7. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich.He brings low, he also lifts up.
8. He raises up the poor out of the dust.He lifts up the needy from the dunghill,To make them sit with princes,and inherit the throne of glory.For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s.He has set the world on them.
9. He will keep the feet of his holy ones,but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;for no man shall prevail by strength.
10. Those who strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces.He will thunder against them in the sky.“The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.He will give strength to his king,and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
11. Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served the Lord before Eli the priest.
12. Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn’t know the Lord.
13. The custom of the priests with the people was that when anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant came while the meat was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand;
14. and he stabbed it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. The priest took all that the fork brought up for himself. They did this to all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.
15. Yes, before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw.”
16. If the man said to him, “Let the fat be burnt first, and then take as much as your soul desires;” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
17. The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for the men despised the Lord’s offering.
18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod.
19. Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20. Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “May The Lord give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of the Lord.” Then they went to their own home.
21. The Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before the Lord.
22. Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they slept with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
23. He said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.
24. No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I hear! You make the Lord’s people disobey.
25. If one man sins against another, God will judge him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Notwithstanding, they didn’t listen to the voice of their father, because the Lord intended to kill them.