11. Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy continued to serve the Lord under Eli the priest.
12. Now Eli’s sons were evil men. They did not care about the Lord.
13. This is what the priests would do to the people: Every time someone brought a sacrifice, the meat would be cooked in a pot. The priest’s servant would then come with a fork in his hand. The fork had three prongs.
14. He would plunge the fork into the pot or the kettle. Whatever the fork brought out of the pot belonged to the priest. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices.
15. But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come to the person offering sacrifices. The servant would say, “Give the priest some meat to roast. The priest won’t accept boiled meat from you. He will only accept raw meat.”
16. But the man who offered the sacrifice might say, “Let the fat be burned up first as usual. Then you may take anything you want.”If so, the priest’s servant would answer, “No, give me the meat now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
17. The Lord saw that the sin of the servants was very great. They did not show respect for the offerings made to the Lord.
18. But Samuel obeyed the Lord. He wore a linen holy vest.