1 Samuel 1-7

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

I. The Last Judges, Eli and Samuel

Chapter 1

Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh. ¹ There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.^{(A) 2} He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. ³ Each year this man went up from his city to worship and offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were ministering as priests of the Lord.^{(B) 4} When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice, he used to give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters, ⁵ but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.^{(C) 6} Her rival,^[a] to upset her, would torment her constantly, since the Lord had closed her womb.^{(D) 7} Year after year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.^{[b] 8} Elkanah, her husband, would say to her: “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why are you so miserable? Am I not better for you than ten sons?”^(E)

Hannah’s Prayer. ⁹ Hannah rose after one such meal at Shiloh, and presented herself before the Lord; at the time Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁰ In her bitterness she prayed to the Lord, weeping freely, ¹¹ and made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. No razor shall ever touch his head.”^{[c](F) 12} As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth, ¹³ for Hannah was praying silently; though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, thinking she was drunk, ¹⁴ said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up from your wine!” ¹⁵ “No, my lord!” Hannah answered. “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my heart to the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not think your servant a worthless woman; my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.” ¹⁷ Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have requested.” ¹⁸ She replied, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” and left. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downhearted. ¹⁹ Early the next morning they worshiped before the Lord, and then returned to their home in Ramah. When they returned Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

Hannah Bears a Son. ²⁰ She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.^[d] “Because I asked the Lord for him.” ²¹ The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, ²² Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and leave him there forever.”^{[e] 23} Her husband Elkanah answered her: “Do what you think best; wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord fulfill his word!” And so she remained at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.^(G)

Hannah Presents Samuel to the Lord. ²⁴ Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah^[f] of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the Lord in Shiloh. ²⁵ After they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. ²⁸ Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” Then they worshiped there before the Lord.

Chapter 2

¹ And Hannah prayed:^[g]

¹¹ When Elkanah returned home to Ramah, the child remained in the service of the Lord under the priest Eli.

Wickedness of Eli’s Sons. ¹² Now the sons of Eli were wicked; they had respect neither for the Lord ¹³ nor for the priests’ duties toward the people. When someone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork, while the meat was still boiling,^{(P) 14} and would thrust it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot. Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. They treated all the Israelites who came to the sanctuary at Shiloh in this way. ¹⁵ In fact, even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one offering the sacrifice, “Give me some meat to roast for the priest. He will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw meat.” ¹⁶ And if this one protested, “Let the fat be burned first, then take whatever you wish,” he would reply, “No, give it to me now, or else I will take it by force.”^{(Q) 17} Thus the young men sinned grievously in the presence of the Lord, treating the offerings to the Lord with disdain.

The Lord Rewards Hannah. ¹⁸ Meanwhile the boy Samuel, wearing a linen ephod,^[i] was serving in the presence of the Lord. ¹⁹ His mother used to make a little garment for him, which she would bring him each time she went up with her husband to offer the customary sacrifice. ²⁰ And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, as they were leaving for home. He would say, “May the Lord repay you with children from this woman for the gift she has made to the Lord!” ²¹ The Lord favored Hannah so that she conceived and gave birth to three more sons and two daughters, while young Samuel grew up in the service of the Lord.^(R)

Eli’s Futile Rebuke. ²² When Eli was very old, he kept hearing how his sons were treating all Israel, and that they were behaving promiscuously^[j] with the women serving at the entry of the meeting tent. ²³ So he said to them: “Why are you doing such things? I hear from everyone that your behavior is depraved. ²⁴ Stop this, my sons! The report that I hear the Lord’s people spreading is not good. ²⁵ If someone sins against another, anyone can intercede for the sinner with the Lord; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who can intercede^[k] for the sinner?” But they disregarded their father’s warning, since the Lord wanted them dead. ²⁶ Meanwhile, young Samuel was growing in stature and in worth in the estimation of the Lord and the people.^(S)

The Fate of Eli’s House.^{[l] 27} A man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: I went so far as to reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt as slaves to the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸ I chose them out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the ephod^[m] in my presence; and I assigned all the fire offerings of the Israelites to your father’s house.^{(T) 29} Why do you stare greedily at my sacrifices and at the offerings that I have prescribed? Why do you honor your sons more than you honor me, fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of my people Israel? ^30 (U)This, therefore, is the oracle of the Lord, the God of Israel: I said in the past that your family and your father’s house should minister in my presence forever. But now—oracle of the Lord: Far be it from me! I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me shall be cursed. ³¹ Yes, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in your family lives to old age. ³² You shall witness, like a disappointed rival, all the benefits enjoyed by Israel, but no member of your household shall ever grow old. ³³ I will leave you one man at my altar to wear out his eyes and waste his strength, but the rest of your family shall die by the sword. ³⁴ This is a sign for you—what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Both of them will die on the same day.^{(V) 35} I will choose a faithful priest who shall do what I have in heart and mind. I will establish a lasting house for him and he shall serve in the presence of my anointed forever. ³⁶ Then whoever is left of your family will grovel before him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, saying: Please assign me a priestly function, that I may have a crust of bread to eat.”^(W)

Chapter 3

Revelation to Samuel. ¹ During the time young Samuel was minister to the Lord under Eli, the word of the Lord was scarce and vision infrequent. ^2 [n]One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see. ³ The lamp of God was not yet extinguished,^[o] and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was.^{(X) 4} The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.” “I did not call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to sleep.” So he went back to sleep. ⁶ Again the Lord called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “You called me.” But he answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”

⁷ Samuel did not yet recognize the Lord, since the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ The Lord called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the youth. ⁹ So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” When Samuel went to sleep in his place, ¹⁰ the Lord came and stood there, calling out as before: Samuel, Samuel! Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel: I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it ring.^{(Y) 12} On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have said about his house, beginning to end. ¹³ I announce to him that I am condemning his house once and for all, because of this crime: though he knew his sons were blaspheming God, he did not reprove them.^{(Z) 14} Therefore, I swear to Eli’s house: No sacrifice or offering will ever expiate its crime.^{[p] 15} Samuel then slept until morning, when he got up early and opened the doors of the temple of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶ but Eli called to him, “Samuel, my son!” He replied, “Here I am.” ¹⁷ Then Eli asked, “What did he say to you? Hide nothing from me! May God do thus to you, and more,^[q] if you hide from me a single thing he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything, and held nothing back. Eli answered, “It is the Lord. What is pleasing in the Lord’s sight, the Lord will do.”

Samuel Acknowledged as Prophet. ¹⁹ Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to go unfulfilled.^{(AA) 20 (AB)}Thus all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba came to know that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. ²¹ The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, manifesting himself to Samuel at Shiloh through his word. Samuel’s word spread throughout Israel.

Chapter 4

Defeat of the Israelites.^{[r] 1} At that time, the Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel. Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek. ² The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel. After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. ³ When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh that it may go into battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies.”^(AC)

Loss of the Ark. ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim.^[s] The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, accompanied the ark of God.^{(AD) 5} When the ark of the Lord arrived in the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. ⁶ The Philistines, hearing the uproar, asked, “What does this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” On learning that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, ⁷ the Philistines were frightened, crying out, “Gods have come to their camp. Woe to us! This has never happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?^[t] These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with various plagues in the desert. ⁹ Take courage and act like soldiers, Philistines; otherwise you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they were your slaves. Fight like soldiers!” ¹⁰ The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated; everyone fled to their own tents.^[u] It was a disastrous defeat; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹ The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were dead.^(AE)

Death of Eli. ¹² A Benjaminite fled from the battlefield and reached Shiloh that same day, with his clothes torn and his head covered with dirt.^{(AF) 13} When he arrived, Eli was sitting in his chair beside the gate, watching the road, for he was troubled at heart about the ark of God. The man, however, went into the city to announce his news; then the whole city cried out. ¹⁴ When Eli heard the uproar, he wondered why there was such commotion. Just then the man rushed up to inform him. ¹⁵ Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes would not focus. So he could not see. ¹⁶ The man said to Eli: “I have come from the battlefield; today I fled from there.” He asked, “What happened, my son?” ¹⁷ And the messenger answered: “Israel fled from the Philistines; in fact, the troops suffered heavy losses. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸ At this mention of the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his chair into the gateway; he died of a broken neck since he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

¹⁹ His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she crouched down in labor, and gave birth. ²⁰ She was about to die when the women standing around her said to her, “Do not be afraid, you have given birth to a son.” Yet she neither answered nor paid any attention.^{(AG) 21} She named the child Ichabod, saying, “Gone is the glory from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to her father-in-law and her husband. ²² She said, “Gone is the glory from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured.^(AH)

Chapter 5

The Ark in the Temple of Dagon. ^1 [v](AI)The Philistines, having captured the ark of God, transferred it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.^{(AJ) 2} They then took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, placing it beside Dagon. ³ When the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, Dagon was lying face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they picked Dagon up and put him back in his place. ⁴ But early the next morning, when they arose, Dagon lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord, his head and hands broken off and lying on the threshold, his trunk alone intact. ⁵ For this reason, neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter the temple of Dagon tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this very day.

The Ark Is Carried About. ⁶ Now the hand of the Lord weighed heavily on the people of Ashdod, ravaging them and afflicting the city and its vicinity with tumors.^{[w](AK) 7} On seeing how matters stood, the people of Ashdod decided, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand weighs heavily on us and Dagon our god.” ⁸ So they summoned all the Philistine leaders and inquired of them, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” The people of Gath replied, “Let them move the ark of the God of Israel to us.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath. ⁹ But after it had been brought there, the hand of the Lord was against the city, resulting in utter turmoil: the Lord afflicted its inhabitants, young and old, and tumors broke out on them. ¹⁰ The ark of God was next sent to Ekron; but as it entered that city, the people there cried out, “Why have they brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill us and our kindred?” ¹¹ Then they, too, sent a summons to all the Philistine leaders and pleaded: “Send away the ark of the God of Israel. Send it back to its place so it does not kill us and our kindred.” A deadly panic had seized the whole city, since the hand of God lay heavy upon it. ¹² Those who escaped death were afflicted with tumors. Thus the outcry from the city went up to the heavens.

Chapter 6

The Ark Is Returned. ¹ The ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines seven months ² when they summoned priests and diviners to ask, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us what we should send back with it.” ³ They replied: “If you intend to send back the ark of the God of Israel, you must not send it alone, but must, by all means, make amends to God through a reparation offering.^[x] Then you will be healed, and will learn why God continues to afflict you.” ⁴ When asked further, “What reparation offering should be our amends to God?” they replied: “Five golden tumors and five golden mice to correspond to the number of Philistine leaders, since the same plague has struck all of you and your leaders. ⁵ Therefore, make images of the tumors and of the mice that are devastating your land and so give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps then God will lift his hand from you, your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why should you become stubborn, the way the Egyptians and Pharaoh were stubborn? Was it not after he had dealt ruthlessly with them that the Israelites were released and departed?^{(AL) 7} So now set to work and make a new cart. Then take two milk cows that have not borne the yoke; hitch them to the cart, but drive their calves indoors away from them.^{[y](AM) 8} You shall next take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, putting the golden articles that you are offering as reparation for your guilt in a box beside it. Start it on its way, and let it go. ⁹ Then watch! If it goes up to Beth-shemesh^[z] along the route to the Lord’s territory, then it was the Lord who brought this great calamity upon us; if not, we will know that it was not the Lord’s hand, but a bad turn, that struck us.”

The Ark in Beth-shemesh. ¹⁰ They acted upon this advice. Taking two milk cows, they hitched them to the cart but shut up their calves indoors. ¹¹ Then they placed the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the golden mice and the images of the tumors. ¹² The cows went straight for the route to Beth-shemesh and continued along this road, mooing as they went, turning neither right nor left. The Philistine leaders followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. ¹³ The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting the wheat in the valley. They looked up and rejoiced when they saw the ark. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there. At a large stone in the field, the wood of the cart was split up and the cows were offered as a burnt offering to the Lord.^{(AN) 15} The Levites, meanwhile, had taken down the ark of God and the box beside it, with the golden articles, and had placed them on the great stone. The people of Beth-shemesh also offered other burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord that day.^{(AO) 16} After witnessing this, the five Philistine leaders returned to Ekron the same day.

¹⁷ The golden tumors the Philistines sent back as a reparation offering to the Lord were as follows: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron. ¹⁸ The golden mice, however, corresponded to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five leaders, including fortified cities and open villages.^[aa] The large stone on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite at the present time.^(AP)

Penalty for Irreverence. ¹⁹ The descendants of Jeconiah did not join in the celebration with the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the Lord, and seventy of them were struck down. The people mourned over this great calamity which the Lord had inflicted upon them. ²⁰ The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this Holy God? To whom can the ark go so that we are rid of it?” ²¹ They then sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord; come down and get it.”

Chapter 7

¹ So the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, appointing his son Eleazar as guardian of the ark of the Lord.

Samuel the Judge. ² From the day the ark came to rest in Kiriath-jearim, a long time, twenty years, elapsed, and the whole house of Israel turned to the Lord. ³ Then Samuel addressed the whole house of Israel: “If you would return to the Lord with your whole heart, remove your foreign gods and your Astartes, fix your hearts on the Lord, and serve him alone, then the Lord will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”^{(AQ) 4} So the Israelites removed their Baals and Astartes,^[ab] and served the Lord alone. ⁵ Samuel then gave orders, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, that I may pray to the Lord for you.”^{(AR) 6} When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out^[ac] on the ground before the Lord, and they fasted that day, saying, “We have sinned against the Lord.” It was at Mizpah that Samuel began to judge the Israelites.^(AS)

Rout of the Philistines. ⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their leaders went up against Israel. Hearing this, the Israelites became afraid of the Philistines ⁸ and appealed to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, to save us from the hand of the Philistines.”^{(AT) 9} Samuel therefore took an unweaned lamb and offered it whole as a burnt offering to the Lord.^(AU) He cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near for battle with Israel. That day, however, the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines, and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel.^{(AV) 11} Thereupon the Israelites rushed out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, striking them down even beyond Beth-car. ¹² Samuel then took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Jeshanah; he named it Ebenezer,^[ad] explaining, “As far as this place the Lord has been our help.” ¹³ Thus were the Philistines subdued, never again to enter the territory of Israel, for the hand of the Lord was against them as long as Samuel lived.^{(AW) 14} The cities from Ekron to Gath which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to them. Israel also freed the territory of these cities from Philistine domination. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.^[ae]

¹⁵ Samuel judged Israel as long as he lived. ¹⁶ He made a yearly circuit, passing through Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah^[af] and judging Israel at each of these places. ¹⁷ Then he used to return to Ramah, for that was his home. There, too, he judged Israel and built an altar to the Lord.^(AX)