1 Samuel 3

1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;4 That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.s8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.10 And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

11 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.s13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.sss14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.17 And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.ss18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.s

19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beer–sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.s21 And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

1 Samuel 3

The Lord Calls Samuel

1 The boy Samuel was serving the Lord under Eli. In those days a prophecy from the Lord was rare; visions were infrequent.2 One night Eli was lying down in his room. His eyesight had begun to fail so that he couldn’t see well.

3 The lamp in God’s templet hadn’t gone out yet, and Samuel was asleep in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was kept.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel. “Here I am,” Samuel responded.

5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So Samuel went back and lay down.6 The Lord called Samuel again. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am. You called me.”“I didn’t call you, son,” he responded. “Go back to bed.”

7 Samuel had no experience with the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 The Lord called Samuel a third time. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am. You called me.”Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.

9 “Go, lie down,” Eli told Samuel. “When he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I’m listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his room.
10 The Lord came and stood there. He called as he had called the other times: “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak. I’m listening.”11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am going to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it ring.12 On that day I am going to do to Eli and his family everything I said from beginning to end.13 I told him that I would hand down a permanent judgment against his household because he knew about his sons’ sin—that they were cursing Godt —but he didn’t try to stop them.

14 That is why I have taken an oath concerning Eli’s family line: No offering or sacrifice will ever be able to make peace for the sins that Eli’s family committed.”
15 Samuel remained in bed until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.16 Then Eli called Samuel. “Samuel, my son!” he said.“Here I am,” he responded.17 “What did the Lord tell you?” he asked. “Please don’t hide anything from me. May God strike you dead if you hide anything he told you from me.”18 So Samuel told Eli everything.Eli replied, “He is the Lord. May he do what he thinks is right.”19 Samuel grew up. The Lord was with him and didn’t let any of his words go unfulfilled.20 All Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew Samuel was the Lord’s appointed prophet.

21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, since the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of the Lord. And Samuel spoke to all Israel.t