I Samuel 3

¹Forsothe the child Samuel `mynystride to the Lord bifor Heli, and the word of the Lord was preciouse; in tho daies was noon opyn reuelacioun.

²Therfor it was doon in a dai, Heli lay in his bed, and hise iyen dasewiden, and he myyte not se the lanterne of God, bifor that it was quenchid.

³Forsothe Samuel slepte in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

⁴And the Lord clepide Samuel; and he answeride and seide, Lo!

⁵Y. And he ran to Hely, and seide to hym, Lo! Y; for thou clepidist me. Which Hely seide, Y clepide not thee; turne thou ayen and slepe.

⁶And he yede and slepte. And the Lord addide eft to clepe Samuel; and Samuel roos, and yede to Hely, and seide, Lo! Y; for thou clepidist me. And Heli answeride, Y clepide not thee, my sone; turne thou ayen and slepe.

⁷Forsothe Samuel knew not yit the Lord, nether the `word of the Lord was shewid to hym.

⁸And the Lord addide, and clepide yit Samuel the thridde tyme; `which Samuel roos and yede to Heli,

⁹and seide, Lo! Y; for thou clepidist me. Therfor Heli vndirstood, that the Lord clepide the child; and Heli seide to Samuel, Go and slepe; and if he clepith thee aftirward, thou schalt seie, Speke thou, Lord, for thi seruaunt herith. Therfor Samuel yede and slepte in his place.

¹⁰And the Lord cam, and stood, and clepide as he hadde clepid the secunde tyme, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel seide, Speke thou, Lord, for thi seruaunt herith.

¹¹And the Lord seide to Samuel, Lo! Y make a word in Israel, which word who euer schal here, bothe hise eeris schulen rynge.

¹²In that dai Y schal reise ayens Heli alle thingis, whiche Y spak on his hows; Y schal bigynne, and Y schal ende.

¹³For Y biforseide to hym, that Y schulde deme his hows with outen ende for wickidnesse; for he knew, that hise sones diden vnworthili, and he chastiside not hem.

¹⁴Therfor Y swoor to the hows of Heli, that the wickidnesse of his hows schal not be clensid bi sacrifices and yiftis til in to with outen ende.

¹⁵Forsothe Samuel slepte til the morewtid, and he openyde the doris of the hows of the Lord; and Samuel dredde to schewe the reuelacioun to Heli.

¹⁶Therfor Heli clepide Samuel, and seide, Samuel, my sone. And he answeride and seide, Y am redi.

¹⁷And Heli axide hym, What is the word which the Lord spak to thee? Y preye thee, hide thou not fro me; God do to thee `these thingis, and encreesse these thingis, if thou hidist fro me a word of alle wordis that ben seid to thee.

¹⁸And Samuel schewide to hym alle the wordis, and `hidde not fro hym. And Heli answeride, He is the Lord; do he that, that is good in hise iyen.

¹⁹Forsothe Samuel encreeside, and the Lord was with hym, and noon of alle hise wordis felde in to erthe.

²⁰And al Israel fro Dan to Bersabee knew, that feithful Samuel was a profete of the Lord.

²¹And the Lord addide `that he schulde appere in Silo, for the Lord was schewid to Samuel in Silo bi the `word of the Lord; and the word of Samuel cam to al Israel.

I Samuel 3

¹And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

²And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

³And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

⁴That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

⁵And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

⁶And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.

⁸And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.

⁹Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

¹¹And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

¹²In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.

¹³For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

¹⁴And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

¹⁵And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.

¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.

¹⁷And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.

¹⁸And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

²⁰And all Israel from Dan even to Beer–sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

²¹And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.