Hannah’s Prayer
1 And this is the song of Hannah,
“My heart exults in Yahweh,
I feel strong in my God.
I rejoice and laugh at my enemies
for you came with power to save me.
2 Yahweh alone is holy, no one is like you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 Speak proudly no more;
no more arrogance on your lips,
for Yahweh is an all-knowing God,
he it is who weighs the deeds of all.
4 The bow of the mighty is broken
but the weak are girded with strength.
5 The well-fed must labor for bread
but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has borne seven children,
but the proud mother is left alone.
6 Yahweh is Lord of life and death;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 Yahweh makes poor and makes rich,
he brings low and he exalts.
8 He lifts up the lowly from the dust,
and raises the poor from the ash heap;
they will be called to the company of princes,
and inherit a seat of honor.
The earth to its pillars belongs to Yahweh
and on them he has set the world.
9 He guards the steps of his faithful ones,
but the wicked perish in darkness,
for no one succeeds by his own strength.
10 The enemies of Yahweh are shattered,
against them he thunders in heaven.
Yahweh rules over the whole world,
he will raise his own king.
His anointed feels strong in Him.”
11 After that Elkanah went home to Ramah while the boy served Yah weh in the presence of Eli, the priest.
The story of Eli
12 The sons of Eli were worthless men who had no regard for Yahweh.
13 This is how they acted with the people. When someone offered sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come while the meat was still boiling.
14 With a fork, he would reach into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot, and all that the fork brought up would be for the priests. This is how these priests treated the Israelites who went to Shiloh.
15 Sometimes the priest’s servant would come be fore the fat was burned and would say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw.”
16 And if the man answered, “Let the fat be burned first and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, give it to me now or else I will take it by force.”
17 The sin of these young priests was very great in the sight of Yahweh because they defiled the offering of Yah weh.
18 Meanwhile Samuel, now a boy wear ing a priest’s garment, was ministering before Yahweh.
19 From time to time his mother made him a little robe which she handed to him when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20 Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife with these words, “May Yahweh give you more children by this woman for the sake of the boy she asked for and then gave to Yahweh.”
21 After the man had gone back home, Yahweh blessed Hannah with more children. She had three sons and two daughters while the boy Sa muel grew in the presence of Yah weh.
22 Eli was now very old. He heard how his sons dealt with the Israelites and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
23 So he told them, “How can you do the things I hear about you from every one?
24 No, my sons, what I hear from the pilgrims of Yahweh’s people is really bad news for me.
25 When anyone sins against another person, God will mediate for him. But if he sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?” Yet the two would not listen to their father for Yahweh had already decided that they should die.
26 The boy Samuel, in the meantime, was growing in stature and worth before Yahweh and the people.
27 One day, a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is Yahweh’s word: I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were Pha raoh’s slaves in Egypt.
28 I chose them out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense and to wear a priest’s robe in my presence, and I gave them all the burnt offerings of Israel.
29 Why do you now despise my sacrifice and the offerings that I myself ordered? Why do you give more importance to your sons than to me and fatten yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering made by my people Israel?
30 Therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel declares: I promised that your family and that of your father should go on ministering before me forever; but now, far be it from me! Those who honor me I shall honor, those who despise me will be despised.
31 The days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of all your relatives.
32 No one will live to a ripe old age.
33 Those of your house hold that I do not reject from my service will be spared only to weep bitterly and live in grief; but the rest shall die by the sword.
34 What will happen to your sons Hophni and Phinehas shall be a sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.
35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall act according to my heart and mind. I will give him a lasting succession that will serve me and my anointed one forever.
36 And everyone that is left of your family shall ask him for some money or a loaf of bread, saying: Appoint me, I beg you, for a priestly function so that I may have something to eat.”
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Comments 1 Samuel, Chapter 2
• 2.1 In her thanksgiving song, Hannah makes herself the spokesperson of all the despised people of the world.
Yahweh is the God who saves the abandoned. He rejects those who put their trust in their arm and in their bow, in the food assured for their household, i.e., in themselves and their possessions. He manifests his glory in shifting the differences existing between people (as in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Lk 16:25). Yahweh brings down to the grave and raises up. The song of Hannah has a prophetic vision. Like Hannah, we ought to be proud of our God, even more than in the material progress of our society which blesses the rich and the powerful.
This text condemns those who seek to advance in society and promote their own welfare with the sole purpose of ensuring their family’s future. One who sides with the weak will be saved. Whereas others feel ashamed of their poor background, as laborers or farmers or of the undeveloped condition of their country, the believer knows that the poor and the hungry contribute to the salvation of the world. Where everything is wanting, it is easier to discover the value of human persons, and to understand that no world is worthy of human kind except one where food and dignity are given to all.