Hannah Dedicates Samuel

²¹ When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual^(A) sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,^{(B) 22} Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present^(C) him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”^[a]

²³ “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good^(D) his^[b] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned^(E) him.

²⁴ After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^[c](F) an ephah^[d] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵ When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶ and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed^(G) for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life^(H) he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood,^(A) he too shared in their humanity^(B) so that by his death he might break the power^(C) of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil^(D)— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear^(E) of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.^{(F) 17} For this reason he had to be made like them,^[a](G) fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful^(H) and faithful high priest^(I) in service to God,^(J) and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.^{(K) 18} Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.^(L)

Jesus Presented in the Temple

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses,^(A) Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”^[a]),^{(B) 24} and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”^[b](C)

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.^(D) He was waiting for the consolation of Israel,^(E) and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,^{(F) 28} Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother:^(A) “This child is destined to cause the falling^(B) and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶ There was also a prophet,^(C) Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.^[a](D) She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.^{(E) 38} Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.^(F)

³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.^{(G) 40} And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.^(H)