8 He raises poor people up from the trash pile. He lifts needy people out of the ashes. He lets them sit with princes. He gives them places of honor. "The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord. On them he has set the world.
9 He guards the paths of those who are faithful to him. But evil people will lie silent in their dark graves. "People don't win just because they are strong.
10 Those who oppose the Lord will be totally destroyed. He will thunder against them from heaven. He will judge the earth from one end to the other. "He will give power to his king. He will give honor to his anointed one."
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of the priest Eli.
12 Eli's sons were evil men. They didn't know the Lord.
13 When anyone came to offer a sacrifice, here is what the priests would do. While the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a large fork in his hand.
14 He would stick it into the pan or pot or small or large kettle. Then the priest would take for himself everything the fork brought up. That's how Eli's sons treated all of the people of Israel who came to Shiloh.