1 Samuel 2:10-35

101Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered; 2Against them He will thunder in the heavens, 3The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; 4And He will give strength to His king, 5And will exalt the 6horn of His anointed.”

11Then Elkanah went to his home at 7Ramah. 8But the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

12Now the sons of Eli were 910worthless men; they did not know the Lord 1311and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. 14Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15Also, before 12they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.” 16If the man said to him, “They must surely 13burn the fat 14first, and then take as much as 15you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.” 17Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men 16despised the offering of the Lord.

18Now 17Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy 1819wearing a linen ephod. 19And his mother would make him a little 20robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer 21the yearly sacrifice. 20Then Eli would 22bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you 23children from this woman in place of 24the one she 25dedicated to the Lord.” And they went to their own 26home.

2127The Lord visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And 28the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.

22Now Eli was very old; and he heard 29all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with 30the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 23He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24No, my sons; for the report is not good 31which I hear 32the Lord’s people circulating. 25If one man sins against another, 33God will mediate for him; but 34if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the 35Lord desired to put them to death.

26Now the boy 36Samuel 37was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.

27Then 38a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘39Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 2840Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not 41give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? 29Why do you 42kick at My sacrifice and at My offering 43which I have commanded in My 44dwelling, and 45honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the 46choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ 30Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘47I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me--for 48those who honor Me I will honor, and those 49who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, 50the days are coming when I will break your 51strength and the 52strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32You will see 53the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that 54I do for Israel; and an 55old man will not be in your house forever. 33Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar 56so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die 57in the prime of life. 34This will be 58the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: 59on the same day both of them will die. 35But 60I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and 61I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before 62My anointed always.