11 Yahweh said to Samuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he didn’t restrain them. 14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be removed with sacrifice nor offering forever.” 15 Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, “Samuel, my son!”
He said, “Here I am.” 17 He said, “What is the thing that Yahweh has spoken to you? Please don’t hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you.” 18 Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him.
He said, “It is Yahweh. Let him do what seems good to him.”
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 3:11-18
Commentary on 1 Samuel 3:11-18
(Read 1 Samuel 3:11-18)
What a great deal of guilt and corruption is there in us, concerning which we may say, It is the iniquity which our own heart knoweth; we are conscious to ourselves of it! Those who do not restrain the sins of others, when it is in their power to do it, make themselves partakers of the guilt, and will be charged as joining in it. In his remarkable answer to this awful sentence, Eli acknowledged that the Lord had a right to do as he saw good, being assured that he would do nothing wrong. The meekness, patience, and humility contained in those words, show that he was truly repentant; he accepted the punishment of his sin.