Psalm 99

²² Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything^(A) his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women^(B) who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. ²⁴ No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. ²⁵ If one person sins against another, God^[a] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will^(C) intercede^(D) for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.

²⁶ And the boy Samuel continued to grow^(E) in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.^(F)

Prophecy Against the House of Eli

²⁷ Now a man of God^(G) came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestor’s family when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? ²⁸ I chose^(H) your ancestor out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense,^(I) and to wear an ephod^(J) in my presence. I also gave your ancestor’s family all the food offerings^(K) presented by the Israelites. ²⁹ Why do you^[b] scorn my sacrifice and offering^(L) that I prescribed for my dwelling?^(M) Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’

³⁰ “Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.^(N)’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor,^(O) but those who despise^(P) me will be disdained.^{(Q) 31} The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age,^{(R) 32} and you will see distress^(S) in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age.^{(T) 33} Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants^(U) will die in the prime of life.

³⁴ “‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign^(V) to you—they will both die^(W) on the same day.^{(X) 35} I will raise up for myself a faithful priest,^(Y) who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed^(Z) one always. ³⁶ Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead,^(AA) “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.^(AB)”’”

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate^(A) a pool, which in Aramaic^(B) is called Bethesda^[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ^{[4] [b] 5} One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”^{(C) 9} At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,^{(D) 10} and so the Jewish leaders^(E) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”^(F)

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning^(G) or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders^(H) that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father^(I) is always at his work^(J) to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him;^(K) not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.^(L)