Bible Stories for the Young
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Once there was a little boy named Samuel. He lived with a priest named Eli. One night, Samuel was sleeping in his bed. Then he heard a voice call his name.
“Samuel!”
So Samuel jumped out of bed and ran to Eli’s room.
“Here I am! Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you,” said Eli. “Go back to bed.”
So Samuel did. But then, he heard the same voice call his name again.
“Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel jumped out of bed and ran to Eli’s room again.
“Here I am, here I am!”
“I didn’t call you,” said Eli. “Go back to bed.”
So Samuel went back to bed. But then, can you believe it? He heard the voice call his name a third time!
“Samuel, Samuel, Samuel!”
What did Samuel do? He jumped out of bed and ran to Eli’s room, again!
“Here I am, here I am, here I am!”
Did you notice that Samuel came every time his name was called? He didn’t make any excuses to not get up and go, go, go when someone called him, even though he was sleeping and had already asked Eli two times if he had called him! Do you come running right away every time an adult calls you? You should. Listen what happens next.
This time, Eli understood it was God calling Samuel’s name.
So he said, “Samuel, go back to your room and lie down. But next time, say, ‘Here I am, Lord. Your servant is listening.’”
So Samuel obeyed. He went back to his room again. This time, God came and stood in Samuel’s room.
“Samuel,” God called.
Samuel jumped up. “Here I am Lord, Your servant is listening!”
Because Samuel was listening carefully to God, God talked to Samuel and told him some things that were about to happen. Samuel was God’s friend. And because Samuel was such a careful listener, God spoke to Samuel for the rest of his life.
