' The good
Elkanah was satisfied, saying, 'Only the Lord establish his word;'
for he had not forgotten the vow. So the happy Hannah remained at
home another year, and taught the child as a mother only can.
"When the time came to go up again to Shiloh, Samuel was probably
three years old. That praying mother did not say, 'He is small; let
him stay with me one year longer.' No! With her whole heart she
carried him to the house of the Lord, to abide there; and she went
not up empty, saying, 'It is enough that I give my son;' but in the
three bullocks we find the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the
peace offering, and in her son the first fruits besides. She was
ready to say, 'In all things I am a debtor to the Lord.'
"Nor did she come in pride of spirit, saying to Eli, 'You called me
drunken, while offering a prayer that God hath heard;' but in all
humility she accosts the aged priest, saying, 'I am the woman that
stood by thee here, praying;' and then, leading forward the child,
'for this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition,
and I have lent him to the Lord.' We seem to see little Samuel
approaching Eli reverently; and then turning those speaking eyes to
his mother, he says, 'Is this my father, of whom you told me, and
with whom I am to live?' 'Yes, my child, he will be your father.
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