Hannah’s Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Luke 1:46–56)

1And Hannah prayed and said,

“My heart rejoices in YHWH;

My horn† is exalted in YHWH.

My mouth is wide over my enemies,

for I rejoice in Your salvation.

2No one is holy like YHWH,

for there is none besides You,

and no rock like our God.

3Do not multiply to speak so exceedingly proudly;

the old saying goes out from your⁺ mouth, for

YHWH is a God of knowledge

and by Him actions are weighed.

4The bows of the mighty are broken,

and those who stumbled are girded with strength.

5The satisfied have hired themselves out for bread,

and the hungry have ceased.

Even The barren woman has borne seven,

and she who has many sons has languished.

6YHWH kills and keeps alive;

He brings down to Sheol and He raises up.

7YHWH makes poor and makes rich;

He brings low and He exalts.

8He raises the poor from the dust;

from the ash heap He lifts the needy

to set them among princes,

and the throne of glory He bestows on them.

For of YHWH are the pillars of the earth,

and He has set upon them the world.

9The feet of His holy ones He will guard,

and the wicked in the darkness shall be silent;

for not by strength shall man prevail.

10YHWH—broken down are His adversaries;

against them from the heavens He will thunder.

YHWH will judge the ends of the earth,

and He will give strength to His king

and exalt the horn of His anointed.”

11And Elkanah went to Ramath to his house, and the boy had been ministering to YHWH before Eli the priest.

Eli’s Wicked Sons

12And the sons of Eli were sons of worthlessness; they did not know YHWH.

13And the custom of the priests with the people was when any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come at the boiling of the flesh, and with the fork of three teeth in his hand. 14And he would thrust it into the pan, or the kettle, or the cauldron, or the pot. All that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. Thus they did to all Israel who came there to Shiloh.

15Also before they burned the fat, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give flesh for roasting to the priest; and he will not take from you boiled flesh, but only raw.”

16And the man said to him, “The fat must surely be burned first, and you may take to you as your soul desires,” and he would answer to him, “Surely now you must give it, and if not, I will take it by force.”

17Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before YHWH, for they† despised the offering of YHWH.

18And Samuel ministered before YHWH, a boy girded with an ephod of linen. 19And a small robe his mother would make for him and bring it to him year by year in her coming up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May YHWH give to you seed from this woman for the petition that she asked of YHWH,†” and they would go to their own home.

21And YHWH visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters.

And the boy Samuel grew up before YHWH.

22And Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

23And he said to them, “Why do you⁺ do these things? For I hear of your⁺ evil deeds from all these people. 24No, my sons, for the report is not good that I hear spreading among the people of YHWH. 25If one man sins against another, God† will judge him, but if a man sins against YHWH, who will intercede for him?”

And they did not listen to the voice of their father, because YHWH delighted to put them to death.

26And the boy Samuel was going on and growing up in favor both with YHWH and with men.

A Prophecy against the House of Eli

27And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says YHWH, ‘Did I clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh? 28And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel for a priest to Me, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

29Why do you⁺ kick† at My sacrifice and at My offering, which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’

30Therefore the declaration of YHWH, God of Israel,

‘I surely said that your house

and the house of your father

would walk before Me even to forever.

And the declaration of YHWH,

Far be it from Me!

For those honoring Me I will honor,

and those despising Me shall be lightly esteemed.

31Behold, the days are coming, and I will cut off your arm and the arm of the house of your father, lest there be an old man in your house. 32And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, in all that He does good with Israel, and there will not be an old man in your house all the days. 33And the man I do not cut off of you from My altar† I will consume your eyes and grieve your heart,† and all the seed† of your house will die by the sword of men.†

34And this to you is a sign that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: In one day the two of them will die.

35And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. And he will do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. And I will build him a steadfast house, and he will walk before the face of My anointed all the days.

36And it will come to pass that everyone remaining in your house will come to bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and he will say: Put me, please, in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a morsel of bread.’