1 And Ḥannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoices in יהוה, my horn has been high in יהוה. My mouth is opened wide over my enemies, for I have rejoiced in Your deliverance.
2 “There is no one set-apart like יהוה, for there is no one besides You, and there is no rock like our Elohim.
3 “Do not multiply words so proudly, proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for יהוה is an Ěl of knowledge, and by Him deeds are weighed.
4 “Bows of the mighty are broken, and those who stumble shall be girded with strength.
5 “The satisfied have hired themselves out for bread, and the hungry have ceased. Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children pines away.
6 “יהוה puts to death and makes alive, He brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 “יהוה makes poor and makes rich, He brings low and lifts up.
8 “He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the dunghill, to sit with princes, and make them inherit a throne of esteem. For the supports of the earth belong to יהוה, and He has set the world upon them.
9 “He guards the feet of His kind ones, but the wrong are silent in darkness, for man does not become mighty by power.
10 “Those who oppose יהוה are shattered, from the heavens He thunders against them. יהוה judges the ends of the earth, and gives strength to His sovereign, and exalts the horn of His anointed.”
11 And Elqanah went to his house at Ramah. But the youth served יהוה before Ěli the priest.
12 And the sons of Ěli were sons of Beliya‛al – they did not know יהוה.
13 And the ruling of the priests with the people was that when any man offered a slaughtering, the priest’s servant shall come with a three-pronged flesh-hook in his hand while the meat was cookling,
14 and shall thrust it into the basin, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. And the priest would take for himself all that the flesh-hook brought up. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Yisra’ĕlites who came there.
15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who slaughtered, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he does not accept cooked meat from you, but raw.”
16 And if the man said to him, “Let the fat be burned up first, then take as much as your being desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but give it to me now. And if not, I shall take it by strength.”
17 And the sin of the young men was very great before יהוה, for the men despised the offering of יהוה.
18 But Shemu’ĕl was attending before יהוה – a youth, wearing a linen shoulder garment.
19 And his mother would make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly slaughtering.
20 And Ěli blessed Elqanah and his wife, and said, “יהוה give you offspring from this woman for the one she prayed for and gave to יהוה.” Then they would go to their own home.
21 And יהוה visited Ḥannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters, while the young Shemu’ĕl grew before יהוה.
22 And Ěli was very old, and had heard all that his sons were doing to all Yisra’ĕl, and how they lay with the women who were assembling at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
23 And he said to them, “Why do you do deeds like these? For I hear of your evil deeds from all the people.
24 “No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear: making the people of יהוה transgress.
25 “If one man sins against another, Elohim shall judge him. But if a man sins against יהוה, who shall pray for him?” But they did not listen to the voice of their father, though יהוה was pleased to put them to death.
26 And the young Shemu’ĕl was growing in stature, and was in favour with יהוה and also with men.
27 And a man of Elohim came to Ěli and said to him, “Thus said יהוה, ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Mitsrayim in Pharaoh’s house,
28 even to choose him out of all the tribes of Yisra’ĕl to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear a shoulder garment before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Yisra’ĕl made by fire?
29 ‘Why do you kick at My slaughtering and My offering which I have commanded in My Dwelling Place, and esteem your sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Yisra’ĕl My people?’
30 “Therefore יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl declares, ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now יהוה declares, ‘Far be it from Me, for those who highly esteem Me I highly esteem, and those who despise Me are lightly esteemed.
31 ‘See, the days are coming that I shall cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that an old man shall not be found in your house.
32 ‘And you shall see an enemy in My Dwelling Place, despite all the good which Elohim does for Yisra’ĕl, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.
33 ‘But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar is to consume your eyes and grieve your life, and all the increase of your house die as men.
34 ‘And this is the sign to you that comes upon your two sons, upon Ḥophni and Pineḥas: in one day they are going to die, both of them.
35 ‘And I shall raise up for Myself a trustworthy priest who does according to what is in My heart and in My being. And I shall build him a steadfast house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.
36 ‘And it shall be that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a cake of bread, and say, “Please, put me in one of the priestly positions to eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”