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.”

Stand Firm

¹³ But ^(A)we ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^(B)brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^(C)as the firstfruits^{[a] (D)}to be saved, ^(E)through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through ^(F)our gospel, ^(G)so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, ^(H)stand firm and hold to ^(I)the traditions that you were taught by us, either ^(J)by our spoken word or by ^(K)our letter.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^(L)who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^(M)hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and ^(N)establish them in every good work and word.

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

^43 (A)The next day Jesus decided ^(B)to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(C)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(D)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^(E)Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^(F)of Nazareth, ^(G)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, ^(H)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^(I)an Israelite indeed, ^(J)in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How ^(K)do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, ^(L)“Rabbi, ^(M)you are the Son of God! You are the ^(N)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,^[a] you will see ^(O)heaven opened, and ^(P)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(Q)the Son of Man.”