Hannah's Prayer
1 Kingdoms 2, verse 1. And she said: “My heart is strengthened in the Lord; My horn is exalted in my God. I smile at my enemies; I rejoice in Your salvation. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 2. Because no one is holy like the Lord, No one is righteous like our God, No one is holy but You. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 3. Do not boast nor speak of high things; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And God is preparing His actions. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 4. He weakened the bow of mighty men, And those who are weak are girded with strength. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 5. Those who were full of bread were made empty, And the hungry have forsaken the land. The barren woman has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 6. The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Hades and raises up. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 7. The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low and lifts up. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 8. He raises the poor from the earth And lifts the needy from the dung heap, To set them among princely people And make them inherit a throne of glory. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 9. The One who gives a prayer to the one praying, He blesses with righteous years; For by strength no man can prevail. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 10. The Lord makes His adversaries weak; The Lord is holy. Let not the man of learning boast in his understanding, Nor let the man of might boast in his might, Nor let the man of riches boast in his riches. Only let the one who boasts boast in this: To understand and to know the Lord And to do justice and righteousness in the midst of the earth. The Lord went up into the heaven and thundered. The Lord judges the ends of the earth. He gives strength to our leaders, And He will exalt the horn of His Christ.” 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 11. They left him there before the Lord and went away to Ramathaim, and the child performed the services before the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.
The Sinful Sons of Eli
1 Kingdoms 2, verse 12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of scoundrels, not knowing the Lord. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 13. And the custom of the priest for the people who sacrificed was for the servant of the priest to come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged meat-hook in his hand. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 14. He would then thrust it into either the large kettle, or the brazen vessel, or the pot; and everything the meat-hook brought up, the priest would take for himself. So in Shiloh, they did this to all the Israelites who came there to sacrifice to the Lord. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 15. Also, before they burned the fat, the servant came and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give some meat to be roasted to the priest, and I will not take any of your boiled meat from out of the cauldron.” 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 16. And if the man sacrificing said to him, “First he should burn the fat as fitting, then you may take as much as your soul desires.” But he would say, “No, you shall give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 17. Therefore the sin of the servants is exceedingly great before the Lord, for they nullified the sacrifice of the Lord.
God's Servant Samuel
1 Kingdoms 2, verse 18. As a young boy, Samuel was serving before the Lord wearing a linen ephod of a servant. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 19. Moreover, his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him once a year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 20. And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord repay you with a seed from this woman, in return for the loan you made to the Lord.” Then the man went to his place. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 21. And the Lord watched over Hannah, and she bore three more sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew and matured before the Lord.
A Prophecy against Eli's House
1 Kingdoms 2, verse 22. Now Eli was very, very old and he heard what his sons did to the sons of Israel. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 23. So he said to them, “Why are you doing what I hear from the mouth of all the people of the Lord? 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 24. No, my sons! For the report I hear is not good. Do not act in this manner, for the reports I hear are not good, causing the people not to serve God. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 25. If one man sins against another, they will pray to the Lord for him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will pray for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed their father's voice, so the Lord desired to destroy them. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 26. But the child Samuel led his life and he grew and matured and found favor both with the Lord and with men. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 27. Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I clearly revealed Myself to the house of your father when they were slaves in Egypt in Pharaoh's house. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 28. I chose the house of your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to go to My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me. And I gave to the house of your father, and to the sons of Israel, food from all the offerings of fire. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 29. Why do you regard My incense and My sacrifice with impudent eyes and honor your sons more than Me; to bless yourselves with the best of all the first fruits of Israel set before Me?’ 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 30. Therefore the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I said indeed that your house and your father's house would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘Far be it from Me, for I will honor those who honor Me, and the one who despises Me shall be dishonored. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 31. Behold, the days are coming that I will destroy your seed and the seed of the house of your father. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 32. And there shall not be an old man descended from you in My house forever. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 33. But for you—I will not destroy a man from My altar even though his eyes have failed and his life has drained away. But all the descendants of your house shall fall by men's swords. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 34. ‘Now this shall be the sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas. In one day both of them shall die. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 35. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do all that is in My heart and in My soul. I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk before My Christ forever. 1 Kingdoms 2, verse 36. And it shall come to pass that everyone who remains in your house will, for a small amount of silver, prostrate before him begging, “Place me in the priesthood, so I may eat one loaf of bread?”’”