1 Kings

Chapter 1

¹ There was a man of Armathaim Sipha, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Helkana, a son of Jeremeel the son of Elias the son of Thoke, in Nasib Ephraim. ² And he had two wives; the name of the one was Anna, and the name of the second Phennana. And Phennana had children, but Anna had no child.

³ And the man went up ¹from year to year from his city, from Armathaim, to worship and sacrifice to the Lord God of Sabaoth at Selom: and there were Heli and his two sons Ophni and Phinees, the priests of the Lord.

⁴ And the day came, and Helkana sacrificed, and gave portions to his wife Phennana and her children. ⁵ And to Anna he gave ²a prime portion, because she had no child, only Helkana loved Anna more than the other; but the Lord had closed her womb. ⁶ For the Lord gave her no child in her affliction, and according to the despondency of her affliction; and she was dispirited on this account, that the Lord shut up her womb so as not to give her a child. ⁷ So she did year by year, in going up to the house of the Lord; and she was dispirited, and wept, and did not eat.

⁸ And Helkana her husband said to her, Anna: and she said to him, Here am I, my lord: and he said to her, What ails thee that thou weepest? and why dost thou not eat? and why does thy heart smite thee? am I not better to thee than ten children?

⁹ And Anna rose up after they had eaten in Selom, and stood before the Lord: and Heli the priest was on a seat by the ³threshold of the temple of the Lord.

¹⁰ And she was very much grieved in spirit, and prayed to the Lord, and wept abundantly. ¹¹ And she vowed a vow to the Lord, saying, O Lord God of Sabaoth, if thou welt indeed look upon the humiliation of thine handmaid, and remember me, and give to thine handmaid a ⁴man-child, then will I indeed dedicate him ⁵to thee till the day of his death; and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and no ⁶razor shall come upon his head.

¹² And it came to pass, while she was long praying before the Lord, that Heli the priest marked her mouth. ¹³ And she was speaking

356

in her heart, and her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: and Heli accounted her a drunken woman. ¹⁴And the servant of Heli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? take away thy wine from thee, and go out from the presence of the Lord. ¹⁵And Anna answered and said Nay, my lord, I live in a hard day and I have not drunk wine or strong drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶Count not thy handmaid for a pestilent woman, for by reason of the abundance of my importunity I have continued my prayer until now. ¹⁷And Heli answered and said to her, Go in peace: the God of Israel give thee all thy petition, which thou hast asked of him. ¹⁸And she said, Thine handmaid has found favour in thine eyes; and the woman went her way, and entered into her lodging, and ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was no more sad.

¹⁹And they rise early in the morning, and worship the Lord, and they go their way and Helkana went into his house at Armathaim, and knew his wife Anna; and the Lord remembered her, and she conceived. ²⁰And it came to pass when the time was come, that she brought forth a son, and called his name Samuel, and said Because I asked him of the Lord God of Sabaoth.

²¹And the man Helkana and all his house went up to offer in Selom the yearly sacrifice and his vows, and all the tithes of his land. ²² But Anna did not go up with him for she said to her husband, I will not go up until the child goes up, when I have weaned him and he shall be presented before the Lord, and he shall abide there continually. ²³ And Helkana her husband said to her, Do that which is good in thine eyes, abide still until thou shalt have weaned him; but may the Lord establish that which comes out of thy mouth: and the woman tarried, and suckled her son until she had weaned him.

²⁴And she went up with him to Selom with a calf of three years old and loaves and an ephah of fine flour, and a bottle of wine: and she entered into the house of the Lord in Selom, and the child with them. ²⁵ And they brought him before the Lord; and his father slew his offering which he offered from year to year to the Lord; and he brought near the child, and slew the calf; and Anna the mother of the child brought him to Heli. ²⁶ And she said, I pray thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, I am the woman that stood in thy presence with thee while praying to the Lord. ²⁷For this child I prayed; and the Lord has given me my request that I asked of him. ²⁸And I lend him to the Lord all his days that he lives, a loan to the Lord: and she said