Thematic Bible
1 Samuel 1:1 (show verse)
There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the mountains of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph an Ephraimite.
1 Samuel 1:2 (show verse)
He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah was the mother of children. Hannah had no children.
1 Samuel 1:3 (show verse)
This man went to Shiloh every year to worship and to make offerings to Jehovah (YHWH) of Hosts. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were the priests of Jehovah at Shiloh.
1 Samuel 1:4 (show verse)
The day came for Elkanah to make his offering. So he gave a part of the feast to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters.
1 Samuel 1:5 (show verse)
He gave a double portion to Hannah. Hannah was very dear to him even though Jehovah had not given her children.
1 Samuel 1:6 (show verse)
The other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy. This is because Jehovah had not given her children.
1 Samuel 1:7 (show verse)
Year after year when Peninnah went to the Temple of Jehovah, she kept on provoking Hannah. It bothered Hannah so much she wept and did not eat.
1 Samuel 1:8 (show verse)
Her husband Elkanah said to her: Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why is your heart troubled? Am I not more to you than ten sons?
1 Samuel 1:9 (show verse)
So after they finished eating and drinking in Shiloh Hannah got up. The priest Eli sat by the pillars near the door in the Temple of Jehovah.
1 Samuel 1:10 (show verse)
Hannah was filled with grief and wept bitterly. She prayed and pledged an oath to Jehovah:
1 Samuel 1:11 (show verse)
O Jehovah of Hosts: If you will truly notice the sorrow of your servant. Remember me. Do not turn away from me. If you will give me a son, then I will give him to you, Jehovah, all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.
1 Samuel 1:12 (show verse)
Hannah prayed to Jehovah for a long time. Eli watched her lips.
1 Samuel 1:13 (show verse)
She prayed silently. Her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk.
1 Samuel 1:14 (show verse)
He said to her: Stop making a drunken show of yourself! Stop your drinking and sober up!
1 Samuel 1:15 (show verse)
No, I am not drunk, she answered. I have not been drinking! I am desperate. I have prayed and poured out my troubles to Jehovah.
1 Samuel 1:16 (show verse)
Do not consider your maidservant a worthless woman. I pray like this because I am miserable and filled with grief.
1 Samuel 1:17 (show verse)
Eli answered: Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.
1 Samuel 1:18 (show verse)
Let your maidservant find favor in your sight, she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad (self-concerned).
1 Samuel 1:19 (show verse)
The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early. After worshiping Jehovah, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah and Jehovah answered her prayer.
1 Samuel 1:20 (show verse)
So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel. She explained: I asked Jehovah for him.
1 Samuel 1:21 (show verse)
The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he promised.
1 Samuel 1:22 (show verse)
This time Hannah did not go. She told her husband: As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the Temple of Jehovah, where he will stay all his life.
1 Samuel 1:23 (show verse)
Elkanah answered: All right, do what seems best to you. Stay at home until you have weaned him. May Jehovah make your promise come true. So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.
1 Samuel 1:24 (show verse)
After she weaned him she took him to Shiloh. She also took a three-year-old bull, a bushel of flour, and a leather bag full of wine. She took Samuel, young as he was, to the Temple of Jehovah at Shiloh.
1 Samuel 1:25 (show verse)
First they slaughtered the bull. Then they took the child to Eli the priest.
1 Samuel 1:26 (show verse)
Hannah said to him: My lord. Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw standing here, praying to Jehovah.
1 Samuel 1:27 (show verse)
I asked him for this child. He gave me what I asked of him.
1 Samuel 1:28 (show verse)
So I am dedicating (giving) (granting) him to Jehovah. As long as he lives, he will belong to Jehovah. Then they worshiped Jehovah there.