1 Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2 And then one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak so that he was not able to see)
3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of God was.
4 Then Yahweh called out to Samuel and he said, “Here I am!”
5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” But he said, “I did not call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 And Yahweh called Samuel again, so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him.