- 1
- And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli.
And the word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not frequent.
- 2
- And it came to pass at that time, when Eli lay in his place (now his eyes began to grow dim, he could not see),
- 3
- and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was,
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- that Jehovah called to Samuel.
And he said, Here am I.
- 5
- And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I;
for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call: lie down again. And he went and lay down.
- 6
- And Jehovah called again, Samuel!
And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call, my son: lie down again.
- 7
- Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither had the word of Jehovah yet been revealed to him.
- 8
- And Jehovah called again the third time, Samuel!
And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah was calling the boy.
- 9
- And Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down;
and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
- 10
- And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at the other times, Samuel, Samuel!
And Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant heareth.
- 11
- And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
- 12
- In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house;
I will begin and make an end.
- 13
- For I have declared to him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he hath known: because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
- 14
- And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice or oblation for ever.
- 15
- And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah.
And Samuel feared to declare the vision to Eli.
- 16
- And Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son.
And he said, Here am I.
- 17
- And he said, What is the word that he has spoken to thee?
I pray thee, keep it not back from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou keep back anything from me of all the word that he spoke to thee.
- 18
- And Samuel told him all the words, and kept nothing back from him.
And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what is good in his sight.
- 19
- And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.
- 20
- And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established a prophet of Jehovah.
- 21
- And Jehovah appeared again at Shiloh;
for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.
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