1 Samuel 3:1

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ¹  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

Amos 8:11

8:11 Be certain of this, ²  the time is ³  coming,” says the sovereign Lord,

“when I will send a famine through the land –

not a shortage of food or water

but an end to divine revelation! ⁴ 

Mikha 3:6

3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; ⁵ 

it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. ⁶ 

The sun will set on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. ⁷ 

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “before Eli.”

[8:11]  ² tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[8:11]  ³ tn Heb “the days are.”

[8:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “not a hunger for food or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”

[3:6]  sn The coming of night (and darkness in the following line) symbolizes the cessation of revelation.

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”

[3:6]  sn The reading of omens (Heb “divination”) was forbidden in the law (Deut 18:10), so this probably reflects the prophets’ view of how they received divine revelation.

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”