Psalm 139:1-6

New International Version

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹You have searched me,^(A) Lord,
    and you know^(B) me.
²You know when I sit and when I rise;^(C)
    you perceive my thoughts^(D) from afar.
³You discern my going out^(E) and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.^(F)
⁴Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.^(G)
⁵You hem me in^(H) behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,^(I)
    too lofty^(J) for me to attain.

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Psalm 139:13-18

New International Version

¹³For you created my inmost being;^(A)
    you knit me together^(B) in my mother’s womb.^(C)
¹⁴I praise you^(D) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,^(E)
    I know that full well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made^(F) in the secret place,
    when I was woven together^(G) in the depths of the earth.^(H)
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained^(I) for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a]^(J) God!^(K)
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸Were I to count them,^(L)
    they would outnumber the grains of sand^(M)—
    when I awake,^(N) I am still with you.

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Footnotes

Psalm 139:17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me

1 Samuel 1:1-18

New International Version

The Birth of Samuel

1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim,^(A) a Zuphite^[a]^(B) from the hill country^(C) of Ephraim,^(D) whose name was Elkanah^(E) son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ²He had two wives;^(F) one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³Year after year^(G) this man went up from his town to worship^(H) and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh,^(I) where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli,^(J) were priests of the Lord. ⁴Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice,^(K) he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.^(L) ⁵But to Hannah he gave a double portion^(M) because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.^(N) ⁶Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.^(O) ⁷This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.^(P) ⁸Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?^(Q)”

⁹Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house.^(R) ¹⁰In her deep anguish^(S) Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. ¹¹And she made a vow,^(T) saying, “Lord Almighty^(U), if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember^(V) me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life,^(W) and no razor^(X) will ever be used on his head.”

¹²As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

¹⁵“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled.^(Y) I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring^(Z) out my soul to the Lord. ¹⁶Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”^(AA)

¹⁷Eli answered, “Go in peace,^(AB) and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.^(AC)”

¹⁸She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.^(AD)” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.^(AE)

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Footnotes

1 Samuel 1:1 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 6:26-27,33-35; or from Ramathaim Zuphim.

Acts 25:1-12

New International Version

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus^(A) went up from Caesarea^(B) to Jerusalem, ²where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.^(C) ³They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.^(D) ⁴Festus answered, “Paul is being held^(E) at Caesarea,^(F) and I myself am going there soon. ⁵Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

⁶After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court^(G) and ordered that Paul be brought before him.^(H) ⁷When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him,^(I) but they could not prove them.^(J)

⁸Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple^(K) or against Caesar.”

⁹Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor,^(L) said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”^(M)

¹⁰Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews,^(N) as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”^(O)

¹²After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

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