¹Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-Zophim, from Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite, ²and he had two wives. The name of the first was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not have any children. ³And this man went up from his city every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh, where Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests to the Lord, were. ⁴And the day came when Elkanah made his sacrifice, and he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to each of her sons and her daughters. ⁵And to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb. ⁶And her rival provoked her dreadfully, so as to torment her, for the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷And just as he did this from year to year, every time she went up to the house of the Lord, so she for her part provoked her, and she wept and would not eat. ⁸And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why are you crying, and why will you not eat, and why does your heart grieve? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” ⁹Then Hannah got up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat at the gatepost of the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰But she was very bitter, and she prayed to the Lord and wept profusely. ¹¹And she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if only you would make a point of attending to the affliction of your maidservant and would remember me and not forget your maidservant and give your maidservant progeny, then I would give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor would pass over his head.” ¹²And it came to pass that she was praying intensively before the Lord when Eli observed her mouth. ¹³Now Hannah was speaking in her heart – only her lips were moving and her voice was not heard – and Eli thought she was drunk. ¹⁴And Eli said to her, “How much longer will you keep getting drunk? Put your wine well away from you.” ¹⁵But Hannah answered and said, “It's not that, my lord. I am a hard-pressed woman, and I have not drunk any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my heart before the Lord. ¹⁶Do not take your handmaid for a good-for-nothing girl, for it is with a lot of grievance and frustration on my part that I have spoken so far.” ¹⁷Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your request which you have asked him for.” ¹⁸And she said, “May your maidservant find grace in your eyes.” And the woman went her way and ate, and her expression was no longer dejected. ¹⁹And they got up early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord, then they returned and went to their home in Ramah, and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. ²⁰And it came to pass in the course of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called him Samuel, “Because”, she said, “I asked for him from the Lord.” ²¹And the man, Elkanah, and all of his household, went up to offer the yearly sacrifice and that of his vow to the Lord. ²²But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the young boy is weaned, and then I will bring him, and he will appear in the presence of the Lord, and he will stay there indefinitely.” ²³And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what is right in your sight. Stay until you have weaned him, only may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman stayed and suckled her son until she had weaned him. ²⁴Then when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls and one ephah of flour and a bottle of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, when he was just a boy. ²⁵And they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶And she said, “Please, my lord, as you yourself live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing with you here, praying to the Lord. ²⁷I prayed for this boy, and the Lord granted my request which I asked for from him. ²⁸And I have also made him over to the Lord for all his days. He was a request made to the Lord.” And he worshipped the Lord there.