Samuel Hears a Voice
First Samuel 3
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Samuel was a boy who lived at the temple.
He helped an old priest called Eli.
Eli's eyes were going, so Samuel was his helper.
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Samuel was still a boy, and he lived and worked at the house of God at Shiloh, helping an old priest named Eli. Eli's eyes had grown so weak that he could hardly see any more, so Samuel was his hands and his eyes. He swept, and he fetched, and he looked after the lamp.
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One night Samuel was lying down to sleep.
The lamp was still burning.
Somebody called his name. Samuel.
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One night Samuel had lain down in the quiet, and the lamp of God was still burning low in the dark. And then, clear as anything, a voice said his name. Samuel. He sat straight up in the dark. There was only one person it could be, so he got up and went to Eli.
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Here I am, said Samuel. You called me.
I did not call you, said Eli. Go back to bed.
So Samuel went back to bed.
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Here I am, he said, you called me. And Eli, half asleep, said, I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down. So Samuel padded back through the dark and lay down again and pulled his blanket up, a bit puzzled, and closed his eyes.
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It happened again.
And then it happened a third time.
Samuel kept getting up and going to Eli.
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Then the voice came again. Samuel. And up he got, and back he went, and Eli sent him back to bed again. And then a third time, Samuel. By now Samuel must have been thoroughly confused, standing there in the dark by the old man's bed for the third time in one night.
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Then Eli understood.
It is God who is calling you, he said.
Next time, say, speak, I am listening.
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And then the old priest woke up properly, and understood. It is the Lord who is calling you, he said. Go and lie down, and if he calls you again, say this. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. And notice that Eli did not go instead of him. It was the boy who was being called.
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Samuel went and lay down.
The voice came again. Samuel. Samuel.
Speak, said Samuel. I am listening.
And God talked to a boy in the dark.
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So Samuel lay down in the dark and waited. And God came and stood there and called as before, Samuel, Samuel. And the boy said, speak, for your servant is listening. God talked to him that night, and to everything he said afterwards Samuel listened, and he grew up to be one of the great men of the Bible. It started with a child, awake in the dark, saying yes.
