Samuel’s First Prophecy

3 Now ^(A)the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And ^(B)the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. ² And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow ^(C)so dim that he could not see, ³ and before ^(D)the lamp of God went out in the ^[a]tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, ⁴ that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” ⁵ So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”

And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

⁶ Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!”

So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ (Now Samuel ^(E)did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.)

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”

Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ^(F)‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel ^(G)at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² In that day I will perform against Eli ^(H)all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ^13 (I)For I have told him that I will ^(J)judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because ^(K)his sons made themselves vile, and he ^(L)did not ^[b]restrain them. ¹⁴ And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house ^(M)shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵ So Samuel lay down until ^[c]morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. ¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!”

He answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷ And he said, “What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. ^(N)God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” ¹⁸ Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, ^(O)“It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

¹⁹ So Samuel ^(P)grew, and ^(Q)the Lord was with him ^(R)and let none of his words ^[d]fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel ^(S)from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been ^[e]established as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by ^(T)the word of the Lord.

The Death of Eli

4 And the word of Samuel came to all ^[f]Israel.

The Ark of God Captured

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside ^(U)Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

Naaman’s Leprosy Healed

5 Now ^(A)Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was ^(B)a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. ² And the Syrians had gone out ^(C)on^[a] raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She ^[b]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” ⁴ And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”

⁵ Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he departed and ^(D)took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. ⁶ Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said,

⁷ And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I ^(E)God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”

⁸ So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹ Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and ^(F)wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ ¹² Are not the ^[c]Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of 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 And his ^(G)servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his ^(H)flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and ^(I)he was clean.

¹⁵ And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is ^(J)no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take ^(K)a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶ But he said, ^(L)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(M)I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

¹⁷ So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. ¹⁸ Yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and ^(N)he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing.”

¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.

Gehazi’s Greed

²⁰ But ^(O)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”

²² And he said, “All is ^(P)well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’ ”

²³ So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. ²⁴ When he came to ^[d]the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵ Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”

And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”

²⁶ Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it ^(Q)time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? ²⁷ Therefore the leprosy of Naaman ^(R)shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence ^(S)leprous, as white as snow.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(A)

^18 (B)Then some Sadducees, ^(C)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ¹⁹ “Teacher, ^(D)Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. ²² So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. ²³ Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore ^[a]mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but ^(E)are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But concerning the dead, that they ^(F)rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(G)‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly ^[b]mistaken.”

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(H)

^28 (I)Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, ^[c]perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the ^[d]first commandment of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The ^[e]first of all the commandments is: ^(J)‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall ^(K)love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^[f]This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ^(L)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than ^(M)these.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^(N)and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ^[g]with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(O)is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

^(P)But after that no one dared question Him.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?^(Q)

^35 (R)Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? ³⁶ For David himself said ^(S)by the Holy Spirit:

³⁷ Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his ^(U)Son?”

And the common people heard Him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes^(V)

³⁸ Then ^(W)He said to them in His teaching, ^(X)“Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, ^(Y)love greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ the ^(Z)best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, ^40 (AA)who devour widows’ houses, and ^[h]for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Two Mites^(AB)

^41 (AC)Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money ^(AD)into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. ⁴² Then one poor widow came and threw in two ^[i]mites, which make a ^[j]quadrans. ⁴³ So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that ^(AE)this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, ^(AF)her whole livelihood.”

Arrival at Rome

¹¹ After three months we sailed in ^(A)an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the ^[a]Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island. ¹² And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days. ¹³ From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli, ¹⁴ where we found ^(B)brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome. ¹⁵ And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶ Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but ^(C)Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul’s Ministry at Rome

¹⁷ And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, ^(D)though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet ^(E)I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, ¹⁸ who, ^(F)when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death. ¹⁹ But when the ^[b]Jews spoke against it, ^(G)I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. ²⁰ For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because ^(H)for the hope of Israel I am bound with ^(I)this chain.”

²¹ Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. ²² But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that ^(J)it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³ So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, ^(K)to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus ^(L)from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. ²⁴ And ^(M)some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. ²⁵ So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to ^[c]our fathers, ²⁶ saying,

²⁸ “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent ^(O)to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” ^29 [d]And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰ Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, ^31 (P)preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.