Today's Reading

¹Hannah prayed, and said: "My heart exults in the Lord! My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.

²There is no one as holy as the Lord, For there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.

³"Talk no more so exceeding proudly. Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth, For the Lord is a God of knowledge. By him actions are weighed.

⁴"The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength.

⁵Those 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.

⁶"The Lord kills, and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol, and brings up.

⁷The Lord makes poor, and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.

⁸He 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 the Lord's. He has set the world on them.

⁹He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for no man shall prevail by strength.

¹⁰Those who strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. "The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed."

¹¹Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served the Lord before Eli the priest.

¹²Now the sons of Eli were base men; they did not know the Lord.

¹³The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand;

¹⁴and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest took therewith. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

¹⁵Yes, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw."

¹⁶If the man said to him, "Let the fat be burned first, and then take as much as your soul desires"; then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force."

¹⁷The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for they despised the offering of the Lord.

¹⁸But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod.

¹⁹Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

²⁰Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, "The Lord give you seed of this woman for the petition which was asked of the Lord." They went to their own home.

²¹The Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before the Lord.

²²Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they lay with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

²³He said to them, "Why do you do such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.

²⁴No, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: you make the Lord's people disobey.

²⁵If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?" Notwithstanding, they did not listen to the voice of their father, because the Lord intended to kill them.

²⁶The child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with the Lord, and also with men.

²⁷A man of God came to Eli, and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, I plainly revealed myself to the house of your father, when they were slaves in Egypt to the house of Pharaoh.

²⁸And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me. And I gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire.

²⁹Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel my people?'

³⁰"Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever.' But now the Lord says, 'Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

³¹Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father's house, that there shall not be an old man in your house.

³²You shall see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which I shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

³³The man of yours, whom I shall not cut off from my altar, shall consume your eyes, and grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

³⁴"'This shall be the sign to you, that shall come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall both die.

³⁵I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed forever.

³⁶It shall happen, that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, "Please put me into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread."'"

¹The child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

²It happened at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see),

³and the lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had lain down in the Lord's temple, where the ark of God was;

⁴that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, "Here I am."

⁵He ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He said, "I did not call; lie down again." He went and lay down.

⁶The Lord called yet again, "Samuel!" Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He answered, "I did not call, my son; lie down again."

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.

⁸The Lord called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.

⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, Lord; for your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak; for your servant hears."

¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.

¹²In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end.

¹³For 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 did not restrain them.

¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be removed with sacrifice nor offering forever."

¹⁵Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.

¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel, and said, "Samuel, my son!" He said, "Here I am."

¹⁷He said, "What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please do not 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."

¹⁸Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, "It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him."

¹⁹Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.

²⁰All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

²¹The Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

¹The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

²The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was struck before the Philistines; and they killed of the army in the field about four thousand men.

³When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? Let us get the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh to us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies."

⁴So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who sits above the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

⁶When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, "What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" They understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.

⁷The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp." They said, "Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before.

⁸Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

⁹Be strong, and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!"

¹⁰The Philistines fought, and Israel was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

¹¹The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹²There ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with earth on his head.

¹³When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

¹⁴When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, "What does the noise of this tumult mean?" The man hurried, and came and told Eli.

¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.

¹⁶The man said to Eli, "I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army." He said, "How did the matter go, my son?"

¹⁷He who brought the news answered, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."

¹⁸It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered. When she heard the news that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth; for her pains came on her.

²⁰About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not be afraid; for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer, neither did she regard it.

²¹She named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

²²She said, "The glory has departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken."

¹Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he raised from the dead.

²So they made him a supper there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him.

³Mary, therefore, took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.

⁴Then Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said,

⁵"Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor?"

⁶Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it.

⁷But Jesus said, "Leave her alone, that she may keep this for the day of my burial.

⁸For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

⁹A large crowd therefore of the Judeans learned that he was there, and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.

¹⁰But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also,

¹¹because on account of him many of the Jewish people went away and believed in Jesus.

¹²On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

¹³they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet him, and were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!"

¹⁴Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written,

¹⁵"Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a donkey's colt."

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him.

¹⁷The multitude therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, was testifying about it.

¹⁸For this cause also the multitude went and met him, because they heard that he had done this sign.

¹⁹The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "See how you accomplish nothing. Behold, the world has gone after him."

²⁰Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast.

²¹These, therefore, came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we want to see Jesus."

²²Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew came with Philip, and they told Jesus.

²³Jesus answered them, "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

²⁴Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

²⁵He who loves his life loses it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.

²⁶If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷"Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? 'Father, save me from this time?' But for this cause I came to this time.

²⁸Father, glorify your name!" Then there came a voice out of the sky, saying, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."

²⁹The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

³⁰Jesus answered, "This voice hasn't come for my sake, but for your sakes.

³¹Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.

³²And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to myself."

³³But he said this, signifying by what kind of death he should die.

³⁴The multitude answered him, "We have heard out of the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up?' Who is this Son of Man?"

³⁵Jesus therefore said to them, "Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness does not overtake you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light." Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them.

³⁷But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him,

³⁸that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

³⁹For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,

⁴⁰"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal them."

⁴¹Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.

⁴²Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue,

⁴³for they loved men's praise more than God's praise.

⁴⁴Jesus shouted out and said, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me.

⁴⁵He who sees me sees him who sent me.

⁴⁶I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness.

⁴⁷If anyone listens to my sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

⁴⁸He who rejects me, and does not receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day.

⁴⁹For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

⁵⁰I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak."

¹ Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine forth.

²Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might! Come to save us!

³Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

⁴Lord God of Hosts, How long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure.

⁶You make us a source of contention to our neighbors. Our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷Turn us again, God of Hosts. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root, and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were like God's cedars.

¹¹It sent out its branches to the sea, Its shoots to the River.

¹²Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?

¹³The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it.

¹⁴Turn again, we beg you, God of Hosts. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,

¹⁵the stock which your right hand planted, the branch that you made strong for yourself.

¹⁶It's burned with fire. It's cut down. They perish at your rebuke.

¹⁷Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.

¹⁸So we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Turn us again, Lord God of Hosts. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

¹An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.

²A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.

³When wickedness comes, contempt also comes, and with shame comes disgrace.

⁴The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.

⁵To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good, nor to deprive the innocent of justice.

⁶A fool's lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

⁸The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person's innermost parts.

⁹One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.

¹⁰The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.

¹¹The rich man's wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.

¹³He who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.

¹⁴A man's spirit will sustain him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?

¹⁵The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

¹⁷He who pleads his cause first seems right; until another comes and questions him.

¹⁸The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart.

¹⁹A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes are like the bars of a castle.

²⁰A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord.

²³The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

²⁴A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.