¹And Samuel the boy served the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, and visions were infrequent. ²And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes had begun to become dim, and he could not see, ³and before the lamp of God went out, while Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, ⁴that the Lord called out to Samuel. And he said, “Here I am”, ⁵and he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” But he said, “I didn't call you. Lie down again.” So he went back and lay down. ⁶Then the Lord called him again: “Samuel.” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” But he said, “I did not call you, my son. Lie down again.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and it was before the word of the Lord had been revealed to him. ⁸And the Lord called Samuel again – a third time. And he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” And Eli understood that the Lord had been calling the boy. ⁹And Eli said to Samuel, “Go and lie down, and it will be the case that if he calls you, you will say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place. ¹⁰And the Lord came and stood there and called as the previous times, “Samuel, Samuel.” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹And the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹²On that day I will fulfil everything against Eli which I have spoken against his house. I will make a start and I will bring it to its conclusion. ¹³For I have told him that I am about to judge his house age-abidingly for the iniquity which he has known about, for his sons are cursing God, but he has not admonished them. ¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli will certainly not be expiated by sacrifice or offering age-abidingly.” ¹⁵And Samuel lay down until the morning, when he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, but Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶And Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son”, and he said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷And he said, “What is the thing which he has said to you? Please do not conceal it from me. May God do such-and-such to you and add such-and-such if you conceal from me anything of the whole thing which he said to you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him all the words, and he did not conceal anything from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. May he do what is right in his sight.” ¹⁹And Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, and he did not let any of his words fall on the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord was revealed to Samuel in Shiloh with the word of the Lord.