1 Samuel 3

1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

4 Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.

9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end.13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them.

14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’ ”
15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.”

18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

1 SAMUEL 3

The [Lord] Speaks //to Samuel

1-2 Samuel served the [Lord] by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the [Lord] hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, 3 and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the [Lord]'s house. They had not been asleep very longt

4 when the [Lord] called out Samuel's name.
“Here I am!” Samuel answered.

5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
“I didn't call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.”
Samuel went back.

6 Again the [Lord] called out Samuel's name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?”
Eli told him, “Son, I didn't call you. Go back to sleep.”
7 The [Lord] had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice.

8 When the [Lord] called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
Eli finally realized that it was the [Lord] who was speaking to Samuel.

9 So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I'm listening, [Lord]. What do you want me to do?’ ”
Once again Samuel went back and lay down.

10 The [Lord] then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
“I'm listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?”

11 The [Lord] said:
Samuel, I am going to do something in Israel that will shock everyone who hears about it! 12 I will punish Eli and his family, just as I promised. 13 He knew that his sons refused to respect me, t and he let them get away with it, even though I said I would punish his family forever.

14 I warned Eli that sacrifices or offerings could never make things right! His family has done too many disgusting things.
15 The next morning, Samuel got up and opened the doors to the [Lord]'s house. He was afraid to tell Eli what the [Lord] had said.

16 But Eli told him, “Samuel, my boy, come here!”
“Yes, sir!” Samuel answered.

17 Eli said, “What did God say to you? Tell me everything. I'll ask God to punish you terribly if you don't tell me every word he said!”

18 Samuel told Eli everything. Then Eli said, “He is the [Lord], and he will do what's right.”

The [Lord] Helps Samuel