Hannah made a solemn promise: " LORD Almighty, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don't forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut."

But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the LORD, where he will stay all his life."

After she had weaned him, she took him to Shiloh, taking along a three-year-old bull, a bushel of flour, and a leather bag full of wine. She took Samuel, young as he was, to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.

So I am dedicating him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he will belong to the LORD." Then they worshiped the LORD there.

In the meantime the boy Samuel continued to serve the LORD, wearing a sacred linen apron.