17. In this way Hophni and Phinehas showed that they did not respect the offerings made to the Lord. This was a terrible sin against the Lord.
18. But Samuel served the Lord. He was a helper who wore the linen ephod.
19. Every year Samuel’s mother made a robe for Samuel. She took the little robe to Samuel when she went up to Shiloh with her husband for the sacrifice every year.
20. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife. He would say, “May the Lord give you more children through Hannah who will take the place of the boy she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Elkanah and Hannah went home.
21. The Lord was kind to Hannah, and she had three sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel grew up at the holy place near the Lord.
22. Eli was very old. He heard about the bad things his sons were doing to the Israelites at Shiloh and how his sons were having sexual relations with the women who served at the door of the Meeting Tent.
23. Eli said to his sons, “The people here told me about the evil things you have done. Why are you doing such things?
24. Sons, stop that! The Lord’S people are saying bad things about you.
25. If you sin against other people, God might protect you. But who can help you if you sin against the Lord?” Eli’s sons refused to listen to him, so the Lord decided to kill them.
26. The boy Samuel kept growing. He was pleasing to the Lord and to the people.
27. A man of God came to Eli and said, “The Lord says, ‘I appeared to your ancestors when they were slaves of Pharaoh.
28. From all the tribes of Israel, I chose your tribe to be my priests. I chose them to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and wear the ephod. I also let your tribe have the meat from the sacrifices that the Israelites give to me.
29. So why don’t you respect these gifts and sacrifices? You honor your sons more than me. You become fat eating the best parts of the meat that the Israelites bring to me.’
30. “The Lord, the God of Israel, promised that your father’s family would serve him forever. But now the Lord says, ‘That will never be! I will honor people who honor me, but bad things will happen to those who refuse to respect me.
31. The time is coming when I will destroy all your descendants. No one in your family will live to be an old man.
32. Good things will happen to Israel, but you will see bad things happening at home. No one in your family will live to be an old man.
33. There is only one man I will save to serve as priest at my altar. He will live until his eyes wear out and his strength is gone. But all of your descendants will die by the sword.
34. I will give you a sign to show that these things will come true. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day.