And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

And this man went up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

But to Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah; but the LORD had rendered her barren.

And her adversary also provoked her greatly, to make her fret, because the LORD had made her barren.

And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?

And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly.

And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give to thy handmaid a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli observed her mouth.

And Eli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

And they rose in the morning early, and worshiped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

Wherefore it came to pass, when the time had arrived, after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

But Hannah went not up; for she said to her husband, I will not go up until the child is weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.

And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what seemeth to thee good; tarry until thou hast weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and nursed her son until she weaned him.

And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young.

And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying to the LORD.

Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshiped the LORD there.

The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites that came thither.

Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of thee, but raw.

And if any man said to him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, No; but thou shalt give it to me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband, to offer the yearly sacrifice.

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee issue of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went to their own home.

And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did to all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And he said to them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

No, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress.

If one man shall sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man shall sin against the LORD, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

And the child Samuel continued to grow, and was in favor both with the LORD, and also with men.

And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear to the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give to the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from my altar, shall be to consume thy eyes, and to grieve thy heart: and all the increase of thy house shall die in the flower of their age.

And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them.

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my Anointed for ever.

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thy house, shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priest's offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

And the child Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to grow dim, that he could not see;

And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.

And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.

Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he should call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.

And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD: and Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.

And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said to thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou shalt hide any thing from me, of all the things that he said to thee.

And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.

And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.

And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why hath the LORD smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies.

So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who dwelleth between the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God hath come into the camp. And they said, Woe to us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.

Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

Be strong, and acquit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye may not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you: acquit yourselves like men, and fight.

And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.

And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

And the messenger answered and said, Israel hath fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law, and her husband were dead, she bowed herself, and travailed; for her pains came upon her.

And about the time of her death, the women that stood by her said to her, Fear not; for thou hast borne a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.

And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.

And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD: and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshhold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshhold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

They sent therefore, and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel thither.

Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

So they sent and convened all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

And the men that died not, were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us with what we shall send it to its place.

And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass-offering: then ye will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

Then said they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory to the God of Israel: it may be he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

Why then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch-cows on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:

And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold which ye return to him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by its side; and send it away, that it may go.

And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know, that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.

And the men did so; and took two milch cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:

And the cows took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they cleaved the wood of the cart, and offered the cows a burnt-offering to the LORD.

And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, in which were the jewels of gold, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to the LORD.

And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass-offering to the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;

And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities, and of country villages, even to the great stone of Abel, on which they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and bring it up to you.

And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and brought up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.