The Lord Calls Samuel

3 ^(A)Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. ^(B)And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

² At that time Eli, ^(C)whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. ^3 (D)The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down ^(E)in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵ and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

⁶ And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel ^(F)at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² On that day I will fulfill against Eli ^(G)all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ^13 (H)And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, ^(I)because his sons were blaspheming God,^{[a] (J)}and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swear to the house of Eli ^(K)that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵ Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶ But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷ And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. ^(L)May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, ^(M)“It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”

^19 (N)And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him ^(O)and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel ^(P)from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel ^(Q)at Shiloh ^(R)by the word of the Lord.

The Philistines Capture the Ark

4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at ^(S)Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at ^(T)Aphek.

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

5 ^(A)Naaman, ^(B)commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.^{[a] 2} Now the Syrians on ^(C)one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴ So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” ⁵ And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he went, ^(D)taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels^[b] of gold, and ten ^(E)changes of clothing. ⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ And when the king of Israel read the letter, ^(F)he tore his clothes and said, ^(G)“Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only ^(H)consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

⁸ But when Elisha the ^(I)man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ^(J)“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. ¹² Are not Abana^[c] and Pharpar, the rivers of ^(K)Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ But his servants came near and said to him, ^(L)“My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, ^(M)and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, ^(N)and he was clean.

Gehazi's Greed and Punishment

¹⁵ Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that ^(O)there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so ^(P)accept now a present from your servant.” ¹⁶ But he said, ^(Q)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(R)I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. ¹⁷ Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. ¹⁸ In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of ^(S)Rimmon to worship there, ^(T)leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹ He said to him, ^(U)“Go in peace.”

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, ^20 (V)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. ^(W)As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, ^(X)“Is all well?” ²² And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from ^(Y)the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and ^(Z)two changes of clothing.’” ²³ And Naaman said, ^(AA)“Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. ²⁴ And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. ²⁵ He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” ²⁶ But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? ²⁷ Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence ^(AB)a leper, like snow.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

¹⁸ And ^(A)Sadducees came to him, ^(B)who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(C)if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man^[a] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²² And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because ^(D)you know neither the Scriptures nor ^(E)the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither ^(F)marry nor ^(G)are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ And as for the dead being raised, ^(H)have you not read in ^(I)the book of Moses, in ^(J)the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(K)‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

^28 (L)And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^(M)‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^(N)the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ^31 (O)The second is this: ^(P)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^(Q)greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^(R)he is one, and ^(S)there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all ^(T)the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, ^(U)is much more than all ^(V)whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(W)And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

^35 (X)And as ^(Y)Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that ^(Z)the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, ^(AA)in the Holy Spirit, declared,

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord. So ^(AD)how is he his son?” And the great throng ^(AE)heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

^38 (AF)And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and have the best seats in the synagogues and ^(AG)the places of honor at feasts, ^40 (AH)who devour widows' houses and ^(AI)for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

^41 (AJ)And he sat down opposite ^(AK)the treasury and watched the people ^(AL)putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^(AM)small copper coins, which make a penny.^{[b] 43} And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AN)this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her ^(AO)poverty has put in everything she had, all ^(AP)she had to live on.”

Paul Arrives at Rome

¹¹ After three months we set sail in ^(A)a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods^[a] as a figurehead. ¹² Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³ And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found ^(B)brothers^[b] and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ And ^(C)the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, ^(D)Paul thanked God and took courage. ¹⁶ And when we came into Rome, ^(E)Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul in Rome

¹⁷ After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, ^(F)though I had done nothing against our people or ^(G)the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. ¹⁸ When they had examined me, they ^(H)wished to set me at liberty, ^(I)because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. ¹⁹ But because the Jews objected, I was compelled ^(J)to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against ^(K)my nation. ²⁰ For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is ^(L)because of ^(M)the hope of Israel that I am wearing ^(N)this ^(O)chain.” ²¹ And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of ^(P)the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. ²² But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this ^(Q)sect we know that everywhere ^(R)it is spoken against.”

²³ When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening ^(S)he expounded to them, testifying to ^(T)the kingdom of God and ^(U)trying to convince them about Jesus ^(V)both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. ²⁴ And ^(W)some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. ²⁵ And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: ^(X)“The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

²⁸ Therefore let it be known to you that ^(AC)this ^(AD)salvation of God ^(AE)has been sent to the Gentiles; ^(AF)they will listen.”^[c]

³⁰ He lived there two whole years at his own expense,^[d] and ^(AG)welcomed all who came to him, ^31 (AH)proclaiming ^(AI)the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ ^(AJ)with all boldness and ^(AK)without hindrance.