemy. I rejoice in the salvation of the Lord.

Only the Lord is holy. There is nothing comparable to him, and there is no rock like our God.

Do not boast or speak arrogantly, nor speak arrogantly. For the Lord is a God of great wisdom, and the ways of men are measured by him.

The bows of the warriors have all been broken. The person who falls ties their waist with strength.

Those who have always been satisfied work as servants seeking food instead. Hungry, never hungry again. Those who did not bear children gave birth to seven sons. Those who have many children actually decline.

The Lord causes death and also brings life, bringing people down to the underworld and lifting them up.

He makes people poor and prosperous, humble and noble.

He lifts the poor out of the dust, and lifts the poor out of the dunghill, so that they may sit with the prince and receive a seat of glory. The pillars of the earth belong to the Lord. He stands the world above it.

He will protect the footsteps of the saints, making the wicked silent in darkness. No one can win by strength.

Those who compete with the Lord will be shattered. The Lord will thunder against him from heaven, judge the ends of the earth, and give strength to the king he has set up, lifting up the horn of the anointed.

Elkanah went home to Ramah. The child served the Lord in front of the priest Eli.

Eli’s two sons are wicked and do not know the Lord.

These two priests treat the people in this way: whenever anyone offers a sacrifice and is cooking meat, the priests’ servants come and hold a three toothed fork in their hand,

Insert the fork into the jar, cauldron, cauldron, or pot, and the priest will take all the meat that is inserted. All the Israelites who went up to Shiloh viewed it this way.

And before burning the fat, the servants of the priests came and said to the sacrifices, Give the flesh to the priest, and let him bake it. He doesn’t want it cooked, he wants it raw.

If the sacrificial person says that the fat must be burned first, then you can freely take the meat. The servant said, Give it to me immediately, otherwise I will take it away.

Thus, the sins of these two young men were severe before the Lord, because they despised the offerings of the Lord.

At that time, Samuel was still a child, wearing a linen ephod and standing before the Lord.

His mother makes a small robe for him every year and brings it to him with her husband when they come up to offer the annual sacrifice.

Eli blessed Elikanah and his wife, saying, May the Lord give you another seed from this woman, in place of the child you asked of the Lord. They went back to their hometown.

The Lord favored Hannah, and she became pregnant and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel gradually grew up before the Lord.

Eli was very old, and he heard about his two sons treating all Israel, and about the women who were serving at the entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation engaging in sexual intercourse,

And he said to them, Why do you do such things? I have heard your evil deeds from all these people.

My son, it can’t be like this. I have heard that your news is not good, you have caused the people of the Lord to sin.

If a person offends someone, a judge will judge them. If a person sins against the Lord, who can pray for him? However, they still did not listen to their father’s words, because the Lord wanted to kill them.

As the child Samuel grew older, the Lord and people loved him even more.

A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: Did I not appear to your grandfather when he was a servant in the house of Pharaoh in Egypt?”?

Have I not chosen someone among the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to burn incense, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to wear an ephod before me, and to give all the offerings made by fire by the Israelites to your father’s house?

Why do you trample on the sacrifices I command to offer in my dwelling place. Respecting your son over respecting me, how can you fatten yourself with the beautiful sacrifices offered by my people Israel?

Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, said, I have said, You and your father’s house will walk before me forever. But now I say, you will never do this. Because of respecting me, I will value him. He who despises me will be despised.

The days will come, and I will break your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there is not an old man in your house.

When God brings blessings to the Israelites, you will see the downfall of my dwelling place. There will never be an elderly person in your home.

I will not destroy all the people in your house from before my altar. The unextinguished will make your eyes wither and your heart sad. The people born in your family will all die in middle age.

The events that have happened to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall serve as evidence for you: they shall both die on the same day.

I want to establish a loyal priest for myself. He will act according to my will. I want to build a strong home for him. He will always walk before my anointed one.

All the remaining members of your family will come and worship him, asking for a piece of silver and a piece of bread, saying, ‘Give me the priesthood, so that I may have some bread to eat.’.