²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how that they lay with the women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting. ²³ And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people. ²⁴ Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make Jehovah’s people to transgress. ²⁵ If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against Jehovah, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because Jehovah was minded to slay them. ²⁶ And the child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Jehovah, and also with men.

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²⁷ And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Did I reveal myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to ^‍go up unto mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? ^‍and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? ²⁹ Wherefore ^‍kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? ³⁰ Therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹ 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 thy house. ³² And thou shalt behold the affliction of myhabitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. ³³ And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thy heart; and all the increase of thy house shall die ^‍in the flower of their age. ³⁴ And this shall be the sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. ³⁵ And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. ³⁶ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thy house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.

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3 And the child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. ² And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to wax dim, so that he could not see), ³ and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was; ⁴ that Jehovah called Samuel: and he said, Here am I. ⁵ And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. ⁶ And Jehovah called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither was the word of Jehovah yet revealed unto him. ⁸ And Jehovah called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah had called the child. ⁹ Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

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¹⁰ And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak; for thy servant heareth. ¹¹ And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. ¹² In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even unto the end. ¹³ For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not. ¹⁴ And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

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¹⁵ And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. ¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here am I. ¹⁷ And he said, What is the thing that Jehovah hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he spake unto thee. ¹⁸ And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good.

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¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah. ²¹ And Jehovah appeared again in Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Jehovah. 4 ¹ And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

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Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. ² And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. ³ And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of Shiloh unto us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies. ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of hosts, who sitteth above the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

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⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. ⁶ And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of Jehovah was come into the camp. ⁷ And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. ⁸ Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹ Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. ¹⁰ And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. ¹¹ And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

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¹² And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. ¹³ And when he came, lo, Eli was sitting upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. ¹⁴ And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man hasted, and came and told Eli. ¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. ¹⁶ And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the ^‍army. And he said, How went the matter, my son? ¹⁷ And he that brought the tidings answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

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¹⁹ And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came upon her. ²⁰ And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast brought forth a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. ²¹ And she named the child ^‍Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² And she said, The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken.

²⁴ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life. ²⁵ Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that ^‍hear shall live. ²⁶ For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself: ²⁷ and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. ²⁸ Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, ²⁹ and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

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³⁰ I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. ³¹ If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. ³² It is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. ³³ Ye have sent unto John, and he hath borne witness unto the truth. ³⁴ But the witness which I receive is not from man: howbeit I say these things, that ye may be saved. ³⁵ He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light. ³⁶ But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. ³⁷ And the Father that sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. ³⁸ And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not. ³⁹ Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me; ⁴⁰ and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life. ⁴¹ I receive not glory from men. ⁴² But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³ I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. ⁴⁴ How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not? ⁴⁵ Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Israel’s rebelliousness and Jehovah’s deliverances.

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106 Praise ye Jehovah.
Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
² Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah,
Or show forth all his praise?
³ Blessed are they that keep justice,
And he that doeth righteousness at all times.
⁴ Remember me, O Jehovah, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people;
Oh visit me with thy salvation,
⁵ That I may see the prosperity of thy chosen,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation,
That I may glory with thine inheritance.

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⁶ We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
⁷ Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;
They remembered not the multitude of thy lovingkindnesses,
But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
⁸ Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake,
That he might make his mighty power to be known.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up:
So he led them through the depths, as through a wilderness.
¹⁰ And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
¹¹ And the waters covered their adversaries;
There was not one of them left.
¹² Then believed they his words;
They sang his praise.

³⁰ A tranquil heart is the life of the flesh;
But envy is the rottenness of the bones.
³¹ He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker;
But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him.