Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Calls Samuel
3 Meanwhile the boy Samuel was serving the Lord before Eli. A word from the Lord was rare in those days, and visions were infrequent. 2 At that time Eli, whose vision was growing dim,[a] was lying down in his bedroom.[b] 3 The lamp of God had not yet been extinguished, and Samuel was lying down in the tent[c] of the Lord where the Ark of God was. 4 The Lord called out to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”
5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am! You called me.”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli[d] said. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Then the Lord again called out, “Samuel!”
So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am! You called me.”
He said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord and had not yet had the word of the Lord revealed to him.
8 Then the Lord called out to Samuel again a third time, and he got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am! You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy, 9 so Eli told Samuel, “Go lie down, and then if he calls you, answer, ‘Speak, Lord, because your servant is listening.’” Then Samuel[e] went and lay down.
10 Later, the Lord came and stood there, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!” as he had before.
Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.”
11 “Look,” the Lord told Samuel. “I’m about to do something[a] in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears it tingle. 12 I’ll fulfill every promise that I’ve spoken concerning Eli’s family, from beginning to end. 13 I’ve told him that I’m about to judge his family forever because of the iniquity that he knew about. His sons committed blasphemy[b] and he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I’ve sworn concerning Eli’s family that the iniquity of his family is not to be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Samuel Delivers God’s Message
15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord, but he[c] was afraid to report the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel: “Samuel, my son.”
He said, “Here I am.”
17 Eli[d] said, “What did the Lord[e] say to you? Please don’t conceal anything[f] from me. May God do this to you and even more[g] if you conceal from me one word of all that he spoke to you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything—he did not conceal anything[h] from him. Eli[i] said, “He is the Lord. May he do what seems good to him.”
19 As Samuel grew, the Lord was with him and did not let any of Samuel’s[j] predictions fail.[k] 20 All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as the Lord’s prophet.
To the Music Director: A Davidic Song
God’s Knowledge and Presence
139 Lord, you have examined me;
you have known me.
2 You know when I rest[a]
and when I am active.[b]
You understand what I am thinking
when I am distant from you.[c]
3 You scrutinize my life and my rest;[d]
you are familiar with all of my ways.
4 Even before I have formed a word with my tongue,
you, Lord, know it completely!
5 You encircle me from back to front,
placing your hand upon me.
6 Knowledge like this is too amazing for me.
It is beyond my reach,
and I cannot fathom it.
13 It was you who formed my internal organs,[a]
fashioning me within my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you,
because you are fearful and wondrous![b]
Your work is wonderful,
and I am fully aware of it.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
while I was being crafted in a hidden place,
knit together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes looked upon my embryo,
and everything was recorded in your book.
The days scheduled[c] for my formation were inscribed,
even though not one of them had come yet.[d]
17 How deep[e] are your thoughts, God!
How great is their number!
18 Were I to count them,
they would number more than the sand.
When I awake, I will be with you.
5 For we do not preach ourselves, but rather Jesus the Messiah[a] as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[b] has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus[c] the Messiah.[d]
7 But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us. 8 In every way we’re troubled but not crushed, frustrated but not in despair, 9 persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. 10 We are always carrying around the death of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our bodies. 11 While we are alive, we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our mortal bodies. 12 And so death is at work in us, but life is at work[e] in you.
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath(A)
23 Jesus[a] happened to be going through the grain fields on a Sabbath.[b] As they made their way, his disciples began picking the heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees asked him, “Look! Why are they doing what is not lawful on Sabbath days?”[c]
25 He asked them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 How was it that he went into the House of God during the lifetime[d] of Abiathar the high priest and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and gave some of it to his companions?”
27 Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals a Man with a Paralyzed Hand(B)
3 Jesus[e] went into the synagogue again, and a man with a paralyzed hand was there. 2 The people[f] watched Jesus[g] closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath,[h] intending to accuse him of doing something wrong. 3 He told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Come forward.”[i] 4 Then he asked them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on Sabbath days,[j] to save a life or to destroy it?” But they remained silent.
5 Jesus[k] looked around at them in anger, deeply hurt because of their hard hearts. Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man[l] held it out, and his hand was restored to health. 6 Immediately the Pharisees and Herodians[m] went out and began to plot how to kill him.
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