1 Samuel 2:12-25

Corruption of Eli’s sons

¹² Now Eli’s sons were despicable men who didn’t know the Lord. ¹³ This was how the priest was supposed to act with the people: Whenever anyone made a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest’s assistant would come with a three-pronged fork in hand. ¹⁴ He would thrust it into the cauldron or the pot. Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is how it was done for all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

¹⁵ But with Eli’s sons, even before the fat was burned, the priest’s assistant would come and say to the person offering the sacrifice, “Give the priest some meat to roast. He won’t accept boiled meat from you.” ¹⁶ If anyone said, “Let the fat be burned off first, as usual, then take whatever you like for yourself,” the assistant would reply, “No, hand it over now. If not, I’ll take it by force.” ¹⁷ The sin of these priestly assistants was very serious in the Lord’s sight because they were disrespecting the Lord’s own offering.

¹⁸ Now Samuel was serving the Lord. He was a young boy, clothed in a linen priestly vest. ¹⁹ His mother would make a small robe for him and take it to him every year when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the Lord replace the child of this woman that you gave back to the Lord.” Then they would return home. ²¹ The Lord paid attention to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the Lord’s service.

²² Eli was very old, but he heard everything his sons were doing to the Israelites, and how they had sex with the women who served at the meeting tent’s entrance. ²³ Eli said to his sons, “Why are you doing these terrible things that I’m hearing about from everybody? ²⁴ No, my sons. Don’t do this. The report I hear spreading among God’s people isn’t good. ²⁵ If someone sins against someone else, God can intercede; but if someone sins against the Lord, who will intercede then?” But they wouldn’t obey their father because the Lord wanted to kill them.