Book of Common Prayer

Mem

Nun

Samekh

Oh That My People Would Listen to Me

For the choir director. According to the Gittith. Of Asaph.

God Stands in Judgment

A Psalm of Asaph.

The Sin of Eli’s Sons

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^[a](A)vile men; they did not know Yahweh. ^13 (B)And this was the legal judgment for the priests with the people: when any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s young man would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴ Then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot; all that the fork would bring up the priest would take for himself. Thus they would do in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Also, before ^(C)they offered up the fat in smoke, the priest’s young man would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting; he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.” ¹⁶ Then the man would say to him, “They must surely offer up the fat in smoke ^[b]first, and then take as much as your soul desires,” then he would say, “No, you shall give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh, for the men ^(D)spurned the offering of Yahweh.

Samuel Before Yahweh as a Boy

¹⁸ Now ^(E)Samuel was ministering before Yahweh, as a ^[c]young boy ^(F)girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And his mother would make him a little ^(G)robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer ^(H)the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would ^(I)bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May Yahweh establish for you a seed from this woman in place of ^[d]the one she ^(J)dedicated to Yahweh.” And they went to their own ^[e]home.

^21 (K)Yahweh indeed visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And ^(L)the young boy Samuel grew before Yahweh.

Eli Hears About His Sons’ Evils

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard ^(M)all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with ^(N)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? ²⁴ No, my sons; for the report is not good ^(O)which I hear the people of Yahweh ^[f]passing about. ²⁵ If one man sins against another, ^(P)God will mediate for him; but ^(Q)if a man sins against Yahweh, who can pray for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for ^(R)Yahweh desired to put them to death.

²⁶ Now the young boy ^(S)Samuel ^[g]was growing in stature and in favor both with Yahweh and with men.

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

2 And when ^(A)the day of Pentecost ^[a]had fully come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing ^(B)wind, and it filled ^(C)the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And there appeared to them tongues like fire ^[b](D)distributing themselves, and ^[c]they ^[d]rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all ^(E)filled with the Holy Spirit and began to ^(F)speak with other ^[e]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them ^[f]utterance.

⁵ Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, ^(G)devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when ^(H)this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own ^[g]language. ^7 (I)So they were astounded and marveling, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking ^(J)Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we each hear them in our own ^[h]language in which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and ^(K)Cappadocia, ^(L)Pontus and ^[i](M)Asia, ^10 (N)Phrygia and ^(O)Pamphylia, Egypt and the district of Libya around ^(P)Cyrene, and ^[j](Q)visitors from Rome, both Jews and ^[k](R)proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” ¹² And ^(S)they all continued in astonishment and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others, mocking, were saying, “^(T)They are full of new wine.”

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

¹⁴ But Peter, ^[l]taking his stand with ^(U)the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. ¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, ^(V)for it is the ^[m]third hour of the day; ¹⁶ but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

^27 (A)Now some of the ^(B)Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸ and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(C)if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should ^[a]marry the wife and raise up ^[b]seed for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers; and the first married a wife and died childless, ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third ^[c]married her; and in the same way, ^[d]all seven ^[e]died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman died also. ³³ Therefore, this woman—in the resurrection—whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.”

³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^(D)this age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^(E)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶ For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels and are ^(F)sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in ^(G)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the ^[f]Lord ^(H)the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ^38 (I)Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for ^(J)all live to Him.” ³⁹ And some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(K)they did not dare to question Him any longer about anything.