1 Samuel 3

¹Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli, and the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

²And it came to pass at that time that Eli was lying in his place; his eyes had begun to grow dim, and he could not see.

³The 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.

⁴And the LORD called to Samuel, and he said, 'Here I am!'

⁵And he ran to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' But Eli said, 'I did not call you; go back and lie down.' So he went and lay down.

⁶And the LORD called again, 'Samuel!' And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' And Eli said, 'I did not call, my son; return, lie down.'

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸And the LORD called Samuel a third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the young man.

⁹So Eli said to Samuel, 'Go, lie down, and if he calls to you, you shall say, "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening."' So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰And the LORD came and stood, and called as before, 'Samuel! Samuel!' And Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'

¹¹And the LORD said to Samuel, 'Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, so that the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.'

¹²On that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.

¹³For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were cursing God and he did not rebuke them.

¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.

¹⁵So Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

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

¹⁷And he said, "What is the word that he spoke to you? Do not hide it from me, please. May God do thus to you and thus add more, if you hide from me anything of the word that he spoke to you."

¹⁸And Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And Eli said, 'He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his sight.'

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

²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD.

²¹And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh through the word of the LORD.