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 Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

^14 (R)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^(S)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵ In my ^(T)vain^[c] life I have seen everything. There is ^(U)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who ^(V)prolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶ Be not overly righteous, and do not ^(W)make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷ Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. ^(X)Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸ It is good that you should take hold of ^(Y)this, and from ^(Z)that ^(AA)withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

^19 (AB)Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰ Surely ^(AC)there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹ Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear ^(AD)your servant cursing you. ²² Your heart knows that ^(AE)many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³ All this I have tested by wisdom. ^(AF)I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. ²⁴ That which has been is far off, and ^(AG)deep, very deep; ^(AH)who can find it out?

^25 (AI)I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. ²⁶ And I find something more ^(AJ)bitter than death: ^(AK)the woman whose heart is ^(AL)snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^(AM)the sinner is taken by her. ²⁷ Behold, this is what I found, says ^(AN)the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— ²⁸ which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. ^(AO)One man among a thousand I found, but ^(AP)a woman among all these I have not found. ²⁹ See, this alone I found, that ^(AQ)God made man upright, but ^(AR)they have sought out many schemes.

The Twelve Apostles

10 ^(A)And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. ^2 (B)The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(C)who is called Peter, and ^(D)Andrew his brother; ^(E)James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and ^(F)Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;^{[a] 4} Simon the Zealot,^[b] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^5 (G)These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of ^(H)the Samaritans, ^6 (I)but go rather to ^(J)the lost sheep of ^(K)the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ^(L)‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’^{[c] 8 (M)}Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,^[d] cast out demons. ^(N)You received without paying; give without pay. ^9 (O)Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics^[e] or sandals or a staff, for ^(P)the laborer deserves his food. ¹¹ And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. ¹² As you enter the house, ^(Q)greet it. ¹³ And if the house is ^(R)worthy, let ^(S)your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let ^(T)your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, ^(U)shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, ^(V)it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for ^(W)the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Persecution Will Come

^16 (X)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(Y)wise as serpents and ^(Z)innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men, for ^(AA)they will deliver you over to courts and flog you ^(AB)in their synagogues, ^18 (AC)and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, ^(AD)to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. ^19 (AE)When ^(AF)they deliver you over, ^(AG)do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for ^(AH)what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. ^20 (AI)For it is not you who speak, but ^(AJ)the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ^21 (AK)Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ^22 (AL)and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. ^(AM)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they ^(AN)persecute you in one town, ^(AO)flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel ^(AP)before the Son of Man comes.

^24 (AQ)“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant^[f] above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. ^(AR)If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign^[g] those of his household.

Have No Fear

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, ^(AS)for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on ^(AT)the housetops. ²⁸ And ^(AU)do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him ^(AV)who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^{[h] 29} Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?^[i] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But ^(AW)even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; ^(AX)you are of more value than many sparrows. ^32 (AY)So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but ^(AZ)whoever denies me before men, ^(BA)I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

^34 (BB)“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. ^(BC)I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ^35 (BD)For I have come ^(BE)to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ^36 (BF)And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ^37 (BG)Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And ^(BH)whoever does not take his cross and ^(BI)follow me is not worthy of me. ^39 (BJ)Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

^40 (BK)“Whoever receives you receives me, and ^(BL)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ^41 (BM)The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. ⁴² And ^(BN)whoever gives one of ^(BO)these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”