Bible Gateway passage: 1 Samuel 1 - New International Version (2024)

The Birth of Samuel

1There was a certain man from Ramathaim,^(A) a Zuphite^[a](B) from the hill country^(C) of Ephraim,^(D) whose name was Elkanah^(E) son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ²He had two wives;^(F) one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³Year after year^(G) this man went up from his town to worship^(H) and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh,^(I) where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli,^(J) were priests of the Lord. ⁴Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice,^(K) he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.^{(L) 5}But to Hannah he gave a double portion^(M) because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.^{(N) 6}Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.^{(O) 7}This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.^{(P) 8}Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?^(Q)”

⁹Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house.^{(R) 10}In her deep anguish^(S) Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. ¹¹And she made a vow,^(T) saying, “Lord Almighty^(U), if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember^(V) me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life,^(W) and no razor^(X) will ever be used on his head.”

¹²As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

¹⁵“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled.^(Y) I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring^(Z) out my soul to the Lord. ¹⁶Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”^(AA)

¹⁷Eli answered, “Go in peace,^(AB) and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.^(AC)”

¹⁸She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.^(AD)” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.^(AE)

¹⁹Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah.^(AF) Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered^(AG) her. ²⁰So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^(AH) She named^(AI) him Samuel,^[b](AJ) saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Hannah Dedicates Samuel

²¹When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual^(AK) sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,^{(AL) 22}Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present^(AM) him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”^[c]

²³“Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good^(AN) his^[d] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned^(AO) him.

²⁴After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^[e](AP) an ephah^[f] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷I prayed^(AQ) for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life^(AR) he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

Footnotes

1. 1 Samuel 1:1 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 6:26-27,33-35; or from Ramathaim Zuphim.
2. 1 Samuel 1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard by God.
3. 1 Samuel 1:22 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls always. I have dedicated him as a Nazirite—all the days of his life.”
4. 1 Samuel 1:23 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac your
5. 1 Samuel 1:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; Masoretic Text with three bulls
6. 1 Samuel 1:24 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms

Cross references

1. 1 Samuel 1:1 : S Jos 18:25
2. 1 Samuel 1:1 : 1Sa 9:5
3. 1 Samuel 1:1 : Jos 17:17-18
4. 1 Samuel 1:1 : Jos 21:20-22
5. 1 Samuel 1:1 : 1Ch 6:27, 34
6. 1 Samuel 1:2 : S Ge 4:19
7. 1 Samuel 1:3 : ver 21; Ex 23:14; 1Sa 2:19; 20:6, 29; Lk 2:41
8. 1 Samuel 1:3 : Dt 12:5-7
9. 1 Samuel 1:3 : S Jos 18:1
10. 1 Samuel 1:3 : 1Sa 2:31; 14:3
11. 1 Samuel 1:4 : Lev 7:15-18; Dt 12:17-18
12. 1 Samuel 1:4 : S Ge 29:34
13. 1 Samuel 1:5 : S Ge 37:3
14. 1 Samuel 1:5 : S Ge 11:30; S 29:31
15. 1 Samuel 1:6 : S Ge 16:4
16. 1 Samuel 1:7 : 2Sa 12:17; Ps 102:4
17. 1 Samuel 1:8 : S Ru 4:15
18. 1 Samuel 1:9 : 1Sa 3:3
19. 1 Samuel 1:10 : Job 3:20; 7:11; 10:1; 21:25; 23:2; 27:2; Isa 38:15; Jer 20:18
20. 1 Samuel 1:11 : S Jdg 11:30
21. 1 Samuel 1:11 : S Ge 17:1; Ps 24:10; 46:7; Isa 1:9
22. 1 Samuel 1:11 : S Ge 8:1
23. 1 Samuel 1:11 : S Jdg 13:7
24. 1 Samuel 1:11 : Nu 6:1-21; Jdg 13:5; Lk 1:15
25. 1 Samuel 1:15 : 2Ki 4:27
26. 1 Samuel 1:15 : Ps 42:4; 62:8; La 2:19
27. 1 Samuel 1:16 : Ps 55:2
28. 1 Samuel 1:17 : Nu 6:26; 1Sa 20:42; 2Ki 5:19; S Ac 15:33
29. 1 Samuel 1:17 : S Ge 25:21; Ps 20:3-5
30. 1 Samuel 1:18 : S Ge 18:3; Ru 2:13
31. 1 Samuel 1:18 : Ro 15:13
32. 1 Samuel 1:19 : S Jos 18:25
33. 1 Samuel 1:19 : S Ge 8:1; S 29:31
34. 1 Samuel 1:20 : S Ge 17:19; S 29:32; S 30:6
35. 1 Samuel 1:20 : Ex 2:10; Mt 1:21
36. 1 Samuel 1:20 : 1Sa 7:5; 12:23; 1Ch 6:27; Jer 15:1; Heb 11:32
37. 1 Samuel 1:21 : S ver 3
38. 1 Samuel 1:21 : S Ge 28:20; Nu 30:2; Dt 12:11
39. 1 Samuel 1:22 : Ex 13:2; Lk 2:22
40. 1 Samuel 1:23 : S Ge 25:21
41. 1 Samuel 1:23 : Ge 21:8
42. 1 Samuel 1:24 : Nu 15:8-10
43. 1 Samuel 1:27 : 1Sa 2:20; Ps 66:19-20
44. 1 Samuel 1:28 : S Jdg 13:7