Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 27
My Stronghold
Davidic.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?(A)
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom should I be afraid?(B)
2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,(C)
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.(D)
3 Though an army deploys against me,
my heart is not afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
still I am confident.(E)
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,(F)
gazing on the beauty of the Lord(G)
and seeking Him in His temple.(H)
5 For He will conceal me in His shelter
in the day of adversity;
He will hide me under the cover of His tent;
He will set me high on a rock.(I)
6 Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;(J)
I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.(K)
I will sing and make music to the Lord.(L)
Hannah’s Vow
1 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim(A) in[a] the hill country of Ephraim.(B) His name was Elkanah(C) son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives,(D) the first named Hannah(E) and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. 3 This man would go up from his town every year(F) to worship and to sacrifice(G) to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh,(H) where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.
4 Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat(I) to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. 5 But he gave a double[b] portion(J) to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving. 6 Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. 7 Whenever she went up to the Lord’s house,(K) her rival taunted her in this way every year. Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than 10 sons?”(L)
9 Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh.[c] Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s tabernacle.(M) 10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears.(N) 11 Making a vow,(O) she pleaded, “Lord of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant’s affliction,(P) remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son,[d] I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”[e](Q)
12 While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her lips. 13 Hannah was praying silently,[f](R) and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and scolded her, “How long are you going to be drunk?(S) Get rid of your wine!”
15 “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord.(T) 16 Don’t think of me as a wicked woman;(U) I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”(V)
17 Eli responded, “Go in peace,(W) and may the God of Israel grant the petition you’ve requested from Him.”(X)
18 “May your servant find favor with you,”(Y) she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.[g](Z)
Samuel’s Birth and Dedication
19 The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah.(AA) Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.(AB) 20 After some time,[h] Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,[i] because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”
Paul Defends His Apostleship
11 Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on human thought.[a] 12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation(A) from Jesus Christ.(B)
13 For you have heard about my former way of life(C) in Judaism:(D) I persecuted(E) God’s church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.(F) 15 But when God, who from my birth set me apart and called(G) me by His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son(H) in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.[b] 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem(I) to those who had become apostles(J) before me; instead I went to Arabia(K) and came back to Damascus.(L)
18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem(M) to get to know Cephas,[c](N) and I stayed with him 15 days. 19 But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James,(O) the Lord’s brother. 20 Now I am not lying in what I write to you. God is my witness.[d]
21 Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria(P) and Cilicia.(Q) 22 I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches in Christ; 23 they simply kept hearing: “He who formerly persecuted(R) us now preaches the faith(S) he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.