12 The sons of Eli were base and worthless; they did not know or regard the Lord. 13 And the custom of the priests with the people was this: when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came while the flesh was boiling with a fleshhook of three prongs in his hand; 14 And he thrust it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh with all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man who sacrificed, Give the priest meat to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw. 16 And if the man said to him, Let them burn the fat first, and then you may take as much as you want, the priest's servant would say, No! Give it to me now or I will take it by force. 17 So the sin of the [two] young men was very great before the Lord, for they despised the offering of the Lord.
18 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, a child girded with a linen ephod. 19 Moreover, his mother made him a little robe and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, May the Lord give you children by this woman for the gift she asked for and gave to the Lord. Then they would go to their own home.
21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she bore three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.