1 Samuel 3

₁The boy Samuel worked for the Lord with Eli. At that time the Lord did not often speak to the people or show them anything. ₂One night Eli was sleeping in his bed. His eyes were not good, and he was almost blind. ₃The lamp of God was still burning and Samuel was sleeping in the tent of the Lord near the covenant box of God. ₄The Lord called Samuel and Samuel said: ‘Here I am.’

₅Samuel ran to Eli and said: ‘Here I am. You called me.’ But Eli said: ‘I did not call you. Go back to sleep.’

Samuel went to sleep. ₆The Lord called again: ‘Samuel.’ Samuel got up and he went to Eli and said: ‘Here I am. You called me.’

But Eli said: ‘My son, I did not call you. Go back to sleep again.’ ₇Samuel did not know that it was the Lord, because God had not spoken to him before that time. ₈When the Lord called Samuel the 3rd time, Samuel got up and he went to Eli and said: ‘Here I am. You called me.’

Then Eli knew that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, ₉and he said to Samuel: ‘Go and lie down, and when He calls you again, you must say: “Speak, Lord. I am your servant and I am listening.” ’

Samuel went back to his bed. ₁₀The Lord came and He stood there and called again: ‘Samuel, Samuel.’ Samuel said: ‘Please speak, Lord. I am your servant and I am listening.’

₁₁The Lord said to Samuel: ‘I am going to do something in the land_of_Israel now and everyone who hears it will be shocked. ₁₂I am going to punish Eli and his family as I said. I will do everything that I said to them. ₁₃I told him that I am going to punish his family forever because of the sin he knew about. His sons cursed God and he did not punish them. ₁₄That is why I made a promise and said: “I will never forgive the sin of Eli's family, not even if they bring Me offerings and gifts.” ’

₁₅Samuel stayed in bed until the morning, then he opened the doors of the tent of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had told him. ₁₆But Eli called Samuel and he said to him: ‘Samuel, my son.’ Samuel said: ‘Here I am.’ ₁₇Then Eli said: ‘What did the Lord say to you? You must tell me everything. Do not hide anything. The Lord will punish you if you do not tell me everything that He said to you.’

₁₈Samuel told Eli everything, and he did not hide anything. Then Eli said: ‘He is God. He must do what He wants to do.’

₁₉Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him. The Lord did everything that He said He would do. ₂₀All the Israelites from the town of Dan in the north to the town of Beersheba in the south knew that Samuel was a true prophet of the Lord who always told the people what the Lord said to him. ₂₁The Lord appeared in Shiloh. He showed Himself to Samuel and spoke to him. Then Samuel talked to the Israelites.