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1 Samuel 1 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Elkanah and His Family
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:1 - There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph[fn] in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:2 - Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:3 - Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:4 - On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:5 - And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion[fn] because the LORD had given her no children.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:6 - So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the LORD had kept her from having children.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:7 - Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle.[fn] Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:8 - “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
Hannah’s Prayer for a Son
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:9 - Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:10 - Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:11 - And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut.[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:12 - As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:13 - Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:14 - “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:15 - “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:16 - Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:17 - “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:18 - “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
Samuel’s Birth and Dedication
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:19 - The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the LORD once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the LORD remembered her plea,
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:20 - and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,[fn] for she said, “I asked the LORD for him.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:21 - The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the LORD.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:22 - But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the LORD permanently.[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:23 - “Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the LORD help you keep your promise.” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:24 - When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull[fn] for the sacrifice and a basket[fn] of flour and some wine.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:25 - After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:26 - “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:27 - I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:28 - Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life.” And they[fn] worshiped the LORD there.
NLT Footnotes
As in Greek version; Hebrew reads in Ramathaim-zophim; compare 1:19.
Or And because he loved Hannah, he would give her a choice portion. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Hebrew the house of the LORD; also in 1:24.
Hebrew the Temple of the LORD.
Some manuscripts add He will drink neither wine nor intoxicants.
Samuel sounds like the Hebrew term for “asked of God” or “heard by God.”
Some manuscripts add I will offer him as a Nazirite for all time.
As in Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek and Syriac versions; Masoretic Text reads three bulls.
Hebrew and an ephah [20 quarts or 22 liters].
Hebrew he.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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