6. "The Lord causes people to die. He also gives people life. He brings people down to the grave. He also brings people up.
7. The Lord makes people poor. He also makes people rich. He brings people down. He also lifts people up.
8. He raises poor people up from the trash pile. He lifts needy people out of the ashes. He lets them sit with princes. He gives them places of honor. "The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord. On them he has set the world.
9. He guards the paths of those who are faithful to him. But evil people will lie silent in their dark graves. "People don't win just because they are strong.
10. Those who oppose the Lord will be totally destroyed. He will thunder against them from heaven. He will judge the earth from one end to the other. "He will give power to his king. He will give honor to his anointed one."
11. Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of the priest Eli.
12. Eli's sons were evil men. They didn't know the Lord.