1 Kingdoms 1

1There was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountain of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

2He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah none.

3And each year the man went up from his city of Ramathaim to worship and sacrifice to Lord Sabaoth in Shiloh. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, both priests of the Lord, went there as well.

4And on the day he came, Elkanah sacrificed and gave a portion to Peninnah his wife, and to his sons and daughters.

5To Hannah, he gave one portion, since she was without child. However Elkanah loved Hannah more than the other one, but the Lord had closed her womb.

6Because the Lord did not give to her a child during her tribulation, and during the discouragement of her tribulation, she was broken-hearted. The Lord had closed her womb and did not give her a child.

7So year by year when she went up to the house of the Lord, she was broken-hearted and wept and did not eat.

8Then Elkanah, her husband, said to her, 'Hannah.' And she said to him, 'Here I am, lord.' Then he said to her, 'What is the matter with you? Why do you not eat? And why are you heartsick? Am I not better for you than ten children?'

9So Hannah arose after they had finished eating in Shiloh, and she sat down before the Lord. Eli the priest was sitting nearby on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.

10Hannah was grieved in spirit and prayed to the Lord, lamenting and weeping.

11She prayed a vow to the Lord God and said, 'O Lord, my God of Sabaoth, if you are looking, look with favor upon the lowly state of Your handmaiden and remember me. I pray You, give Your handmaiden a seed of men, a son, and I will dedicate him before You as a gift until the day of his death. He will not drink wine nor intoxicating drink, and no razor shall come upon his head.'

12And as she kept praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth.

13And as she spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

14The servant of God said to her, 'For how long will you remain drunk? Cast off your wine, and go out from the face of the Lord!'

15But Hannah answered and said, 'No lord, I am a woman for whom this day is difficult. I drank neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but I pour out my soul before the Lord.

16Do not consider your handmaiden a daughter of pestilence just because of the multitude of my idle words I have put forth.'

17Then Eli answered and said to her, 'Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you the petition you asked of Him.'

18And she said, 'Your handmaiden has found favor in your sight.' So the woman went her way and came into her lodging and ate and drank with her husband. Her face was no longer fallen.

19Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped the Lord and went on their way back to Elkanah's house at Ramathaim. And he knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.

20She conceived, and it came to be at the appointed time she bore a son, and she called him Samuel and said, 'Because I asked for him from the Lord God Sabaoth.'

21Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to Shiloh to offer the yearly sacrifice, his vow, and the tenth portion of all his land.

22But Hannah did not go up with him, for she said to her husband, 'I will not go up until our boy is weaned from me. Then he will appear in the presence of the Lord and stay there continually.'

23And Elkanah her husband said to her, 'Do what is good in your eyes; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord confirm as true what was coming out of your mouth.' So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she weaned him.

24And she went up with him to Shiloh with a calf three years old, loaves of bread, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She came to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, and the child was with them.

25And they came before the Lord, and his father slaughtered the offering he made yearly to the Lord. He brought the child and slaughtered the calf. Then Hannah, the mother of the young boy, went to Eli.

26And she said to him, 'Lord, as your soul lives, I am the woman who was standing near you while I prayed to the Lord.

27For this child I prayed, and the Lord gave me my request which I asked from Him.

28And I lend him to the Lord all the days which he lives to be fruitful to the Lord.'