My heart exults in Yahweh! My horn is exalted in Yahweh. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is no one as holy as Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God. Do not talk so exceedingly proudly. Don't let arrogance come out of your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge. By him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes. Yahweh kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up. Yahweh makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up. He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill, to make them sit with princes, and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh's. He has set the world on them. He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; for no man will prevail by strength. Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
The Song of Hannah
Also known as Hannah's Prayer ยท Hannah's Magnificat
About this prayer
The Song of Hannah is the prayer of thanksgiving offered by Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, after the birth of her son. The text is preserved in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and is one of the great prophetic prayers of the Hebrew Bible. Hannah was barren for many years and had prayed in deep distress at the Tabernacle at Shiloh for a son; when Samuel was born, she dedicated him to lifelong service at the Tabernacle and offered this prayer of thanksgiving and prophetic praise.
The Song of Hannah is closely connected to the Magnificat, the song of Mary preserved in Luke 1:46-55. The structural parallels are direct and intentional: Mary's song, sung after the angel Gabriel's announcement of her pregnancy with Jesus, echoes the language and themes of Hannah's song. Both songs celebrate God's reversal of human expectation (the proud cast down, the lowly lifted up, the hungry filled, the rich sent away empty); both are sung by mothers who recognize their child as a gift of God for the purposes of God's people. Mary's Magnificat is widely understood by biblical scholars as a deliberate echo of Hannah's Song, marking Mary as the new Hannah and Jesus as the new Samuel-and-more.
The Song of Hannah is read in Jewish synagogues on the first day of Rosh Hashanah as the Haftarah portion accompanying the Torah reading. In Christian liturgy, it appears in the Liturgy of the Hours (the Catholic and Anglican daily offices) as one of the canticles, and is sometimes used at Christmas and at Marian feasts to underscore the parallels with the Magnificat.
The English translation included here is from the World English Bible (WEB), a public-domain modern translation of the Bible derived from the American Standard Version of 1901 and updated for modern English readability. The WEB is freely available for any use and is one of the few modern English Bible translations that is entirely in the public domain.
When it's said
Read in Jewish synagogues on the first day of Rosh Hashanah as the Haftarah accompanying the Torah reading on the birth of Samuel. In Christian liturgy, appears in the Liturgy of the Hours as one of the canticles. Used in Christian preaching and devotion as the Old Testament parallel to Mary's Magnificat. Used in personal devotion as a prayer of thanksgiving, particularly after the birth of a child or after an extended period of distress that has been answered.
Notes on the text
Biblical scholars have long noted the structural and theological parallels between the Song of Hannah and the Magnificat. The parallels are not coincidental; the New Testament writers, especially Luke, draw deliberately on Hebrew Bible patterns to interpret the events surrounding Jesus's birth. The phrase 'the bows of the mighty men are broken / those who stumbled are armed with strength' is one of the great reversals of the Hebrew Bible. The Magnificat picks it up directly: 'He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty.' The name 'Yahweh' in the WEB translation reflects modern scholarly conventions for representing the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible. Other public-domain translations (KJV, ASV) use 'the LORD' instead.
Common questions
How is the Song of Hannah related to Mary's Magnificat?
Why is the Song of Hannah read on Rosh Hashanah?
Where is the Song of Hannah in the Bible?
1 Samuel 2:1-10. English translation from the World English Bible (WEB), a public-domain modern translation of the Bible.
Last reviewed: June 2026 against primary source.