The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband: 'Until the child be weaned, when I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.' ²³And Elkanah her husband said unto her: 'Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the Lord establish His word.' So the woman tarried and gave her son suck, until she weaned him. ²⁴And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh; and the child was young. ²⁵And when the bullock was slain, the child was brought to Eli. ²⁶And she said: 'Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. ²⁷For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath granted me my petition which I asked of Him; ²⁸therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is lent to the Lord.' And he worshipped the Lord there.

      2And Hannah prayed, and said:

      My heart exulteth in the Lord,My horn is exalted in the Lord;My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies;Because I rejoice in Thy salvation.²There is none holy as the Lord,For there is none beside Thee;Neither is there any rock like our God. ³Multiply not exceeding proud talk;Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth;For the Lord is a God of knowledge,And by Him actions are weighed.⁴The bows of the mighty men are broken,And they that stumbled are girded with strength.⁵They that were full have hired out themselves for bread;And they that were hungry have ceased;While the barren hath borne seven,She that had many children hath languished. ⁶The Lord killeth, and maketh alive;He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.⁷The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich;He bringeth low, He also lifteth up.⁸He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,He lifteth up the needy from the dung-hill,To make them sit with princes,And inherit the throne of glory;For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,And He hath set the world upon them. ⁹He will keep the feet of His holy ones,But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;For not by strength shall man prevail.¹⁰They that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces;Against them will He thunder in heaven;The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;And He will give strength unto His king,And exalt the horn of His anointed.

      ¹¹And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.

      ¹²Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not the Lord. ¹³And the custom of the priests with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his band; ¹⁴and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took therewith. So they did unto all the Israelites that came thither in Shiloh. ¹⁵Yea, before the fat was made to smoke, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed: 'Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.' ¹⁶And if the man said unto him: 'Let the fat be made to smoke first of all, and then take as much as thy soul desireth'; then he would say: 'Nay, but thou shalt give it me now; and if not, I will take it by force.' ¹⁷And the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for the men dealt contemptuously with the offering of the Lord.

      ¹⁸But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁹Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say: 'The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which was lent to the Lord.' And they would go unto their own home. ²¹So the Lord remembered Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.

      ²²Now 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. ²³And he said unto them: 'Why do ye such things? for I hear evil reports concerning you from all this people. ²⁴Nay, my sons; for it is no good report which I hear the Lord's people do spread abroad. ²⁵If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?' But they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. ²⁶And the child Samuel grew on, and increased in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.

      ²⁷And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the Lord: Did I reveal Myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house? ²⁸And 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? ²⁹Wherefore kick ye at My sacrifice and at Mine offering, which I have commanded in My habitation; and honourest thy sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel My people? ³⁰Therefore the Lord, 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 the Lord saith: Be it far from Me: for them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹Behold, 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. ³²And thou shalt behold a rival in My habitation, in all the good which shall be done to Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. ³³Yet will I not cut off every man of thine from Mine altar, to make thine eyes to fail, and thy heart to languish; and all the increase of thy house shall die young men. ³⁴And this shall be the sign unto thee, that which shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. ³⁵And 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. ³⁶And 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.'

      3And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. ²And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place—now his eyes had begun to wax dim, that he could not see—³and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, ⁴that the Lord called Samuel; and he said: 'Here am I.' ⁵And he ran unto Eli, and said: 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.' And he said: 'I called not; lie down again.' And he went and lay down. ⁶And the Lord called yet again Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said: 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.' And he answered: 'I called not, my son; lie down again.' ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. ⁸And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said: 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.' And Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the child. ⁹Therefore Eli said unto Samuel: 'Go, lie down; and it shall be, if thou be called, that thou shalt say: Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth.' So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times: 'Samuel, Samuel.' Then Samuel said: 'Speak; for Thy servant heareth.' ¹¹And the Lord said to Samuel: 'Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. ¹²In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even unto the end. ¹³For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity, in that he knew that his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he rebuked them not. ¹⁴And 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.' ¹⁵And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell Eli the vision. ¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel, and said: 'Samuel, my son.' And he said: 'Here am I.' ¹⁷And he said: 'What is the thing that He hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me, God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the