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.”
16. Maybe the man offering the sacrifice would say, “Burn the fat first, and then you can take whatever you want.” But the servant would answer: “No, give me the meat now. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll take it from you!”