1 Samuel 1
Open in the reader1Now there was a man named God-Has-Acquired who was from Twin-Heights-zophim in the hill country of Double-Fruit. He was the son of May-He-Be-Shown-Compassion, the son of He-Is-My-God, the son of Humble, the son of Honeycomb, an Fruitful-One.
2He had two wives, one named Grace and the other Pearl. And Pearl had children, but Grace had none.
3Year after year God-Has-Acquired would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to He-Who-Is of Hosts at Shiloh, where My-Lifting-Up’s two sons, Handful and Phinehas, were priests to He-Who-Is.
4And whenever the day came for God-Has-Acquired to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Pearl and to all her sons and daughters.
5But to Grace he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though He-Who-Is had closed her womb.
6Because He-Who-Is had closed Grace’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her.
7And this went on year after year. Whenever Grace went up to the house of He-Who-Is, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.
8“Grace, why are you crying?” her husband God-Has-Acquired asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
9So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Grace stood up. Now My-Lifting-Up the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of He-Who-Is.
10In her bitter distress, Grace prayed to He-Who-Is and wept with many tears.
11And she made a vow, saying, “O He-Who-Is of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to He-Who-Is all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.”
12As Grace kept on praying before He-Who-Is, My-Lifting-Up watched her mouth.
13Grace was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So My-Lifting-Up thought she was drunk
14and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!”
15“No, my lord,” Grace replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before He-Who-Is.
16Do not take your servant for a wicked woman, for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.”
17“Go in peace,” My-Lifting-Up replied, “and may the God of Strives-with-God grant the petition you have asked of Him.”
18“May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Grace. Then she went on her way, and she began to eat, and her face was no longer downcast.
19The next morning they got up early to bow in worship before He-Who-Is, and then they returned home to The-Height. And God-Has-Acquired had relations with his wife Grace, and He-Who-Is remembered her.
20So in the course of time, Grace conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Heard-of-God, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the He-Who-Is .”
21Then God-Has-Acquired and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to He-Who-Is and to fulfill his vow,
22but Grace did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before He-Who-Is and to stay there permanently.”
23“Do what you think is best,” her husband God-Has-Acquired replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may He-Who-Is confirm His word.” So Grace stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
24Once she had weaned him, Grace took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of He-Who-Is at Shiloh.
25And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to My-Lifting-Up.
26“Please, my lord,” said Grace, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to He-Who-Is.
27I prayed for this boy, and since He-Who-Is has granted me what I asked of Him,
28I now dedicate the boy to He-Who-Is. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to He-Who-Is.” So they worshiped He-Who-Is there.