1 Samuel Chapter 2
Showing all 36 verses for 1 Samuel Chapter 2.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. "
"Hannah prayed: "My heart celebrates in the LORD; I stand tall because of the LORD. I can laugh at my enemies, because I'm rejoicing in the way you have rescued me.""
Hannah's song bursts with joy 'in the LORD,' not joy in herself or in finally having a child to prove her worth - her horn is exalted 'in the LORD' specifically. When good things come to you, let your joy point past the gift towards the giver, the same instinct Mary shows centuries later at news of her own impossible child. Celebrate loudly, but celebrate rightly.
"There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. "
""There is no one holy like the LORD - there is no one besides you; there is no rock as solid as our God.""
'There is none holy as the LORD... neither is there any rock like our God' - Hannah's confidence rests entirely on God's unmatched character, not on her circumstances, which had only just turned in her favour after years of pain. Build your own security on who God is rather than on how your week is going; that foundation holds steady no matter what changes around you.
"Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. "
""Stop being so arrogant, stop letting proud words come out of your mouth - because the LORD knows everything, and he weighs up everyone's actions.""
'Talk no more so exceeding proudly... for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed' - a direct warning against arrogance, spoken by a woman who has every reason to be humble rather than boastful after what she has endured. Let your own hardships teach you humility rather than earning you the right to look down on anyone else; God weighs hearts, and pride never survives that weighing.
"The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. "
""The weapons of strong warriors are shattered, but those who stumbled are now armed with strength.""
'The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength' - God's economy runs opposite to the world's, lifting the weak and humbling the strong. If you feel weak today, this is not the end of your story; God specializes in strengthening exactly the people who have stumbled.
"They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. "
""Those who used to have plenty now work for their next meal, but those who were starving are satisfied. The woman who couldn't have children now has seven, but the woman with many children is left worn out.""
'The barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble' - Hannah's own story becomes the pattern for how God treats every kind of scarcity and abundance, turning both upside down in his time. Do not measure your future by your present lack; the God who filled Hannah's empty arms is not limited by how things look right now.
"The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. "
""The LORD brings death, and he brings life; he brings people down to the grave, and he raises them back up.""
'The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up' - Hannah declares that even death and loss are not outside God's sovereign care. Whatever grave, literal or figurative, you are standing beside today, know that this same God specializes in bringing life back out of exactly those places.
"The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. "
""The LORD makes some people poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up.""
'The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up' - wealth and poverty, status and lack, all move under a sovereignty bigger than our own effort or luck. Hold your circumstances loosely, whichever direction they are moving right now, because they are never the final word on who you are.
"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them. "
""He lifts the poor up from the dirt and raises the needy from the rubbish heap, to seat them with nobles and give them a place of honour. For the pillars of the earth belong to the LORD - he has set the whole world on them.""
'He raiseth up the poor out of the dust... to set them among princes' - God has a particular tenderness for the people the world ranks lowest, and he does not merely pity them but seats them with royalty. If you have ever felt like you don't belong at the table, know this is exactly whom God delights to invite in and seat with honour.
"He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. "
""He will guard the steps of those who are loyal to him, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness - for no one succeeds by strength alone.""
'He will keep the feet of his saints... for by strength shall no man prevail' - security comes from being kept by God, not from how strong or self-sufficient you manage to be. Let go of the pressure to white-knuckle your way through life; you are held, not merely holding on.
"The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. "
""Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered; he will thunder against them from heaven. The LORD will judge the whole earth, and he will give strength to his king, and raise the honour of his anointed one.""
'The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces... the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth' - Hannah trusts final justice to God rather than taking it into her own hands, even after being provoked for years by a real adversary. When you long for someone who has wronged you to face justice, hand that longing over to God's timing rather than seeking to settle it yourself.
"And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest. "
"Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy stayed to serve the LORD under the priest Eli."
While Elkanah goes home, the child Samuel stays behind and quietly ministers before the LORD under Eli - years of hidden, unglamorous formation before any public role. Trust the seasons of your life that feel small and unseen; they are often exactly where God is shaping you for what comes later.
"Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD. "
"Now Eli's sons were corrupt men - they had no real regard for the LORD."
'The sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD' - a hard, honest verse: religious office is no guarantee of a real relationship with God. Do not assume that a title, a robe, or years of service in a holy place means someone actually knows God in their heart, and examine your own service by the same honest standard.
"And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; "
"This was the priests' usual practice with the people: whenever someone offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was still cooking, holding a three-pronged fork."
The priests' custom of taking meat with a fleshhook before the offering was even properly made begins here as small institutional corruption - a routine everyone had gotten used to. Watch for the small, normalized compromises in your own life or community; corruption rarely begins as an obvious crime, it begins as an accepted shortcut.
"And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. "
"He would plunge it into the pot, pan, or cauldron, and whatever the fork brought up, the priest would keep for himself. This is what they did to all the Israelites who came to Shiloh."
'All that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself' - the men entrusted to serve the people at the altar were instead serving themselves at the people's expense. Whenever you hold a position of trust, however small, ask honestly whether you are using it to serve others or quietly to serve yourself.
"Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. "
"Even before the fat was burned as an offering, the priest's servant would come and tell the person sacrificing, "Give the priest meat to roast - he won't accept boiled meat from you, only raw.""
The priest's servant demands raw meat before God's portion is even burned, putting his own appetite ahead of honouring the LORD first. It is a small but telling picture of how easily desire can crowd out devotion; examine what regularly cuts in line ahead of God in your own daily order of priorities.
"And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. "
"And if the man said, "Let the fat be burned first, as is proper, then take whatever you want," the servant would reply, "No - give it to me now, or I'll take it by force.""
When resisted, the servant threatens force - 'I will take it by force' - corruption escalating from quiet self-interest into open coercion once it is challenged. This is the trajectory of unchecked wrongdoing: left uncorrected, small compromises grow bold and start to threaten anyone who resists them. Name and resist small abuses of power early, before they harden into this.
"Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD. "
"So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD's eyes - because they treated the LORD's offering with contempt."
'The sin of the young men was very great... for men abhorred the offering of the LORD' - their corruption did not stay private; it drove ordinary worshippers away from God altogether. However small your influence feels, remember that how you carry yourself in sacred trust can either draw people towards God or push them away from him; take that weight seriously and gently.
"But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. "
"But Samuel, though still just a boy, served before the LORD, wearing a linen ephod."
In sharp contrast to Eli's grown, corrupt sons, 'Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child' - simple, humble service from someone with no power to exploit yet. Faithfulness is never about your stature or your age; a child's plain devotion here outshines grown men's religious office. Serve with the sincerity of someone who has nothing to gain.
"Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. "
"Each year his mother made him a little robe and brought it to him when she came up with her husband for the yearly sacrifice."
Hannah's small yearly gift, a little coat made and brought with her own hands, is love expressed in an ordinary, repeated, tangible act across the distance of separation. You do not need grand gestures to show love; the small, faithful, handmade kindness offered again and again often carries more weight than anything dramatic.
"And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home. "
"Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "May the LORD give you children through this woman in place of the one she lent to the LORD." Then they would go home."
Eli returns Hannah's sacrifice with a blessing of his own, asking God to give her more children in exchange for the one she lent to him - grace answered with grace. When someone gives sacrificially, let your response be generous blessing rather than mere acceptance; give something back, even if it's only a word spoken well over them.
"And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD. "
"The LORD paid attention to Hannah, and she conceived again, having three more sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the boy Samuel grew up in the LORD's presence."
'The LORD visited Hannah... and bare three sons and two daughters' - God's kindness to her overflows well beyond what was asked or given up, even as Samuel himself keeps growing before the LORD in the background. Do not assume that surrendering something to God leaves you emptier; his generosity often runs far past the size of what we released to him.
"Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. "
"Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites, including that they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting."
Eli hears of his sons' grave abuse of power, even sexual exploitation of the women serving at the tabernacle, and the text does not soften it - this is a real, serious sin by religious leaders against vulnerable people, named honestly rather than excused because of their office. Wherever power is used to exploit those with less of it, call it exactly what it is; love for someone never requires pretending their abuse of others is a small thing.
"And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. "
"He said to them, "Why are you doing these things? I keep hearing about your wicked conduct from everyone.""
Eli finally confronts his sons - 'why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings' - naming the sin plainly instead of staying silent about it any longer. Loving someone does not mean staying quiet about their wrongdoing; sometimes love's clearest expression is a hard, honest conversation that names what everyone has been avoiding.
"Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’s people to transgress. "
""No, my sons - this isn't a good report I'm hearing. You're causing the LORD's people to do wrong.""
'Ye make the LORD's people to transgress' - Eli rightly recognises that his sons' sin is not contained to themselves; it is corrupting the faith of everyone who watches them fail. Consider how your own conduct, especially if you hold any trust or influence, can either strengthen or weaken other people's ability to believe. That responsibility is real and should be carried with humility, not fear.
"If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them. "
""If someone sins against another person, a judge can settle it. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intervene for them?" But they wouldn't listen to their father's voice, because the LORD intended to put them to death."
'If a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him?' - in Eli's sons' world there was no mediator standing between wilful sin and its consequence. You do not live in that world; you have an advocate, Jesus himself, interceding for you even in your failures, which is exactly what Hophni and Phinehas tragically lacked. Let that truth humble you into gratitude rather than presumption.
"And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men. "
"Meanwhile the boy Samuel kept growing, and he was well regarded by both the LORD and by people."
'The child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men' - his character was developing consistently in both directions at once, integrity towards God matched by integrity towards people. Aim for that same double honesty in your own life: do not let your relationship with God and your relationship with others drift apart into two separate performances.
"And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? "
"A man of God came to Eli and said, "This is what the LORD says: Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestors when they were slaves in Egypt, in Pharaoh's household?""
The man of God reminds Eli that his family's priesthood began purely as God's gracious choice, made back in Egypt, long before anyone in that line had done anything to deserve it. Whatever position, gift, or privilege you carry today, remember its root is grace, not merit; that memory should produce humility and gratitude rather than a sense of entitlement.
"And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? "
""And did I not choose your ancestor out of all Israel's tribes to be my priest - to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly garment in my presence? Did I not give your father's family all the offerings the Israelites bring by fire?""
God recounts everything he gave Eli's family - the altar, the incense, the priestly garments, a share of every offering - underscoring how much had already been generously provided before any complaint could be made. When you're tempted to feel shortchanged by God, take stock honestly of what has already been given to you; gratitude for what you have is the antidote to resentment over what you don't.
"Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? "
""So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings that I commanded for my dwelling place? Why do you honour your sons more than me, fattening yourselves on the best parts of every offering my people Israel bring?""
'Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice... and honourest thy sons above me' - the indictment is precise: Eli let love for his sons outrank faithfulness to God, staying too gentle when real correction was needed. Loving people well sometimes requires you to hold them accountable rather than shield them, especially when their wrongdoing is harming others; comfortable silence is not the same as love.
"Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. "
""Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: I did say that your family and your father's family would serve before me forever. But now the LORD says: Far from it! Those who honour me, I will honour; those who despise me will be treated with contempt.""
'Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed' - privilege that is not matched by faithfulness does not last forever, no matter how ancient or established it looks. This is not a threat meant to frighten you but a sober reminder that grace calls for a real response; do not coast on a calling you have stopped honouring.
"Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. "
""Watch - the time is coming when I will cut off your strength, and the strength of your father's family, so that no one in your household will live to old age.""
The judgement pronounced here, that Eli's family line will be cut short, is heavy and needs to be faced honestly rather than smoothed over: generations of unaddressed corruption bring real consequences, not because God delights in punishment, but because persistent, unrepented harm to others cannot simply be waved away. Even so, know that wherever this story lands hard, the door to repentance always stands open before judgement falls; the tragedy is that it was never walked through.
"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 thine house for ever. "
""You will see distress in my dwelling place, even while Israel as a whole prospers, and there will never again be an old man in your family.""
The prophecy of an enemy seen 'in my habitation' amid Israel's coming prosperity is a sober warning that blessing all around you is no substitute for faithfulness within your own house. Do not measure your standing with God by how well things are going generally; examine your own integrity directly, regardless of the wider prosperity around you.
"And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. "
""Yet I will not cut off everyone of your line from serving at my altar, but he will exist only to make your eyes fail with grief and your heart ache; and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.""
The grief promised here, 'to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart,' is the real cost of Eli's long failure to restrain his sons - not distant abstraction but personal anguish landing on the family itself. Sin, especially sin left unaddressed for the sake of comfort, eventually breaks the heart of the very people who tolerated it; take that seriously as a reason to correct what needs correcting now, gently but without delay.
"And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. "
""And this will be the sign to confirm it for you: what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas - they will both die on the same day.""
The specific sign given - Hophni and Phinehas dying on the same day - shows that God's word, however hard, is precise and reliable, not vague or symbolic. When scripture warns you plainly about the trajectory of a choice, take the warning at face value rather than assuming it surely won't apply to you.
"And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. "
""I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who will act according to what is in my heart and mind. I will build him a lasting house, and he will serve alongside my anointed one forever.""
'I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart' - even in the middle of pronouncing judgement on unfaithful leadership, God is already promising to provide someone faithful in its place. Whenever leadership around you fails, however painfully, trust that God is not finished; he is already raising up faithfulness somewhere, and that faithfulness ultimately finds its fullest shape in Jesus, our great high priest.
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch 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. "
""Then everyone left in your family will come and bow down to him, begging for a bit of silver and a piece of bread, saying, 'Please, give me some priestly work, so I can have a scrap of bread to eat.'""
The prophecy ends with the rest of Eli's line reduced to begging for a scrap of the priesthood just to eat - the sober cost of squandered privilege carried across generations. Whatever position or legacy has been entrusted to you, hold it with humility and faithfulness now, because privilege used carelessly does not simply stay put for those who come after; but remember too that grace is always available the moment anyone turns back honestly towards God, however small they've become.