Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Calls Out to Samuel

3 The boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of Eli. In those days the Lord didn’t give many messages to his people. He didn’t give them many visions.

² One night Eli was lying down in his usual place. His eyes were becoming so weak he couldn’t see very well. ³ Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s house. That’s where the ark of God was kept. The lamp of God was still burning. ⁴ The Lord called out to Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ He ran over to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶ Again the Lord called out, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.”

⁷ Samuel didn’t know the Lord yet. That’s because the Lord still hadn’t given him a message.

⁸ The Lord called out for the third time. He said, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If someone calls out to you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I’m listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there. He called out, just as he had done the other times. He said, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel replied, “Speak. I’m listening.”

¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel, “Pay attention! I am about to do something terrible in Israel. It will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. ¹² At that time I will do everything to Eli and his family that I said I would. I will finish what I have started. ¹³ I told Eli I would punish his family forever. He knew his sons were sinning. He knew they were saying bad things about me. In spite of that, he did not stop them. ¹⁴ So I made a promise to the family of Eli. I said, ‘The sins of Eli’s family will never be paid for by bringing sacrifices or offerings.’ ”

¹⁵ Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision he had received. ¹⁶ But Eli called out to him. He said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷ “What did the Lord say to you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide from me anything he told you. If you do, may God punish you greatly.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything. He didn’t hide anything from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best.”

¹⁹ As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him. He made everything Samuel said come true. ²⁰ So all the Israelites recognized that Samuel really was a prophet of the Lord. Everyone from Dan all the way to Beersheba knew it.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

⁵ The message we preach is not about ourselves. Our message is about Jesus Christ. We say that he is Lord. And we say that we serve you because of Jesus. ⁶ God said, “Let light shine out of darkness.” (Genesis 1:3) He made his light shine in our hearts. His light gives us the light to know God’s glory. His glory is shown in the face of Christ.

⁷ Treasure is kept in clay jars. In the same way, we have the treasure of the good news in these earthly bodies of ours. That shows that the mighty power of the good news comes from God. It doesn’t come from us. ⁸ We are pushed hard from all sides. But we are not beaten down. We are bewildered. But that doesn’t make us lose hope. ⁹ Others make us suffer. But God does not desert us. We are knocked down. But we are not knocked out. ¹⁰ We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies. In that way, the life of Jesus can be shown in our bodies. ¹¹ We who are alive are always in danger of death because we are serving Jesus. This happens so that his life can also be shown in our earthly bodies. ¹² Death is at work in us. But life is at work in you.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath Day

²³ One Sabbath day Jesus was walking with his disciples through the grainfields. The disciples began to break off some heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! It is against the Law to do this on the Sabbath day. Why are your disciples doing it?”

²⁵ He answered, “Haven’t you ever read about what David did? He and his men were hungry. They needed food. ²⁶ It was when Abiathar was high priest. David entered the house of God and ate the holy bread. Only priests were allowed to eat it. David also gave some to his men.”

²⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath day was made for man. Man was not made for the Sabbath day. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath Day

3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue. A man with a weak and twisted hand was there. ² Some Pharisees were trying to find fault with Jesus. They watched him closely. They wanted to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day. ³ Jesus spoke to the man with the weak and twisted hand. “Stand up in front of everyone,” he said.

⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “What does the Law say we should do on the Sabbath day? Should we do good? Or should we do evil? Should we save life? Or should we kill?” But no one answered.

⁵ Jesus looked around at them in anger. He was very upset because their hearts were stubborn. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand had become as good as new. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to make plans with the Herodians. They wanted to kill Jesus.