1And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not frequent.

2And it came to pass at that time, when Eli lay in his place (now his eyes began to grow dim, he could not see),

3and the lamp of ⁶God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of ⁷God was,

4that Jehovah called to Samuel. And he said, Here am I.

5And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call: lie down again. And he went and lay down.

6And Jehovah called again, Samuel! And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I did not call, my son: lie down again.

7Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither had the word of Jehovah yet been revealed to him.

8And Jehovah called again the third time, Samuel! And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah was calling the boy.

9And Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at the other times, Samuel, Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant heareth.

11And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

12In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house; I will begin and make an end.

13For I have declared to him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he hath known: because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

14And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice or oblation for ever.

15And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to declare the vision to Eli.

16And Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here am I.

17And he said, What is the word that he has spoken to thee? I pray thee, keep it not back from me: ⁸God do so to thee, and more also, if thou keep back anything from me of all the word that he spoke to thee.

18And Samuel told him all the words, and kept nothing back from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what is good in his sight.

19And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.

20And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established a prophet of Jehovah.

21And Jehovah appeared again at Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.