The Lord Rejects Eli's Household

²⁷ And there came ^(A)a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ^(B)‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? ^28 (C)Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, ^(D)to wear an ephod before me? ^(E)I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹ Why then do you ^(F)scorn^[a] my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ ³⁰ Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ^(G)‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ ^(H)but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹ Behold, ^(I)the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² Then ^(J)in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, ^(K)and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. ³³ The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his^[b] eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants^[c] of your house shall die by the sword of men.^{[d] 34 (L)}And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die ^(M)on the same day. ^35 (N)And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. ^(O)And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before ^(P)my anointed forever.

A Tree and Its Fruit

^15 (A)“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ^(B)ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them ^(C)by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, ^(D)every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ^19 (E)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them ^(F)by their fruits.

I Never Knew You

^21 (G)“Not everyone who ^(H)says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will ^(I)enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who ^(J)does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ^22 (K)On that day ^(L)many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not ^(M)prophesy in your name, and cast out demons ^(N)in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ^23 (O)And then will I declare to them, ‘I ^(P)never knew you; ^(Q)depart from me, ^(R)you workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock

^24 (S)“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like ^(T)a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like ^(U)a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”