Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 Samuel 2
³⁵ “Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever.
³⁶ Then all of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food. ‘Please,’ they will say, ‘give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.’”
1 Samuel 3
¹ Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the LORD by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the LORD were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.
² One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.
³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God.
⁴ Suddenly the LORD called out, “Samuel!” “Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?”
⁵ He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.
⁶ Then the LORD called out again, “Samuel!” Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”
⁷ Samuel did not yet know the LORD because he had never had a message from the LORD before.
⁸ So the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy.
⁹ So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, LORD, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.