1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:
2 And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children.
3 Now this man went up from his town every year to give worship and to make offerings to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.
4 And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast:
5 But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children.
6 And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children;
7 And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food.
8 Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons?
9 So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord.
10 And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord.
11 And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.
12 Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth.
13 For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine.
14 And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink? Put away the effects of your wine from you.
15 And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord.
16 Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain.
17 Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him.
18 And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad.
19 And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind.
20 Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him.
21 And the man Elkanah with all his family went up to make the year's offering to the Lord, and to give effect to his oath.
22 But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go till the child has been taken from the breast, and then I will take him with me and put him before the Lord, where he may be for ever.
23 And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast.
24 Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh: now the child was still very young.
25 And when they had made an offering of the ox, they took the child to Eli.
26 And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side:
27 My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request:
28 So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord's. Then he gave the Lord worship there.
1 Sufin maan Ramataimissa, Efraimin vuoristossa, asui mies, jonka nimi oli Elkana. Hän kuului Efraimin heimoon, ja hänen isänsä oli Jeroham, Elihun poika. Elihun isä oli Tohu ja tämän isä Sufi.
2 Elkanalla oli kaksi vaimoa. Toisen nimi oli Hanna, toisen Peninna. Peninnalla oli lapsia, mutta Hanna oli lapseton.
3 Elkanalla oli tapana kerran vuodessa lähteä kotikaupungistaan Siloon rukoilemaan Herraa Sebaotia ja uhraamaan hänelle. Siellä oli Herran pappeina kaksi Eelin poikaa, Hofni ja Pinehas.
4 Uhrattuaan Elkana antoi aina vaimolleen Peninnalle sekä hänen pojilleen ja tyttärilleen kullekin osansa uhrilihasta.
5 Hannallekin hän antoi yhden osan, sillä Hannaa hän rakasti, vaikka Herra ei ollut suonut tälle lapsia.
6 Mutta toinen vaimo, Peninna, tahtoi nöyryyttää Hannaa ja kiusasi häntä yhtenään siitä, että Herra oli jättänyt hänet lapsettomaksi.
7 Sama toistui vuodesta vuoteen: kun Hanna tuli pyhäkköön, Peninna aina kiusasi häntä niin että hän itki eikä voinut syödä.
9 Kerran, kun he olivat lopettaneet uhriateriansa Silossa, Hanna nousi ja astui Herran eteen. Pappi Eeli istui tuolillaan pyhäkön ovenpielessä.
10 Murheessaan Hanna rukoili Herraa, itki katkerasti
12 Kun Hanna rukoili pitkään Herraa, Eeli seurasi hänen suunsa liikkeitä.
13 Hanna rukoili näet hiljaa itsekseen, huulet vain liikkuivat mutta ääntä ei kuulunut. Siksi Eeli luuli hänen olevan juovuksissa
19 Varhain seuraavana aamuna he nousivat rukoilemaan Herraa. Sitten he palasivat kotiinsa Ramaan. Kun Elkana oli maannut vaimonsa Hannan kanssa, Herra vastasi Hannan rukoukseen.
21 Kun Elkana oli seuraavana vuonna lähdössä koko perheensä kanssa uhraamaan Herralle ja toimittamaan lupausuhriaan,
24 Kun poika oli vieroitettu, Hanna otti mukaansa hänet sekä kolmivuotiaan sonnin, säkillisen jauhoja ja viinileilin, ja he menivät Silon pyhäkköön. Poika oli vielä pieni.
25 Siellä he teurastivat sonnin uhriksi ja veivät sitten pojan Eelin luo.
27 Tätä poikaa minä rukoilin itselleni, ja Herra antoi minulle mitä pyysin.