When it is said
Eli gave Samuel these words to answer God’s call, and Samuel answered with them that same night.
Said before you open the Bible, they ask God to speak through what you read, and tell Him that you are listening.
Where it comes from
Author known
The night God called Samuel
Samuel was a boy who served the Lord under Eli at Shiloh, in days when a word from the Lord was rare. One night the Lord called him as he lay asleep in the temple. Because Samuel did not yet know the Lord, he thought Eli had called and ran to him. It happened three times. The third time Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy, and he told Samuel what to answer.
A hard message
When the call came again, Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” God told him that the judgment He had already announced to Eli would now fall on Eli’s family. Eli’s sons had blasphemed God, and Eli knew it and did not restrain them. In the morning Samuel was afraid to tell Eli, but Eli pressed him to hide nothing. Samuel told him everything, and Eli accepted it as the Lord’s will.
1 Samuel 3:10-18, Berean Standard Bible
The word that came to Shiloh
Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, and none of Samuel’s words failed to come true. All Israel came to know that he was a prophet of the Lord. The Lord kept appearing at Shiloh, because there He made Himself known to Samuel through His word.
What the words mean
“Speak, Lord” or “Speak”?
In the Hebrew, Eli tells Samuel to say “Speak, Lord”, but when the call comes Samuel says only “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) has the shorter words both times.
1 Samuel 3:9-10, King James Version; The same verses in Brenton’s Septuagint
The Scripture in it
“Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.