Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today we begin the first book of Samuel,
and we're reading chapters 1 to 3. Chapter 1.
Now there was a certain man of Ramatim, Zophim,
of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was
Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu,
the son of Tohu, the son of Zuth, and Ephraimite.
And he had two wives. The name of one was Hannah,
and the name of the other was Peninnah. Peninnah
had children, but Hannah had no children. This
man went up from his city yearly to worship and
sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. Also
the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the
priests of the Lord, were there. And whenever
the time came for Elkanah to make an offering,
he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and
to all her sons and daughters, but to Hannah
he would give a double portion, for he loved
Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb.
And her rival also provoked her severely to make
her miserable, because the Lord had closed her
womb. So it was year by year when she went up
to the house of the Lord that she provoked her.
Therefore she wept and did not eat. Then Elkanah
her husband said to her, Hannah, why do you weep?
Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved?
Am I not better to you than ten sons? So Hannah
arose after they had finished eating and drinking
in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on
the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of
the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul and
prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then
she made a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if
you will indeed look on affliction of your maidservant
and remember me, and not forget your maidservant,
but will give your maidservant a male child,
then I will give him to the Lord all the days
of his life, and no razor shall come upon his
head. And it happened as she continued praying
before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth.
Now Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips
moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore
Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her,
How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away
from you. But Hannah answered and said, No, my
lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have
drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but
have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not
consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for
out of the abundance of my complaint and grief
I have spoken until now. Then Eli answered and
said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant
your petition, which you have asked of him. And
she said, Let your maidservant find favor in
your sight. So the woman went her way and ate,
and her face was no longer sad. Then he rose
early in the morning and worshipped before the
Lord, and returned and came to their house at
Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and
the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass,
in the process of time, that Hannah conceived
and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying,
Because I have asked for him from the Lord. Now
the man Elkanah and all his house went up to
offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his
vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to
her husband, Not until the child is weaned, then
I will take him, that he may appear before the
Lord and remain there forever. So Elkanah her
husband said to her, Do what seems best to you,
wait until you have weaned him, only let the
Lord establish his word. And the woman stayed
and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
Now when she had weaned him, she took him up
with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour,
and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house
of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young.
Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the
child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as your
soul lives, my Lord, I am the woman who stood
by you here, praying to the Lord. For this child
I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition,
which I asked of him. Therefore I also have lent
him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall
be lent to the Lord. So they worshipped the Lord
there. And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices
in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord,
I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in your
salvation. No one is holy like the Lord, for
there is none besides you, nor is there any rock
like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let
no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord
is the God of knowledge, and by him actions are
weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken,
and those who stumbled are girded with strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out
for bread, and the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has born seven, and she who has
many children has become feeble. The Lord kills
and makes alive. He brings down to the grave
and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes
rich. He brings low and lifts up. He raises the
poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from
the ash heap. to set them among princes and make
them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars
of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the
world upon them. He will guard the feet of his
saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness.
For by strength no man shall prevail, the adversaries
of the Lord shall be broken in pieces. From heaven
he will thunder against them, the Lord will judge
the ends of the earth. He will give strength
to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But
the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the
priest. Now the sons of Eli were corrupt. They
did not know the Lord. And the priest's custom
with the people was that when any man offered
a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come
with a three -pronged flesh hook in his hand
while the meat was boiling. Then he would thrust
it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot.
And the priest would take for himself all that
the flesh hook brought up. So they did in Shiloh
to all the Israelites who came there. Also before
they burned 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. And if
the man said to him, They should really burn
the fat first, then you may take as much 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. Therefore the sin of the young
men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred
the offering of the Lord. But Samuel ministered
before the Lord even as a child, wearing a linen
ephod. Moreover, his mother used to make him
a little robe and bring it to him year by year
when she came up with her husband to offer the
yearly sacrifice. And Eli would bless Elkanah
and his wife and say, The Lord give you descendants
from this woman for the loan that was given to
the Lord. Then they would go to their own home.
And the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived
and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile,
the child Samuel grew before the Lord. Now Eli
was very old, and he heard everything his sons
did to all Israel, and how they lay with the
women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle
of meeting. So he said to them, Why do you do
such things? For I hear of your evil dealings
with all the people. No, my sons, for it is not
a good report that I hear. You make the Lord's
people transgress. If one man sins against another,
God will judge him. But if a man sins against
the Lord, who will intercede for him? Nevertheless,
they did not heed the voice of their father,
because the Lord desired to kill them. And the
child Samuel grew in stature and in favor, both
with the Lord and men. Then a man of God came
to Eli and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Did
I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your
father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of
Israel to be my priest, to offer upon my altar,
to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before
me? And did I not give to the house of your father
all the offerings of the children of Israel made
by fire? Why do you kick at my sacrifice and
my offering, which I commanded in my dwelling
place, and honor your sons more than me, to make
yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings
of Israel my people? Therefore the Lord God of
Israel says, I said indeed that your house and
the house of your father would walk before me
forever. and now the lord says far be it from
me for those who honor me i will honor and those
who despise me shall be lightly esteemed behold
the 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 and
you will see an enemy in my dwelling place despite
all the good which god does for israel and there
shall not be an old man in your house forever
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. Now this
shall be a sign to you that will come upon your
two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas. In one day
they shall die, both of them. Then I will raise
up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do
according to what is in my heart and in my mind.
I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk
before my anointed forever. And 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. Chapter 3 Now the
boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli,
and the word of the Lord was rare in those days.
There was no widespread revelation. And it came
to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down
in his place, and when his eyes had begun to
grow so dim that he could not see, and before
the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of
the Lord, where the ark of God was, and while
Samuel was lying down, that the Lord called Samuel,
and he answered, Here I am. So he ran to Eli
and said, Here I am, for you called me. And he
said, I did not call. Lie down again. And he
went and lay down. Then the Lord called yet again,
Samuel. So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said,
Here I am, for you called me. He answered, I
did not call my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel
did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of
the Lord yet revealed to him. And the Lord called
Samuel again a third time. So he arose and went
to Eli and said, Here I am, for you did call
me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called
a boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go lie down,
and it shall be, if he calls you, that you must
say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. So
Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the
Lord came and stood and called as at other times,
Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel answered, Speak, for
your servant hears. Then the Lord said to Samuel,
Behold, I will do something in Israel, at which
both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
In that day I will perform against Eli all that
I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning
to end. For I have told him that I will judge
his house forever for the iniquity which he knows,
because his sons made themselves vile, and he
did not restrain them. And therefore I have sworn
to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's
house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or
offering forever. So Samuel lay down until morning
and opened the doors of the house of the Lord,
and Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision.
Then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son.
He answered, Here I am. And he said, What is
the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do
not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more
also, if you hide anything from me of all the
things that he said to you. Then Samuel told
him everything and hid nothing from him. And
he said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seems
good to him. So Samuel grew, and the Lord was
with him, and let none of his words fall to the
ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba
knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet
of the Lord. Then the Lord appeared again in
Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel
in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. I hope you
enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and
I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow to
continue on our journey. God bless you and have
a great day.