Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 27[a]
Trust in God
1 (A)Of David.
A
I
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
2 When evildoers come at me
to devour my flesh,[b](B)
These my enemies and foes
themselves stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart does not fear;
Though war be waged against me,
even then do I trust.
II
4 One thing I ask of the Lord;
this I seek:
To dwell in the Lord’s house
all the days of my life,
To gaze on the Lord’s beauty,
to visit his temple.(C)
5 For God will hide me in his shelter
in time of trouble,(D)
He will conceal me in the cover of his tent;
and set me high upon a rock.
6 Even now my head is held high
above my enemies on every side!
I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and chant praise to the Lord.
I. The Last Judges, Eli and Samuel
Chapter 1
Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh. 1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.(A) 2 He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 Each year this man went up from his city to worship and offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were ministering as priests of the Lord.(B) 4 When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice, he used to give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters, 5 but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.(C) 6 Her rival,[a] to upset her, would torment her constantly, since the Lord had closed her womb.(D) 7 Year after year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.[b] 8 Elkanah, her husband, would say to her: “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why are you so miserable? Am I not better for you than ten sons?”(E)
Hannah’s Prayer. 9 Hannah rose after one such meal at Shiloh, and presented herself before the Lord; at the time Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. 10 In her bitterness she prayed to the Lord, weeping freely, 11 and made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. No razor shall ever touch his head.”[c](F) 12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth, 13 for Hannah was praying silently; though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, thinking she was drunk, 14 said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up from your wine!” 15 “No, my lord!” Hannah answered. “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Do not think your servant a worthless woman; my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.” 17 Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have requested.” 18 She replied, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” and left. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downhearted. 19 Early the next morning they worshiped before the Lord, and then returned to their home in Ramah. When they returned Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.
Hannah Bears a Son. 20 She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.[d] “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
III. Paul’s Defense of His Gospel and His Authority[a]
His Call by Christ. 11 (A)Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.[b]
13 [c]For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it,(B) 14 and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.(C) 15 But when [God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased(D) 16 to reveal his Son to me,(E) so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,[d] 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia[e] and then returned to Damascus.
18 [f]Then after three years[g] I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days.(F) 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles,(G) only James the brother of the Lord.[h] 20 (As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.)(H) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.(I) 22 And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; 23 they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”(J) 24 So they glorified God because of me.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.