Hannah’s Prayer after Giving Birth to Samuel

1 Samuel 2:1–10

ca. 1200–332 BCE

About This Entry

For the narrative context of this prayer, see The Birth of Samuel.

1And Hannah prayed:

My heart exults in the Lord;
I have triumphed through the Lord.
I gloat over my enemies;
I rejoice in Your deliverance.
2There is no holy one like the Lord,
Truly, there is none beside You;
There is no rock like our God.
3Talk no more with lofty pride,
Let no arrogance cross your lips!
For the Lord is an all-knowing God;
By Him actions are measured.
4The bows of the mighty are broken,
And the faltering are girded with strength.
5Men once sated must hire out for bread;
Men once hungry hunger no more.
While the barren woman bears seven,
The mother of many is forlorn.
6The Lord deals death and gives life,
Casts down into Sheol and raises up.
7The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
He casts down, He also lifts high.
8He raises the poor from the dust,
Lifts up the needy from the dunghill,
Setting them with nobles,
Granting them seats of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s;
He has set the world upon them.
9He guards the steps of His faithful,
But the wicked perish in darkness—
For not by strength shall man prevail.
10The foes of the Lord shall be shattered;
He will thunder against them in the heavens.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
He will give power to His king,
And triumph to His anointed one.
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Credits

Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

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For the narrative context of this prayer, see The Birth of Samuel.

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