17. The Lord saw that the sin of the servants was very great because they did not show respect for the offerings made to the Lord.
18. But Samuel obeyed the Lord. As a boy he wore a linen holy vest.
19. Every year Samuel’s mother made a little coat for him and took it to him when she went with her husband to Shiloh for the sacrifice.
20. When Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, he would say, “May the Lord repay you with children through Hannah to take the place of the boy Hannah prayed for and gave back to the Lord.” Then Elkanah and Hannah would go home.
21. The Lord was kind to Hannah, so she became the mother of three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up serving the Lord.
22. Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites and how his sons had sexual relations with the women who served at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.
23. Eli said to his sons, “Why do you do these evil things that the people tell me about?