1 MuRamataim omwa li omulumenhu Omusufi, wokeemhunda daEfraim, edina laye Elkana yaJeroham yaElihu yaTohu yaSuf Omuefrat. 2 Ye okwa li e novalikadi vavali. Edina laumwe la li Hanna, nedina lomutivali ola li Peninna. Ndele Peninna okwa li e novana, ndelenee Hanna okwa li ehe novana. 3 Nomulumenhu ou okwa li ha di moshilando shavo ndele ta i omudo keshe okwiilikana nokuyambela Omwene womatanga ovakwaita kuSilo, oko ovana ovamati vavali vaEli, Hofni naPinehas, va li ovapristeli vOmwene. 4 Ndele mefiku limwe Elkana okwa yamba nokwa yandja komwalikadi waye Peninna nokovana vaye ovamati noukadona oitukulwa yombelela yeyambo. 5 Ndelenee okwa yandja kuHanna luvali oitukulwa, osheshi okwa li e hole Hanna. Ndelenee Omwene okwa fitika po oshidalelo shaye. 6 Nomukwao okwe mu shinda nokushindilila e mu handukife, shaashi Omwene okwa fitika po oshidalelo shaye. 7 Nosho ngaha sha ningwa omudo nomudo, ye eshi a ya kongulu yOmwene. Osho ngaha winya e mu handukifa, onghee Hanna a lila ndele ina hala okulya sha. 8 Nomulumenhu waye Elkana okwe mu lombwela: “Hanna, oto lilile shike ndele ito li sha? Nomolwashike omwenyo woye tau nyika oluhodi? Haame ngeno ndi dule ovamati omulongo?” 9 Opo nee Hanna okwa fikama, vo eshi va lya nova nwa muSilo, fimbo omupristeli Eli a li omutumba kolukalwa laye poshivelo shotembeli yOmwene. 10 Nokwa ilikana Omwene mouyehame ulula nokwa lila nokulililila. 11 Ndele ye okwa udaneka eudaneko ndele ta ti: “Omwene womatanga ovakwaita, Ove ngeenge to tale oluhepo lomupiya woye omukainhu, ndele to dimbulukwa nge, ndele ito dimbwa omupiya woye omukainhu, ndele to yandje komupiya woye omukainhu okaana okalume, opo nee ame ohandi ke ka yandja kOmwene ka ninge kOmwene omafiku aeshe omokukala kwako. Noshimbi itashi ke uya komutwe wako.” 12 Ndele ye eshi a ilikana efimbo lile koshipala shOmwene naEli ta tale okanya kaye, 13 osheshi Hanna okwa popya momutima waye, omilungu daye adike de linyenga, ndelenee ondaka yaye inai udika, ndele Eli okwa diladila ye a kolwa. 14 Ndele Eli ta ti kuye: “Fiyo onaini to kala ngaashi omunhu ongholwe? Litukumuna oukolwe woye!” 15 Ndelenee Hanna ta nyamukula ta ti: “Ahowe, omwene wange, aame omukainhu ndi nouyehame wokomwenyo. Inandi nwa omaviinyu ile oikunwa tai kolwifa, ndelenee nda tukumuna omwenyo wange koshipala shOmwene. 16 Ino tala omupiya woye omukainhu omukolokoshi, osheshi omolwouyehame wange nomolwounene woluhodi lange nda popya efimbo lile.” 17 Ndele Eli okwa nyamukula ndele ta ti: Inda nombili, Kalunga kaIsrael ne ku pe eshi we mu indila meilikano loye. 18 Opo nee ye ta ti: “Omupiya woye omukainhu na filwe onghenda momesho oye.” Omwalikadi okwa dja po opo, ta li ndele ina kala vali e noluhodi. 19 Vo eshi ve liungaana ongula inene ndele va ilikana koshipala shOmwene, vo ova shuna ndele tave uya meumbo lavo muRama. Elkana a nangala nomwalikadi waye Hanna, nOmwene okwe mu dimbulukwa. 20 Ndele eshi pa pita omudo umwe, Hanna ou a li omufimba, okwa dala okaana okamati nokwe ka luka Samuel, osheshi ye ta ti: “Ame nde ka indila kOmwene.”
21 Omulumenhu Elkana neumbo laye alishe eshi va fikama va ka yambele Omwene eyambo lomudo keshe nokutwala ko eyambo laye leudaneko, 22 Hanna ina ya ko. Ndelenee ye okwa lombwela omulumenhu waye: “Okaana okamati ngeenge ka tova, ohandi ke ka twala ko, opo ka holoke koshipala shOmwene nokukala ko efimbo alishe.” 23 Nomulumenhu waye Elkana okwe mu lombwela: “Ninga hano eshi tashi ku wapalele. Kala po fiyo okaana okamati ka tova; Omwene na wanife ashike eendjovo daye.” Omwalikadi a kala ko ndele ta nyamifa okaana kaye okamati fiyo e ka tovifa. 24 Ndelenee ye eshi e ka tovifa, okwa ya pamwe nako neengobe nhatu deemhedi noufila u fike peekilograma omulongo nomaviinyu oshitoo shimwe, nokwe ka twala kongulu yOmwene mu Silo. Nokaana okamati ka li kanini natango. 25 Ndele va toma ongobe yomhedi ndele tava twala okaana okamati kuEli. 26 Ndele ye ta ti: Akutu, omwene wange, oshili, ngaashi u nomwenyo aame omukainhu winya nda li ofika apa pwoove ndele handi indile kOmwene. 27 Okaana aka okamati onde ka indila kOmwene, nOmwene okwa pa nge eshi nde shi mu indila. 28 Onghee hano nda hala yo oku ka yandja kOmwene omafiku aeshe okukala kwako. Naka kale ka yandjelwa Omwene. Ndele oko vo va ilikana Omwene.
Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh
1 There was a man named Elkanah, from the tribe of Ephraim, who lived in the town of Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham and grandson of Elihu, and belonged to the family of Tohu, a part of the clan of Zuph. 2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. 3 Every year Elkanah went from Ramah to worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4 Each time Elkanah offered his sacrifice, he would give one share of the meat to Peninnah and one share to each of her children. 5 And even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, because the Lord had kept her from having children. 6 Peninnah, her rival, would torment and humiliate her, because the Lord had kept her childless. 7 This went on year after year; whenever they went to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would upset Hannah so much that she would cry and refuse to eat anything. 8 Her husband Elkanah would ask her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won't you eat? Why are you always so sad? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?”
Hannah and Eli
9-10 One time, after they had finished their meal in the house of the Lord at Shiloh, Hannah got up. She was deeply distressed, and she cried bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Meanwhile, Eli the priest was sitting in his place by the door. 11 Hannah made a solemn promise: “Lord Almighty, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don't forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut.”
12 Hannah continued to pray to the Lord for a long time, and Eli watched her lips. 13 She was praying silently; her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk, 14 and he said to her, “Stop making a drunken show of yourself! Stop your drinking and sober up!”
15 “No, I'm not drunk, sir,” she answered. “I haven't been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying, pouring out my troubles to the Lord. 16 Don't think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this because I'm so miserable.”
17 “Go in peace,” Eli said, “and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for.”
18 “May you always think kindly of me,” she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad.
Samuel's Birth and Dedication
19 The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early, and after worshiping the Lord, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord answered her prayer. 20 So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, and explained, “I asked the Lord for him.”
21 The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he had promised. 22 But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the Lord, where he will stay all his life.”
23 Elkanah answered, “All right, do whatever you think best; stay at home until you have weaned him. And may the Lord make your promise come true.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.
24 After she had weaned him, she took him to Shiloh, taking along a three-year-old bull, a bushel of flour, and a leather bag full of wine. She took Samuel, young as he was, to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 After they had killed the bull, they took the child to Eli. 26 Hannah said to him, “Excuse me, sir. Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw standing here, praying to the Lord. 27 I asked him for this child, and he gave me what I asked for. 28 So I am dedicating him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he will belong to the Lord.”
Then they worshiped the Lord there.
