13. She was praying silently; her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk,
14. and said to her, “Stop making a drunken show of yourself! Stop your drinking and sober up!”
15. “No, I'm not drunk, sir,” she answered. “I haven't been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying, pouring out my troubles to the Lord.
16. Don't think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this because I'm so miserable.”
17. “Go in peace,” Eli said, “and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for.”
18. “May you always think kindly of me,” she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad.
19. The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early, and after worshipping the Lord, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord answered her prayer.
20. So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, and explained, “I asked the Lord for him.”
21. The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he had promised.
22. But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the Lord, where he will stay all his life.”
23. Elkanah answered, “All right, do whatever you think best; stay at home until you have weaned him. And may the Lord make your promise come true.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.