Samuel was born

1There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah town in the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim lived. His father was Jeroham, his grandfather was Elihu, and his great-grandfather was Tohu. He belonged to the Zuph clan.

2He had two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had several children, but Hannah had no children.

3Once every year Elkanah went up with his family from Ramah to Shiloh city. He went there to worship Yahweh, the commander of the armies of angels, and to offer sacrifices to him. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, helped their father to do the work as priests of Yahweh there.

4Each time Elkanah offered sacrifices there, he gave some of the meat to Peninnah and some to each of her sons and daughters.

5But even though he loved Hannah very much, he gave her only one special amount of meat because Yahweh had not permitted her to give birth to any children.

6And his other wife, Peninnah, would ridicule Hannah to make her feel miserable, because Yahweh had not allowed her to bear children.

7This happened every year. When they went up to the temple of Yahweh at Shiloh, Peninnah ridiculed Hannah so much that Hannah cried and would not eat.

8Then Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, ◄why are you crying?/please quit crying!► [RHQ] ◄Why are you not eating?/Please eat something!► [RHQ] Why are you so upset/sad? You have me; is that not more important to you than if you had ten sons? (OR, I love you more than your sons would love you, even if you had ten sons.)”

9One year, after they had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah stood up to pray. Eli the priest was nearby, sitting on a chair by the doorway of the sacred tent of Yahweh.

10Hannah was very distressed, and she cried very sorrowfully as she prayed to Yahweh.

11She made a vow saying, “O Almighty Commander of the armies of angels, if you will look at me and see how miserable I am, and think about me and allow me to give birth to a son, then I will dedicate him to you to serve you for the rest of his life. And to show that he is dedicated to you, ◄no one will ever be allowed to cut his hair/his hair will never be cut►.”

12As she was praying like that to Yahweh, Eli the priest saw Hannah’s lips moving as she was praying.

13But Hannah was only praying silently; she was not making any sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk.

14He said to her, “How long will you continue to get drunk [RHQ]? ◄Throw away your wine/Quit drinking wine►!”

15Hannah replied, “Sir, I am not drunk! I have not been drinking wine or any other alcoholic drink. I feel very distressed and I have been telling Yahweh about how I feel.

16Do not think that I am a worthless/wicked woman! I have been praying like this because I am very distressed [DOU].”

17Eli replied, “I wish/desire that things will go well for you. I desire that God, the one we Israeli people worship, will give you what you requested from him.”

18She replied, “I want you to think highly/well about me.” Then she returned to her family and after she ate something, her face no longer looked sad.

19Early the next morning, Elkanah and his family got up and worshiped Yahweh again, and then they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah ◄slept with/had sex with► Hannah. Then Yahweh answered her prayer,

20and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which sounds like the words in the Hebrew language that mean ‘heard by God’, because she said “Yahweh heard me when I requested from him a son.”

Hannah dedicated Samuel to Yahweh

21The following year, Elkanah again went up to Shiloh with his family to make the kind of sacrifice he made each year, and also to give a special offering to God that he had promised to give him previously.

22But Hannah did not go with them. She said to her husband, “After I have weaned the baby, I will take him to Shiloh and present him to Yahweh, and he will stay there for the rest of his life.”

23Elkanah said, “Do what seems the best to you. Stay here until you have weaned him. What I desire is that Yahweh will enable you to do what you have promised.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her son until she weaned him.

24After she weaned him, even though Samuel was very young, she took him to the temple/house of Yahweh at Shiloh. To offer as a sacrifice, she took along a three-year-old bull, a sack containing ◄20 pounds/9 kg.► of flour, and a container of wine.

25After the priest had slaughtered the bull and offered it to Yahweh on the altar, Hannah and Elkanah brought the boy to Eli.

26Then Hannah said to him, “Sir, ◄Do you remember me?/I solemnly affirm►, I am the woman who prayed as I stood here beside you several years ago.

27I prayed that Yahweh would enable me to give birth to a child, and this is the child whom I requested Yahweh to give me.

28So now I am presenting him to Yahweh. He will belong to Yahweh as long as he lives.” Then Elkanah and his family worshiped Yahweh there.