1And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli.
2And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.
3Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.
4Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”
5He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”
6Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!”
7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”
9“Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’”
10Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
11Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.
12On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end.
13I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.
14Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
15Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,
16but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
17“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”
18So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him.
19And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.
20So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.
21And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.