1. Hannah said, “My heart is happy in the Lord. I feel very strong in my God. I laugh at my enemies. I am very happy in my victory.
2. There is no holy God like the Lord. There is no God but you. There is no Rock like our God.
3. Don’t continue bragging. Don’t speak proud words, because the Lord God knows everything. He leads and judges people.
4. The bows of strong soldiers break, and weak people become strong.
5. People who had plenty of food in the past must now work to get food. But those who were hungry in the past now grow fat on food. The woman who was not able to have children now has seven children. But the woman who had many children is sad because her children are gone.
6. The Lord causes people to die, and he causes them to live. He sends people down to the grave, and he can raise them up to live again.
7. The Lord makes some poor, and he makes others rich. He humbles some people, and he honors others.
8. He raises the poor from the dust, and he takes away their sadness. He makes them important and seats them with princes and at the places for honored guests. The Lord made the whole world, and the whole world belongs to him.
9. He protects his holy people. He keeps them from stumbling. But evil people will be destroyed. They will fall in the darkness. Their power won’t help them win.
10. The Lord destroys his enemies. God Most High will thunder in heaven against people. The Lord will judge even the lands that are far away. He will give power to his king. He will make his chosen king strong.”
11. Elkanah and his family went home to Ramah, but the boy stayed in Shiloh and served the Lord under Eli the priest.
12. Eli’s sons were evil men who did not care about the Lord.
13. They did not care about how priests were supposed to treat people. Whenever someone brings a sacrifice, priests are supposed to put the meat in a pot of boiling water. Then their servant is supposed to get the three-pronged fork
14. and use it to get some meat out of the pot or kettle. The priest is supposed to take whatever his helper removes from the pot with the special fork. This is what the priests should have done for the Israelites who came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh.
15. But that is not what the sons of Eli did. Even before the fat was burned on the altar, their servant would go to the people offering sacrifices and say, “Give the priest some meat to roast. The priest won’t accept boiled meat from you.”