Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Protection

²⁷ A man of God came to Eli. He said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I clearly showed myself to the family of your ancestor Aaron. This was when they were slaves to the king of Egypt. ²⁸ I chose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests. I wanted them to go up to my altar, to burn incense and to wear the holy vest. I also let the family of your ancestor have part of all the offerings sacrificed by the Israelites. ²⁹ So why don’t you respect the sacrifices and gifts? You honor your sons more than me. You become fat on the best parts of the meat the Israelites bring to me.’

³⁰ “Here’s what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I promised that your family and your ancestor’s family would serve me forever.’ But now the Lord says this: ‘That will never be! I will honor those who honor me. But I will take honor away from those who do not honor me. ³¹ The time is coming when I will destroy the descendants of both you and your ancestors. No man will grow old in your family. ³² You will see trouble in my house. Good things will be done to Israel. But there will never be an old man in your family. ³³ I will save one man to serve as priest at my altar. He will wear out his eyes and use up his strength. The rest of your descendants will die by the sword.

³⁴ “‘I will give you a sign. Both your sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day. ³⁵ I will choose a loyal priest for myself. He will listen to me and do what I want. I will make his family strong. He will always serve before my appointed king. ³⁶ Then everyone left in your family will come and bow down before him. They will beg for a little money or a little food. They will say, “Please give me a job as priest so I can have food to eat.”’”

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ What about you? You call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law of Moses and brag that you are close to God. ¹⁸ You know what God wants you to do. And you know the things that are important because you have learned the law. ¹⁹ You think you are a guide for the blind and a light for those who are in darkness. ²⁰ You think you can show foolish people what is right and teach those who know nothing. You have the law; so you think you know everything and have all truth. ²¹ You teach other people. So why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal. But you yourselves steal. ²² You say that others must not take part in adultery. But you yourselves are guilty of that sin. You hate idols. But you steal from temples. ²³ You brag about having God’s law. But you bring shame to God by breaking his law. ²⁴ It is written in the Scriptures: “The non-Jews speak against God’s name because of you Jews.”^[a]

²⁵ If you follow the law, then your circumcision has meaning. But if you break the law, then it is as if you were never circumcised. ²⁶ The non-Jews are not circumcised. But if they do what the law says, then it is as if they were circumcised. ²⁷ You Jews have the written law and circumcision, but you break the law. So those who are not circumcised in their bodies, but still obey the law, will show that you are guilty.

²⁸ A person is not a true Jew if he is only a Jew in his physical body. True circumcision is not only on the outside of the body. ²⁹ A person is a true Jew only if he is a Jew inside. True circumcision is done in the heart by the Spirit, not by the written law. Such a person gets praise from God, not from other people.