1Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in Yahweh! I am strong through Yahweh. I can speak boldly against my enemies, because I celebrate in Your salvation.
2No one is as holy as Yahweh; there is no one besides You, and no rock is like our God.
3Stop talking so proudly. Don’t let arrogant words come out of your mouth, because Yahweh is a God who knows everything. He weighs people’s actions.
4The weapons of strong warriors are broken, but those who were weak are now armed with strength.
5Those who were full have had to work for food, while those who were hungry are now satisfied. The woman who couldn’t have children has given birth to seven, but the woman with many children has become weak.
6Yahweh kills and makes alive. He brings people down to the grave and brings them up again.
7Yahweh makes people poor and makes them rich. He brings them low, and he also lifts them up.
8He lifts the poor out of the dust and raises the needy from the trash heap, placing them among princes and giving them a glorious position. For the earth’s foundations belong to Yahweh; he built the world upon them.
9He will protect his faithful followers, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness; for no one will succeed by their own strength.
10Those who fight against Yahweh will be shattered. He will thunder against them from the sky. Yahweh will judge the whole world. He will give strength to his king and increase the power of his chosen one.”
11Elkanah went to his home in Ramah. The child served Yahweh under the priest Eli.
12Now Eli’s sons were wicked men. They did not respect Yahweh.
13The priests’ custom with the people was this: when anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was boiling;
14and he would stick it into the pan, kettle, cauldron, or pot. The priest would take for himself everything the fork brought up. This is what they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man offering the sacrifice, “Give meat to roast for the priest; he will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw.”
16If the man said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take as much as you want”; then the servant would say, “No, you must give it to me now; if not, I will take it by force.”
17The sin of these young men was very great in Yahweh’s sight, because they treated Yahweh’s offering with contempt.
18But Samuel served Yahweh, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod.
19His mother also made him a little robe and brought it to him every year when she came up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
20Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May Yahweh give you more children from this woman in place of the child you prayed for.” Then they went back to their home.
21Yahweh visited Hannah, and she became pregnant and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew up in Yahweh’s presence.
22Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all of Israel, and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
23He said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear about your evil deeds from all these people.
24No, my sons, the reports I hear are not good! You are making Yahweh’s people turn away from him.
25If one person wrongs another, God can mediate for them; but if a person wrongs Yahweh, who can intercede?” However, his sons did not listen to their father, because Yahweh intended to bring about their death.
26The child Samuel continued to grow, gaining favor with both Yahweh and people.
27A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Did I not clearly make myself known to your ancestors when they were in Egypt, enslaved to Pharaoh’s household?
28Didn't I choose him from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear a special priestly garment before me? Didn't I give all the Israelites' food offerings made by fire to your father's family?
29Why do you disrespect my sacrifices and offerings, which I commanded to be made in my dwelling place? Why do you honor your sons more than me, making yourselves fat with the best parts of all the offerings from my people Israel?
30Therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'I truly promised that your family and your father's family would serve me forever.' But now Yahweh says, 'I will not do that! I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be treated with contempt.
31Look, the time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's family, so that no one in your house will live to old age.
32You will witness the trouble in my dwelling, despite all the good things I will give Israel; and no one in your family will ever live to be old.
33Any man from your family whom I don't remove from my altar will make you blind with grief and break your heart; and all your descendants will die in the prime of their lives.
34This will be the sign to you, a sign concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day.
35I will appoint a faithful priest who will do what is in my heart and mind. I will establish his family firmly, and he will serve my chosen king forever.
36Then everyone left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will say, 'Please assign me to one of the priestly duties so I can have something to eat.'