22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

23“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people. 24No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the Lord’s people. 25If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?”

But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to put them to death.

26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with man.

27 Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house? 28And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the food offerings of the Israelites.

29 Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

30 Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, declares:

31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in it will reach old age. 32You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age. 33And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.

34 And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.

35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.

36 And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”

1 And the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.

Now in those days the word of the Lord was rare, and visions were scarce. 2And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.

3 Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.

4 Then the Lord called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”

5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”

“I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”

So he went and lay down.

6 Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”

So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”

“My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”

7 Now 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.”

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9“Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’”

So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 Then the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

11 Then 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.’”

15 Samuel 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.”

“Here I am,” answered Samuel.

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.”

18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him.

“He is the Lord,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

20 So 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.

1 Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now the Israelites went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.

3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the Lord brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”

4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that the ground shook.

6 On hearing the noise of the shout, the Philistines asked, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?”

And when they realized that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp, 7the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before. 8Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9Take courage and be men, O Philistines! Otherwise, you will serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great — thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 13When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God.

When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?”

So the man hurried over and reported to Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.

16“I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.”

“What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

17 The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

18 As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.

19 Now Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news of the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth, for her labor pains overtook her.

20 As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!”

But she did not respond or pay any heed. 21And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed.

22“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.”

24 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.

25 Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. 27And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

28 Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice 29and come out — those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

30 I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

31 If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid. 32There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.

33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved.

35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light. 36But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works I am doing — testify about Me that the Father has sent Me. 37And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, 38nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.

39 You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, 40yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.

41 I do not accept glory from men, 42but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. 43I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. 47But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”