1 Samuel 3

The Prophetic Call to Samuel

1Now 1the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the Lord before Eli. And 2word from the Lord was rare in those days; 3visions were infrequent.

2But it happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now 4his eyesight had begun to be 5poor and he could not see well), 3and 6the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 4that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, “7Here I am.” 5Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6And the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son, go back and lie down.” 78Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. 8So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10Then the Lord came and stood, and called as at the other times: “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, 9I am going to do a thing in Israel, and both ears of everyone who hears about it will ring. 12On that day 10I will carry out against Eli everything that I have spoken in regard to his house, from beginning to end. 13For 11I have told him that I am going to judge his house forever for 12the wrongdoing that he knew, because 13his sons were bringing a curse on themselves and 14he did not rebuke them. 14Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that 15the wrongdoing of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”

15So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he 16opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell 17the vision to Eli. 16Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. 18May God do the same to you, and more so, if you hide a single word from me of all the words that He spoke to you!” 18So Samuel told him 19everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “20He is the Lord; let Him do 21what seems good to Him.”

19Now 22Samuel grew, and 23the Lord was with him, and He 24let none of his words 25fail. 20And all Israel 26from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21And 27the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, 28because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.