Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Samuel Goes to Bethlehem

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “^(A)How long are you going to mourn for ^[a]Saul, since ^(B)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(C)Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to ^(D)Jesse the Bethlehemite, because I have ^(E)chosen a king for Myself among his sons.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” But the Lord said, “^(F)Take a heifer ^[b]with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ And you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and ^(G)I will let you know what you shall do; and ^(H)you shall anoint for Me the one whom I ^[c]designate to you.” ⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord told him, and he came to ^(I)Bethlehem. Then the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “^(J)Do you come in peace?” ⁵ And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(K)Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they entered, he looked at ^(L)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is standing before Him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for ^[d]God does not see as man sees, since man looks at ^[e]the outward appearance, ^(M)but the Lord looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(N)Abinadab and had him pass before Samuel. But he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” ⁹ Next Jesse had ^[f](O)Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” ¹⁰ So Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the boys?” And he said, “^(P)The youngest is still left, but behold, he is tending the sheep.” So Samuel said to Jesse, “Send word and bring him; for we will not take our places at the table until he comes here.”

David Anointed

¹² So he sent word and brought him in. Now he was ^[g]reddish, with ^(Q)beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “^(R)Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and ^(S)anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(T)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

A Psalm of David.

⁸ for ^(A)you were once ^(B)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as ^(C)children of light ⁹ (for ^(D)the fruit of the light consists in all ^(E)goodness, righteousness, and truth), ^10 [a](F)as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ^11 (G)Do not participate in the useless ^(H)deeds of ^(I)darkness, but instead even ^(J)expose them; ¹² for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³ But all things become visible ^(K)when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. ¹⁴ For this reason ^[b]it says,

Healing the Man Born Blind

9 As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, “^(A)Rabbi, who sinned, ^(B)this man or his ^(C)parents, that he would be born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was ^(D)so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me ^(E)as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am ^(F)the Light of the world.” ⁶ When He had said this, He ^(G)spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes, ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in ^(H)the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he left and ^(I)washed, and ^(J)came back seeing. ⁸ So the neighbors, and those who previously saw ^[a]him as a beggar, were saying, “Is this not the one who used to ^(K)sit and beg?” ⁹ Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” ^[b]The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.” ¹⁰ So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to ^(L)Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” ¹² And they said to him, “Where is He?” He *said, “I do not know.”

Controversy over the Man

¹³ They *brought ^[c]the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees. ^14 (M)Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ^15 (N)Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied mud to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶ Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He ^(O)does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such ^[d](P)signs?” And ^(Q)there was dissension among them. ¹⁷ So they *said ^(R)again to the man who was blind, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a ^(S)prophet.”

^18 (T)The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, ¹⁹ and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents then answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they ^(U)were afraid of the ^[e]Jews; for the Jews ^(V)had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be ^[f]Christ, ^(W)he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue. ²³ It was for this reason that his parents said, “^(X)He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “^(Y)Give glory to God; we know that ^(Z)this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “^(AA)I told you already and you did not ^(AB)listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” ²⁸ They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but ^(AC)we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, ^(AD)we do not know where He is from.” ³⁰ The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! ³¹ We know that ^(AE)God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is ^[g]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. ^32 [h]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ^33 (AF)If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “^(AG)You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they ^[i](AH)put him out.

Jesus Affirms His Deity

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had ^[j](AI)put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the ^(AJ)Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered ^[k]by saying, “And ^(AK)who is He, ^[l]Sir, that I may believe in Him?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and ^(AL)He is the one who is talking with you.” ³⁸ And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he ^(AM)worshiped Him. ³⁹ And Jesus said, “^(AN)For judgment I came into this world, so that ^(AO)those who do not see may see, and ^(AP)those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “^(AQ)We are not blind too, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “^(AR)If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘^(AS)We see,’ your sin remains.