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7Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle.* Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.

8“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

Hannah’s Prayer for a Son

9Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.* 10Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. 11And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.*”

12As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. 13Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14“Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”

15“Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”

17“In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”

18“Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.

1 Samuel 2

Hannah’s Prayer of Praise

1Then Hannah prayed:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord!

The Lord has made me strong.*

Now I have an answer for my enemies;

I rejoice because you rescued me.

2No one is holy like the Lord!

There is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

3“Stop acting so proud and haughty!

Don’t speak with such arrogance!

For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done;

he will judge your actions.

4The bow of the mighty is now broken,

and those who stumbled are now strong.

5Those who were well fed are now starving,

and those who were starving are now full.

The childless woman now has seven children,

and the woman with many children wastes away.

6The Lord gives both death and life;

he brings some down to the grave* but raises others up.

7The Lord makes some poor and others rich;

he brings some down and lifts others up.

8He lifts the poor from the dust

and the needy from the garbage dump.

He sets them among princes,

placing them in seats of honor.

For all the earth is the Lord’s,

and he has set the world in order.

9“He will protect his faithful ones,

but the wicked will disappear in darkness.

No one will succeed by strength alone.

10Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.

He thunders against them from heaven;

the Lord judges throughout the earth.

He gives power to his king;

he increases the strength* of his anointed one.”