A very long time ago, there lived a good woman whose name was Hannah. She was sad at heart because she had no children.

Year after year, when she went to God’s temple to pray, she prayed that God would give her a son. One day, in the temple, she made a promise that if God would give her a son she would send the boy to be a servant in the temple.

Eli, who was the chief priest of the temple, heard the woman at her prayers and said to her, ‘Go in peace. May God give you what you have asked.’

How great was Hannah’s joy when, at last, God sent her a baby boy! At once all sadness left her heart. She called the child Samuel.

When Samuel was still a little boy, his mother took him to the temple. There she gave him to Eli, the chief priest.

From that day, little Samuel stayed in the temple as the servant of the chief priest. It was his work to open the temple doors in the morning and to close them in the evening.

Although Hannah left Samuel in the temple, she did not forget about him. Each year when she came to give thanks to God for His goodness, she brought a new coat which she had sewn for Samuel.

We may be sure that the little boy looked forward to his mother’s visit, and that he was glad to see her when she came.