1. And the boy Samuel was serving Jehovah before Eli. And the Word of Jehovah was rare in those days. There was no breaking-through vision.
2. And it happened at that time, Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes had begun to be dim; he was not able to see.
3. And the lamp of God had not yet gone out. And Samuel was lying down in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God rested.
4. And Jehovah called to Samuel. And he said, Behold me.
5. And he ran to Eli and said, Behold, I am here. For you have called to me. And he said, I did not call. Go back and lie down. And he went and lay down.
6. And Jehovah again called Samuel. And Samuel rose up and went to Eli and said, Behold me, for you have called me. And he said, I have not called, my son. Go back and lie down.
7. And Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, and the Word of Jehovah had not yet been revealed to him.
8. And Jehovah again called Samuel the third time. And he rose up and went to Eli and said, Behold me, for you have called me. And Eli understood that Jehovah was calling the boy.
9. And Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if One calls you, even you shall say, Speak, O Jehovah, for Your servant hears. And Samuel lay down in his place.
10. And Jehovah came and stood, and called as the other times, Samuel, Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for Your servant hears.
11. And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold! I am doing a thing in Israel at which the two ears of every one hearing it shall tingle.
12. In that day I will confirm to Eli all that I have spoken to his house, beginning and making an end.
13. And I declare to him that I am judging his house forever, for the iniquity which he has known; for his sons have been making themselves vile, and he has not restrained them.
14. And so I have sworn to the house of Eli, the iniquity of the house of Eli shall not be atoned for, by sacrifice or by offering, until forever.
15. And Samuel lay until the morning. And he opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel was afraid to declare the vision to Eli.
16. And Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Behold me.
17. And he said, What is the word which He has spoken to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you keep back anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.
18. And Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide from him. And he said, It is Jehovah; He does that which is good in His eyes.
19. And Samuel grew up, and Jehovah was with him, and did not let any of his words fall to the earth.
20. And all Israel knew, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, that Samuel was confirmed to be a prophet to Jehovah.
21. And Jehovah again appeared in Shiloh. For Jehovah revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh, by the Word of Jehovah.