Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Mary Praises God
46 Then Mary said,
“My soul praises the Lord;
47 my heart is happy because God is my Savior.
48 I am not important, but God has shown his care for me, his servant girl.
From now on, all people will say that I am blessed,
49 because the Powerful One has done great things for me.
His name is holy.
50 God will always give mercy
to those who worship him.
51 God’s arm is strong.
He scatters the people who are proud
and think great things about themselves.
52 God brings down rulers from their thrones,
and he raises up the humble.
53 God fills the hungry with good things,
but he sends the rich away with nothing.
54 God has helped his people Israel who serve him.
He gave them his mercy.
55 God has done what he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his children forever.”
19 Early the next morning Elkanah’s family got up and worshiped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intimate relations with his wife Hannah. And the Lord remembered her. 20 So Hannah became pregnant, and in time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel.[a] She said, “His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him.”
Hannah Gives Samuel to God
21 Every year Elkanah went to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. He went to keep the promise he had made to God. He brought his whole family with him. So once again he went up to Shiloh. 22 But Hannah did not go with him. She told him, “When the boy is old enough to eat solid food, I will take him to Shiloh. Then I will give him to the Lord. He will become a Nazirite. He will always live there at Shiloh.”
23 Elkanah, Hannah’s husband, said to her, “Do what you think is best. You may stay home until the boy is old enough to eat. May the Lord do what you have said.” So Hannah stayed at home to nurse her son until he was old enough to eat.
24 When Samuel was old enough to eat, Hannah took him to the Tent of the Lord at Shiloh. She also took a three-year-old bull, one-half bushel of flour and a leather bag filled with wine. 25 They killed the bull for the sacrifice. Then Hannah brought Samuel to Eli. 26 She said to Eli, “As surely as you live, my master, I am the same woman who stood near you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child. The Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me. 28 Now I give him back to the Lord. He will belong to the Lord all his life.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
Jesus Is Our High Priest
8 Here is the point of what we are saying: We do have a high priest who sits on the right side of God’s throne in heaven. 2 Our high priest serves in the Most Holy Place. He serves in the true place of worship that was made by God, not by men.
3 Every high priest has the work of offering gifts and sacrifices to God. So our high priest must also offer something to God. 4 If our high priest were now living on earth, he would not be a priest. I say this because there are already priests here who follow the law by offering gifts to God. 5 The work that they do as priests is only a dim copy of what is in heaven. For when Moses was ready to build the Holy Tent, God warned him: “Be very careful to make everything by the plan I showed you on the mountain.”[a] 6 But the priestly work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to the other priests. In the same way, the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to his people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on promises of better things.
7 If there was nothing wrong with the first agreement,[b] there would be no need for a second agreement. 8 But God found something wrong with his people. He says:[c]
“The time is coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new agreement.
It will be with the people of Israel
and the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the agreement
I made with their ancestors.
That was when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of Egypt.
But they broke that agreement,
and I turned away from them, says the Lord.
10 In the future I will make this agreement
with the people of Israel, says the Lord.
I will put my teachings in their minds.
And I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 People will no longer have to teach
their neighbors and relatives to know the Lord.
This is because all will know me,
from the least to the most important.
12 I will forgive them for the wicked things they did.
I will not remember their sins anymore.” Jeremiah 31:31-34
13 God called this a new agreement, so he has made the first agreement old. And anything that is old and worn out is ready to disappear.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.