The Birth of Samuel

1 There was a certain man of ^(A)Ramathaim-zophim of ^(B)the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, ^(C)an Ephrathite. ² He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³ Now this man used to go up ^(D)year by year from his city ^(E)to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts ^(F)at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. ⁴ On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, ^(G)he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. ⁵ But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.^{[a] 6} And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷ So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. ⁸ And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? ^(H)Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

⁹ After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of ^(I)the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ She was ^(J)deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. ¹¹ And she ^(K)vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed ^(L)look on the affliction of your servant and ^(M)remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, ^(N)and no razor shall touch his head.”

¹² As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. ¹⁴ And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” ¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but ^(O)I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not regard your servant as ^(P)a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered, ^(Q)“Go in peace, and the God of Israel ^(R)grant your petition that you have made to him.” ¹⁸ And she said, ^(S)“Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman ^(T)went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

¹⁹ They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at ^(U)Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord ^(V)remembered her. ²⁰ And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”^[b]

Samuel Given to the Lord

²¹ The man Elkanah and all his house ^(W)went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord ^(X)and dwell there forever.” ^23 (Y)Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; ^(Z)only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ And when she had weaned him, ^(AA)she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,^[c] an ephah^[d] of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to ^(AB)the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. ²⁵ Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ And she said, “Oh, my lord! ^(AC)As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ For this child I prayed, ^(AD)and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. ²⁸ Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

^(AE)And he worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah's Prayer

2 And Hannah prayed and said,

¹¹ Then Elkanah went home ^(AY)to Ramah. ^(AZ)And the boy^[e] was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli's Worthless Sons

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^(BA)worthless men. ^(BB)They did not know the Lord. ¹³ The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, ¹⁴ and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Moreover, ^(BC)before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” ¹⁶ And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great ^(BD)in the sight of the Lord, ^(BE)for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

^18 (BF)Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy ^(BG)clothed with a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year ^(BH)when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman ^(BI)for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.

^21 (BJ)Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. ^(BK)And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

²² Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who ^(BL)were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. ²⁴ No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. ²⁵ If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, ^(BM)for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

²⁶ Now the boy Samuel ^(BN)continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.

The Lord Rejects Eli's Household

²⁷ And there came ^(BO)a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ^(BP)‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? ^28 (BQ)Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, ^(BR)to wear an ephod before me? ^(BS)I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹ Why then do you ^(BT)scorn^[f] 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: ^(BU)‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ ^(BV)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, ^(BW)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 ^(BX)in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, ^(BY)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^[g] eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants^[h] of your house shall die by the sword of men.^{[i] 34 (BZ)}And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die ^(CA)on the same day. ^35 (CB)And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. ^(CC)And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before ^(CD)my anointed forever. ³⁶ And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”

The Narrow Door

^22 (A)He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and ^(B)journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to him, “Lord, ^(C)will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, ^24 (D)“Strive ^(E)to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ^25 (F)When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ^(G)‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ^(H)‘I do not know where you come from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ^(I)‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ But he will say, ‘I tell you, ^(J)I do not know where you come from. ^(K)Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ ^28 (L)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see ^(M)Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but ^(N)you yourselves cast out. ²⁹ And ^(O)people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and ^(P)recline at table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, ^(Q)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Lament over Jerusalem

³¹ At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from ^(R)here, for ^(S)Herod wants to kill you.” ³² And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day ^(T)I finish my course. ³³ Nevertheless, ^(U)I ^(V)must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that ^(W)a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ ^34 (X)O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^(Y)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! ^(Z)How often would I have ^(AA)gathered ^(AB)your children together ^(AC)as a hen gathers her brood ^(AD)under her wings, and ^(AE)you were not willing! ³⁵ Behold, ^(AF)your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ^(AG)‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Healing of a Man on the Sabbath

14 One Sabbath, ^(AH)when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were ^(AI)watching him carefully. ² And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus responded to ^(AJ)the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ^(AK)“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. ⁵ And he said to them, ^(AL)“Which of you, having a son^[a] or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ^6 (AM)And they could not reply to these things.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed ^(AN)how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, ^(AO)so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹ For ^(AP)everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”