Hannah’s Prayer
1 And Hannah Gen. 24:26, 52prayed and said:
Phil. 4:6"My heart rejoices in the Lord;
1 Sam. 2:1–10; Ps. 97:11, 12; Luke 1:46–55My horn is exalted in the Lord.
I smile at my enemies,
Because I Ps. 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; 112:9rejoice in Your salvation.
2 "NoPs. 9:14; 13:5; 35:9; Is. 12:2, 3 one is holy like the Lord,
For thereisEx. 15:11; Ps. 86:8; Rev. 15:4none besides You,
Nor isthere any Deut. 4:35rock like our God.
3 "Talk no more so very proudly;
Deut. 32:4, 30, 31; 2 Sam. 22:32; Ps. 18:2Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lordis the God of Ps. 94:4knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.
4 "The1 Sam. 16:7 bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
5 Thosewhowere full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased tohunger.
Even Ps. 37:15; 46:9the barren has borne seven,
And Ps. 113:9she who has many children has become feeble.
6 "TheIs. 54:1; Jer. 15:9Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.
7 The LordDeut. 32:39; 2 Kin. 5:7; Job 5:18; (Rev. 1:18)makes poor and makes rich;
Deut. 8:17, 18; Job 1:21He brings low and lifts up.
8 Job 5:11; Ps. 75:7; James 4:10He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
Job 42:10–12; Ps. 75:7; 113:7; Luke 1:52To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.
Job 36:7; Ps. 113:8"For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He has set the world upon them.
9 Job 38:4–6; Ps. 75:3; 104:5He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the Ps. 37:23, 24; 91:11, 12; 94:18; 121:3; Prov. 3:26; (1 Pet. 1:5)wicked shall be silent in darkness.
"For by strength no man shall prevail.
10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be (Rom. 3:19)broken in pieces;
Ex. 15:6; Ps. 2:9From heaven He will thunder against them.
1 Sam. 7:10; 2 Sam. 22:14, 15; Ps. 18:13, 14The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
Ps. 96:13; 98:9; (Matt. 25:31, 32)"He will give (Matt. 28:18)strength to His king,
And Ps. 21:1, 7exalt the horn of His anointed."
11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.
The Wicked Sons of Eli
12 Now the sons of Eli werePs. 89:24corrupt; Deut. 13:13they did not know the Lord. 13 And the priests’ custom with the people wasthat when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Judg. 2:10; (Rom. 1:28)Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they 1 Sam. 1:3burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw."
16 And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take asmuch as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force."
17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great Lev. 3:3–5, 16before the Lord, for men Gen. 6:11abhorred the offering of the Lord.
Samuel’s Childhood Ministry
18 (Mal. 2:7–9)But Samuel ministered before the Lord, evenas a child, 1 Sam. 2:11; 3:1wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she Ex. 28:4came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli 1 Sam. 1:3, 21would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was Gen. 14:19given to the Lord." Then they would go to their own home.
21 And the Lord1 Sam. 1:11, 27, 28visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel Gen. 21:1grew before the Lord.
Prophecy Against Eli’s Household
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with Judg. 13:24; 1 Sam. 2:26; 3:19–21; Luke 1:80; 2:40the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For itis not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, Ex. 38:8God will judge him. But if a man Deut. 1:17; 25:1, 2sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?" Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, Num. 15:30because the Lord desired to kill them.
26 And the child Samuel Josh. 11:20grew in stature, and 1 Sam. 2:21in favor both with the Lord and men.
27 Then a Prov. 3:4man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: Deut. 33:1; Judg. 13:6; 1 Sam. 9:6; 1 Kin. 13:1‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I not Ex. 4:14–16; 12:1choose him out of all the tribes of Israel tobe My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And Ex. 28:1, 4; Num. 16:5did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you Lev. 2:3, 10; 6:16; 7:7, 8, 34, 35; Num. 5:9kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded inMyDeut. 32:15dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Deut. 12:5; Ps. 26:8Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: Matt. 10:37‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: Ex. 29:9; Num. 25:13‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and Jer. 18:9, 10those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, Ps. 91:14; Mal. 2:9–12the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will see an enemy inMy dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be 1 Sam. 4:11–18; 22:18, 19; 1 Kin. 2:27, 35an old man in your house forever. 33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 Now this shallbeZech. 8:4a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: 1 Sam. 10:7–9; 1 Kin. 13:3in one day they shall die, both of them. 35 Then 1 Sam. 4:11, 17I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. 1 Kin. 2:35; Ezek. 44:15; (Heb. 2:17; 7:26–28)I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before 2 Sam. 7:11, 27; 1 Kin. 11:38My anointed forever. 36 Ps. 18:50And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, "Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread." ’ "