1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the mountains of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph an Ephraimite.
2 He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah was the mother of children. Hannah had no children.
3 This man went to Shiloh every year to worship and to make offerings to Jehovah of Hosts. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were the priests of Jehovah at Shiloh.
4 The day came for Elkanah to make his offering. So he gave a part of the feast to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters.
5 He gave a double portion to Hannah. Hannah was very dear to him even though Jehovah had not given her children.
6 The other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy. This is because Jehovah had not given her children.
7 Year after year when Peninnah went to the Temple of Jehovah, she kept on provoking Hannah. It bothered Hannah so much she wept and did not eat.
8 Her husband Elkanah said to her: »Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why is your heart troubled? Am I not more to you than ten sons?«
9 So after they finished eating and drinking in Shiloh Hannah got up. The priest Eli sat by the pillars near the door in the Temple of Jehovah.
10 Hannah was filled with grief and wept bitterly. She prayed and pledged an oath to Jehovah:
11 »O Jehovah of Hosts: If you will truly notice the sorrow of your servant. Remember me. Do not turn away from me. If you will give me a son, then I will give him to you, Jehovah, all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.«
12 Hannah prayed to Jehovah for a long time. Eli watched her lips.
13 She prayed silently. Her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk.
14 He said to her: »Stop making a drunken show of yourself! Stop your drinking and sober up!«
15 »No, I am not drunk,« she answered. »I have not been drinking! I am desperate. I have prayed and poured out my troubles to Jehovah.
16 »Do not consider your maidservant a worthless woman. I pray like this because I am miserable and filled with grief.«
17 Eli answered: »Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.«
18 »Let your maidservant find favor in your sight,« she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad self-concerned.
19 The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early. After worshiping Jehovah, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah and Jehovah answered her prayer.
20 So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel. She explained: »I asked Jehovah for him.«
21 The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he promised.
22 This time Hannah did not go. She told her husband: As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the Temple of Jehovah, where he will stay all his life.
23 Elkanah answered: »All right, do what seems best to you. Stay at home until you have weaned him. May Jehovah make your promise come true.« So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.
24 After she weaned him she took him to Shiloh. She also took a three-year-old bull, a bushel of flour, and a leather bag full of wine. She took Samuel, young as he was, to the Temple of Jehovah at Shiloh.
25 First they slaughtered the bull. Then they took the child to Eli the priest.
26 Hannah said to him: »My lord. Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw standing here, praying to Jehovah.
27 »I asked him for this child. He gave me what I asked of him.
28 »So I am dedicating givinggranting him to Jehovah. As long as he lives, he will belong to Jehovah.« Then they worshiped Jehovah there.