Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹⁹ Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah.^(A) Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered^(B) her. ²⁰ So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^(C) She named^(D) him Samuel,^[a](E) saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Hannah Dedicates Samuel

²¹ When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual^(F) sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,^{(G) 22} Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present^(H) him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”^[b]

²³ “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good^(I) his^[c] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned^(J) him.

²⁴ After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^[d](K) an ephah^[e] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵ When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶ and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed^(L) for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life^(M) he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,^(A) the new creation^(B) has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!^{(C) 18} All this is from God,^(D) who reconciled us to himself through Christ^(E) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.^(F) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

¹³ When they saw the courage of Peter and John^(A) and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,^(B) they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.^{(C) 14} But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin^(D) and then conferred together. ¹⁶ “What are we going to do with these men?”^(E) they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign,^(F) and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.^{(G) 19} But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?^(H) You be the judges! ²⁰ As for us, we cannot help speaking^(I) about what we have seen and heard.”^(J)

²¹ After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people^(K) were praising God^(L) for what had happened. ²² For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

The Believers Pray

²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.^(M) “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.^{(N) 25} You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:^(O)

²⁷ Indeed Herod^(Q) and Pontius Pilate^(R) met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus,^(S) whom you anointed. ²⁸ They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.^{(T) 29} Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.^{(U) 30} Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders^(V) through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”^(W)

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.^(X) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit^(Y) and spoke the word of God^(Z) boldly.^(AA)