1 Samuel 3

Samuel’s Call

¹The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. ^a In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread. ^b

²One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, ^c was lying in his usual place. ³Before the lamp of God had gone out, ^d Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.

⁴Then the Lord called Samuel, ^e and he answered, “Here I am.” ⁵He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶Once again the Lord called, “Samuel! ”

Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel! ”

Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who hears about it to shudder. ^f,^{g 12}On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. ^{h 13}I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God, ⁱ and he has not stopped them. ^{j 14}Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.” ^k

¹⁵Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” answered Samuel.

¹⁷“What was the message he gave you? ” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.” ^{l 18}So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.” ^m

¹⁹Samuel grew. ⁿ The Lord was with him, ^o and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. ^p,^{q 20}All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. ^{r 21}The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word. ^s