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The Book of
1 Kingdoms
1 Kingdoms
Chapter 1
There was a man of Armathaim Sifa, of the mountain of Ephraim, and his name was Elkana, a son of Jeremeel the son of Eliou the son of Thoke, in Nasiv Ephraim. 2 And he had two wives; the name of the one Anna, and the name of the second Phennana; and Phennana had children, but Anna had no children. 3 And the man went up from days to days from his city, from Armathaim, to worship and sacrifice to the Lord God of Sabaoth at Selo: and there were Eli and his two sons Ophni and Phinees, the priests of the Lord. 4 And the day came, and Elkana sacrificed, and gave portions to his wife Phennana and her children. 5 And to Anna he gave one portion, because she had no children, for Elkana loved Anna more than the other; but the Lord closed her womb. 6 For the Lord gave her no children in her affliction and according to the despondency of her affliction; and she was disheartened because of this, that the Lord closed her womb so as not to give her children. 7 So she did year by year, in going up to the house of the Lord; and she was disheartened, and wept, and did not eat. 8 And Elkana her husband said to her, Anna: and she said to him, Here am I, my lord: and he said to her, What troubles thee that thou weeps? And why do thou not eat? And why does thy heart strike thee? Am I not better to thee than ten children? 9 And Anna rose up after they had eaten in Selo, and stood before the Lord: and Eli the priest was on a seat by the doorposts of the temple of the Lord. 10 And she was in great pain to her soul, and prayed to the Lord, and wept exceedingly. 11 And she vowed a vow to the Lord, saying, Adoni Lord Eloi of Sabaoth, if thou will indeed look upon the humiliation of thine handmaid, and remember me, and give to thine handmaid the seed of men, then will I indeed dedicate him before thee till the day of his death; and he shall drink no wine nor inebriating drink, and no iron razor shall come upon his head. 12 And it came to pass, while she was long praying before the Lord, that Eli the priest sealed her mouth. 13 And she was speaking in her heart, and her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: and Eli accounted her a drunken woman. 14 And the slave of Eli said to her, How long will thou be inebriated? Take away thy wine from thee, and go out from the face of the Lord. 15 And Anna answered and said, Nay, my lord, I am a woman with a hard day, and I have not drunk wine or inebriating drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord. 16 Give not thy slave for a mischievous woman, for by reason of the abundance of my meditations I have stretched out my prayers until now. 17 And Eli answered and said to her, Go in peace: may the God of Israel give thee thy entire petition, which thou have asked of him. 18 And she said, Thine slave has found favor in thine eyes: and the woman went her way, and entered into her lodging, and ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was no longer fallen. 19And they arose early in the morning, and worshipped the Lord, and they went their way: and Elkana went into his house at Armathaim, and knew his wife Anna; and the Lord remembered her, and she conceived. 20 And it came to pass in the season of days that she gave birth to a son, and called his name Samuel, and said, That from the Lord God of Sabaoth I did ask of Him. 21 And the man Elkana and his entire house went up to offer in Selo the yearly sacrifice, and his vows, and all the tithes of his land. 22 And Anna did not go up with him, for she said to her husband, I will not go up until the child goes up, when I have weaned him, and he shall be presented before the Lord, and he shall abide there for ages. 23 And Elkana her husband said to her, Do that which is good in thine eyes, abide until thou shall have weaned him; but may the Lord establish that which comes out of thy mouth: and the woman tarried, and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 And she went up with him to Selo with a calf in its third year, and loaves, and an ephah of fine flour, and a bottle of wine: and she entered into the house of the Lord in Selo, and the child with them. 25 And they brought him before the Lord; and his father killed his offering which he offered from year to year to the Lord; and he brought near the child, and killed the calf; and Anna the mother of the child brought him to Eli. 26 And she said, by me lord, thy soul shall live, I am the woman that stood in thy presence with thee while praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord has given me my request that I asked of Him. 28 And I lend him to the Lord all his days that he lives, for a use by the Lord: and she said:
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