1 Samuel 3

¹ Now, the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli; in those days it was rare for Yahwehto speak; visions were uncommon.

² One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; hecould no longer see.

³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in Yahweh's sanctuary, where the ark ofGod was,

⁴ when Yahweh cal ed, 'Samuel! Samuel!' He answered, 'Here I am,'

⁵ and, running to Eli, he said, 'Here I am, as you cal ed me.' Eli said, 'I did not call. Go back and lie down.'So he went and lay down.

⁶ And again Yahweh cal ed, 'Samuel! Samuel!' He got up and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, as youcal ed me.' He replied, 'I did not cal , my son; go back and lie down.'

⁷ As yet, Samuel had no knowledge of Yahweh and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed tohim.

⁸ Again Yahweh called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, as you cal ed me.'Eli then understood that Yahweh was cal ing the child,

⁹ and he said to Samuel, 'Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, "Speak, Yahweh; for your servant islistening." ' So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Yahweh then came and stood by, cal ing as he had done before, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Samuelanswered, 'Speak, Yahweh; for your servant is listening.'

¹¹ Yahweh then said to Samuel, 'I am going to do something in Israel which wil make the ears of all whohear of it ring.

¹² I shal carry out that day against Eli everything that I have said about his family, from beginning to end.

¹³ You are to tel him that I condemn his family for ever, since he is aware that his sons have beencursing God and yet has not corrected them.

¹⁴ Therefore -- I swear it to the family of Eli -- no sacrifice or offering shal ever expiate the guilt of Eli'sfamily.'

¹⁵ Samuel lay where he was until morning and then opened the doors of Yahweh's temple. Samuel wasafraid to tel Eli about the vision,

¹⁶ but Eli cal ed Samuel and said, 'Samuel, my son.' 'Here I am,' he replied.

¹⁷ Eli asked, 'What message did he give you? Please do not hide it from me. May God bring unnameableil s on you and worse ones, too, if you hide from me anything of what he said to you.'

¹⁸ Samuel then told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Eli said, 'He is Yahweh; let him do what hethinks good.'

¹⁹ Samuel grew up. Yahweh was with him and did not let a single word fal to the ground of all that hehad told him.

²⁰ Al Israel knew, from Dan to Beersheba, that Samuel was attested as a prophet of Yahweh.

²¹ Yahweh continued to manifest himself at Shiloh, revealing himself to Samuel there,