Psalm 99

The Lord reigns,(A)
    let the nations tremble;(B)
he sits enthroned(C) between the cherubim,(D)
    let the earth shake.
Great is the Lord(E) in Zion;(F)
    he is exalted(G) over all the nations.
Let them praise(H) your great and awesome name(I)
    he is holy.(J)

The King(K) is mighty, he loves justice(L)
    you have established equity;(M)
in Jacob you have done
    what is just and right.(N)
Exalt(O) the Lord our God
    and worship at his footstool;
    he is holy.

Moses(P) and Aaron(Q) were among his priests,
    Samuel(R) was among those who called on his name;
they called on the Lord
    and he answered(S) them.
He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;(T)
    they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

Lord our God,
    you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,(U)
    though you punished(V) their misdeeds.[a]
Exalt the Lord our God
    and worship at his holy mountain,
    for the Lord our God is holy.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 99:8 Or God, / an avenger of the wrongs done to them

99 The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.

The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he answered them.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.

Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.

Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.

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)”’”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 2:25 Or the judges
  2. 1 Samuel 2:29 The Hebrew is plural.

22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.

24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress.

25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.

27 And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

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

32 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.

33 And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.

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

36 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

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The Healing at the Pool

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 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. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [b] One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 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?”

“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.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”(C) 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)

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Footnotes

  1. John 5:2 Some manuscripts Bethzatha; other manuscripts Bethsaida
  2. John 5:4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.

After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

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