Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 139[a]
God’s Infinite Knowledge and Universal Power
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
[c]O Lord, you have examined me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand;[d]
you perceive my thoughts from a distance.
3 You mark when I go out and when I lie down;
all my ways are open to you.
4 A word is not even on my tongue
and you, O Lord, are completely aware of it.
5 You enfold me from in front and from behind,
and you place your hand upon me.[e]
6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension,
far too sublime for me to attain.
13 [a]You created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am wonderfully made;
awesome are your works,
as I know very well.
15 My body was not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
you saw me in the womb.[b]
16 [c]The sum total of my days
were all recorded in your book.[d]
My life was fashioned
before it had come into being.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I were to attempt to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,[e]
I am still with you.
The Last Judges: Eli and Samuel[a]
Chapter 1[b]
Elkanah’s Pilgrimage to Shiloh. 1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives. The name of one of them was Hannah, and the name of the other was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not have any children. 3 This man would travel from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts[c] in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests there.
4 When Elkanah performed his sacrifice, he would give a portion of it to Peninnah his wife and a portion each to all of her sons and daughters, 5 but he would give a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her although the Lord had left her barren. 6 Her rival[d] provoked her and made her miserable because the Lord had left her barren. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she provoked her. This made her weep, and she refused to eat. 8 Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why are you not eating? Why are you so downhearted? Am I not worth more than ten sons to you?”
Hannah’s Prayer. 9 Once, when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting upon a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was greatly distressed and she prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly.[e] 11 She made a vow saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will regard the troubles of your handmaid and will remember me, and not forget your handmaid, and you will give your handmaid a son, then I will dedicate him to the Lord for his entire life, and no razor[f] will ever touch his head.”
12 As she continued to pray to the Lord, Eli watched her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart so that only her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, therefore, thought that she was drunk. 14 He said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Get rid of your wine!” 15 Hannah answered, “Oh no, my lord! I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking either wine or liquor. I have been pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not account your handmaid to be a daughter of Belial. I have been speaking out of the abundance of my difficulties and my grief.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace. The God of Israel grant the request you have made of him.” 18 She said, “Let your handmaid find favor in your sight.” The woman then went her way and ate, and she was not downcast anymore.
Chapter 25
Paul’s Third Trial—before Festus.[a] 1 Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews informed him about Paul. They urged him 3 as a favor to send for Paul to bring him to Jerusalem. They were going to kill him in an ambush along the way.
4 Festus replied that Paul was in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself would be returning there shortly. 5 He said, “Let your authorities come down with me, and if this man has done something improper, they can bring a charge against him.”
6 After staying with them for eight to ten days, Festus went down to Caesarea. On the next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be summoned. 7 When he appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and they leveled many serious charges against him that they were unable to prove.
8 Paul said in his defense, “I have committed no offense against the Jewish Law, or against the temple, or against the Emperor.” 9 Festus, anxious to ingratiate himself with the Jews, asked Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial there before me on these charges?”
10 Paul replied, “I am standing before the tribunal of Caesar, and this is where I should be tried. I have committed no crime against the Jews, as you yourself well know. 11 If I am guilty of any capital crime, I do not ask to be spared death. However, if there is no substance to the charges they are bringing against me, then no one has the right to turn me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”[b] 12 Then, after Festus had conferred with his advisors, he said, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go.”
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