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house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. 32 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. [1] 33 And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from my altar, shall be to consume thy eyes, and to grieve thy heart: and all the increase of thy house shall die in the flower of their age. [2] 34 And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. 35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed for ever. 36 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thy house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. [3] [4]

CHAP. 3.


1 And the child Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes began to grow dim, that he could not see; 3 And before the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was lying down to sleep ; 4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5 And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him. [5] 8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he should call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. [6] 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. [7] [8] [9] 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. 15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to tell Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. 17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said to thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou shalt hide any thing from me of all the things that he said to thee. [10] [11] 18 And Samuel told him every thing, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good. [12]
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. [13] 21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

CHAP. 4.


1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. [14] 2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. [15] [16] 3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies. [17] 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark

  1. an enemy...: or, the affliction of the tabernacle, for all the wealth which God would have given Israel
  2. in the flower...: Heb. men
  3. Put: Heb. Join
  4. one of...: or, somewhat about the priesthood
  5. Now...: or, Thus did Samuel before he knew the LORD, and before the word of the LORD was revealed unto him
  6. when...: Heb. beginning and ending
  7. For I...: or, And I will tell him
  8. vile: or, accursed
  9. restrained...: Heb. frowned not upon them
  10. more also: Heb. so add
  11. thing: or, word
  12. every...: Heb. all the things, or, words
  13. established: or, faithful
  14. came: or, came to pass: Heb. was
  15. they joined...: Heb. the battle was spread
  16. army: Heb. array
  17. fetch: Heb. take unto us