Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer to God in Time of Trouble

²⁷ Then a ^(A)man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ^(B)‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ Did I not ^(C)choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And ^(D)did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? ²⁹ Why do you ^(E)kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My ^(F)dwelling place, and honor your sons more than ^(G)Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ ³⁰ Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ^(H)‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ^(I)‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and ^(J)those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹ Behold, ^(K)the days are coming that I will cut off your ^[a]arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be ^(L)an old man in your house forever. ³³ But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. ³⁴ Now this shall be ^(M)a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: ^(N)in one day they shall die, both of them. ³⁵ Then ^(O)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. ^(P)I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before ^(Q)My anointed forever. ^36 (R)And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, ^[b]put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”

The Jews Guilty as the Gentiles

^17 [a]Indeed ^(A)you are called a Jew, and ^(B)rest^[b] on the law, ^(C)and make your boast in God, ¹⁸ and ^(D)know His will, and ^(E)approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ¹⁹ and ^(F)are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, ^(G)having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. ^21 (H)You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ²² You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, ^(I)do you rob temples? ²³ You who ^(J)make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ²⁴ For ^(K)“the name of God is ^(L)blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

Circumcision of No Avail

^25 (M)For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore, ^(N)if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? ²⁷ And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, ^(O)judge you who, even with your ^[c]written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? ²⁸ For ^(P)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew ^(Q)who is one inwardly; and ^(R)circumcision is that of the heart, ^(S)in the Spirit, not in the letter; ^(T)whose ^[d]praise is not from men but from God.