Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Prophetic Call to Samuel

3 Now ^(A)the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And ^(B)word from the Lord was rare in those days, ^[a]visions were infrequent.

² It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now ^(C)his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), ³ and ^(D)the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, ⁴ that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, “^(E)Here I am.” ⁵ Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ The Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he ^[b]answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” ^7 (F)Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. ⁸ So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, ^(A)I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² In that day ^(B)I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³ For ^(C)I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for ^(D)the iniquity which he knew, because ^(E)his sons brought a curse on themselves and ^(F)he did not rebuke them. ¹⁴ Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that ^(G)the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵ So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he ^(H)opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell ^(I)the vision to Eli. ¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷ He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. ^(J)May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “^(K)It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.”

¹⁹ Thus ^(L)Samuel grew and ^(M)the Lord was with him and ^(N)let none of his words ^[a]fail. ²⁰ All Israel ^(O)from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.

God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

The Body Is the Lord’s

^12 (A)All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. ^13 (B)Food is for the ^[a]stomach and the ^[b]stomach is for food, but God will ^(C)do away with both ^[c]of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but ^(D)for the Lord, and ^(E)the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ Now God has not only ^(F)raised the Lord, but ^(G)will also raise us up through His power. ^15 (H)Do you not know that ^(I)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? ^(J)May it never be! ¹⁶ Or ^(K)do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “^(L)The two shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is ^(M)one spirit with Him. ^18 (N)Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the ^[d]immoral man sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(O)do you not know that ^(P)your body is a ^[e]temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from ^[f]God, and that ^(Q)you are not your own? ²⁰ For ^(R)you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in ^(S)your body.

^43 (A)The next day He purposed to go into ^(B)Galilee, and He *found ^(C)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “^(D)Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(E)Philip was from ^(F)Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ^45 (G)Philip *found ^(H)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(I)Moses in the Law and also ^(J)the Prophets wrote—Jesus of ^(K)Nazareth, ^(L)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “^(M)Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” ^(N)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an ^(O)Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^(P)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “^(Q)Rabbi, You are ^(R)the Son of God; You are the ^(S)King of Israel.” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^(T)the heavens opened and ^(U)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(V)the Son of Man.”