Hannah’s Prayer
1 And Hannah prayed and said,
f“My heart exults in the Lord;
gmy horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because hI rejoice in your salvation.
2 i“There is none holy like the Lord:
for there is none besides you;
there is jno rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 kThe bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble bind on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
lThe barren has borne seven,
mbut she who has many children is forlorn.
6 nThe Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 oThe Lord makes poor and makes rich;
phe brings low and he exalts.
8 qHe raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
rto make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
sFor the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and on them he has set the world.
9 t“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,
for not by might shall a man prevail.
10 uThe adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
vagainst them he will thunder in heaven.
wThe Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
xand exalt the horn of his anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went home yto Ramah. zAnd the boy1 was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.
Eli’s Worthless Sons
12 Now the sons of Eli were aworthless men. bThey did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, cbefore the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great din the sight of the Lord, efor the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.
18 fSamuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy gclothed with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year hwhen she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman ifor the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.
21 jIndeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. kAnd the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.
In You Do I Take Refuge
A lShiggaion1 of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 O Lord my God, in you do I mtake refuge;
nsave me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like oa lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with pnone to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, qif I have done this,
if there is rwrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid smy friend2 with evil
or tplundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him utrample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 vArise, O Lord, in your anger;
wlift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
xawake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The Lord yjudges the peoples;
zjudge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who atest bthe minds and hearts,3
O righteous God!
10 My shield is cwith God,
who saves dthe upright in heart.
11 God is ea righteous judge,
and a God who feels findignation every day.
12 If a man4 does not repent, God5 will gwhet his sword;
he has hbent and ireadied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his jarrows kfiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man lconceives evil
and is lpregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes ma pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His nmischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will osing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
