1 Samuel 3

God Calls the Young One

1 Young Samuel was serving the Lord under Eli. Back then, God did not speak much, visions and words were rare.

2 One night Eli, whose eyes were getting’ weak and could not see much, was laying down in his spot.

3 Samuel was sleeping near the ark of God, and the lamp in God’s house was still burning.

4 Then the Lord called out, “Samuel!” And the boy said, “I am here!”

5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call you. Go back to bed.” So he did.

6 Then the Lord called again, “Samuel!” The boy got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, you called me.” Eli said, “Nah, I did not call you, son. Go lay back down.”

7 Samuel did not know the Lord personally yet, the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him.

8 God called Samuel a third time. He got up again and went to Eli, like, “Here I am, you called.” That is when Eli realized the Lord was calling the boy.

9 Eli told him, “Go lay back down. And if He calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, I am listening.’” So Samuel went and laid down again.

God Speaks

10 Then the Lord came and stood there, calling like before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, I am listening.”

11 The Lord said, “I am about to do something in Israel that is going to make everybody is ears ring.”

12 “On that day, I am going to bring every word I spoke against Eli’s house to pass, from top to bottom.”

13 “I already told him, his sons disrespected Me, and he is not shut it down. That is on him.”

14 “So now I swear, no amount of sacrifices or offerings will fix this. His family’s guilt is permanent.”

Samuel Delivers the Message

15 Samuel laid there till morning, scared to death. He did not want to tell Eli what God said.

16 But Eli called him, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “I am here.”

17 Eli said, “What did He say, Do not hide it. If you keep anything from me, may God do the same to you and worse.”

18 So Samuel told him everything, did not hold back. Eli said, “It is what it is. Let the Lord do what He knows is right.”

Samuel Becomes God’s Messenger

19 Samuel kept growing, and the Lord was with him, every word He gave Samuel hit like truth.

20 Everybody in Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was God’s legit prophet.

21 And the Lord kept showing up in Shiloh, speaking His word through Samuel loud and clear.