Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Calls Samuel
3 The boy Samuel was serving Yahweh under Eli. In those days a prophecy from Yahweh was rare; visions were infrequent. 2 One night Eli was lying down in his room. His eyesight had begun to fail so that he couldn’t see well. 3 The lamp in Elohim’s temple[a] hadn’t gone out yet, and Samuel was asleep in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of Elohim was kept.
4 Then Yahweh called Samuel. “Here I am,” Samuel responded. 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So Samuel went back and lay down.
6 Yahweh called Samuel again. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I didn’t call you, son,” he responded. “Go back to bed.” 7 Samuel had no experience with Yahweh, because the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him.
8 Yahweh called Samuel a third time. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy. 9 “Go, lie down,” Eli told Samuel. “When he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Yahweh. I’m listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his room.
10 Yahweh came and stood there. He called as he had called the other times: “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak. I’m listening.”
11 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “I am going to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it ring. 12 On that day I am going to do to Eli and his family everything I said from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I would hand down a permanent judgment against his household because he knew about his sons’ sin—that they were cursing God[a]—but he didn’t try to stop them. 14 That is why I have taken an oath concerning Eli’s family line: No offering or sacrifice will ever be able to make peace for the sins that Eli’s family committed.”
15 Samuel remained in bed until morning. Then he opened the doors of Yahweh’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.
16 Then Eli called Samuel. “Samuel, my son!” he said.
“Here I am,” he responded.
17 “What did Yahweh tell you?” he asked. “Please don’t hide anything from me. May Elohim strike you dead if you hide anything he told you from me.”
18 So Samuel told Eli everything.
Eli replied, “He is Yahweh. May he do what he thinks is right.”
19 Samuel grew up. Yahweh was with him and didn’t let any of his words go unfulfilled. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew Samuel was Yahweh’s appointed prophet.
Psalm 139
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 O Yahweh, you have examined me, and you know me.
2 You alone know when I sit down and when I get up.
You read my thoughts from far away.
3 You watch me when I travel and when I rest.
You are familiar with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a single word on my tongue,
you know all about it, Yahweh.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and in back of me.
You lay your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is beyond my grasp.
It is so high I cannot reach it.
13 You alone created my inner being.
You knitted me together inside my mother.
14 I will give thanks to you
because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book
before one of them had taken place.
17 How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O El!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I try to count them,
there would be more of them than there are grains of sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you.
5 Our message is not about ourselves. It is about Yeshua Christ as the Lord. We are your servants for his sake. 6 We are his servants because the same God who said that light should shine out of darkness has given us light. For that reason we bring to light the knowledge about God’s glory which shines from Christ’s face.
7 Our bodies are made of clay, yet we have the treasure of the Good News in them. This shows that the superior power of this treasure belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. 8 In every way we’re troubled, but we aren’t crushed by our troubles. We’re frustrated, but we don’t give up. 9 We’re persecuted, but we’re not abandoned. We’re captured, but we’re not killed. 10 We always carry around the death of Yeshua in our bodies so that the life of Yeshua is also shown in our bodies. 11 While we are alive, we are constantly handed over to death for Yeshua’s sake so that the life of Yeshua is also shown in our mortal nature. 12 Death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Jesus Has Authority over the Day of Worship(A)
23 Once on a day of worship Yeshua was going through the grainfields. As the disciples walked along, they began to pick the heads of grain.
24 The Pharisees asked him, “Look! Why are your disciples doing something that is not permitted on the day of worship?”
25 Yeshua asked them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he and his men were in need and were hungry? 26 Haven’t you ever read how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was chief priest and ate the bread of the presence? He had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right. Haven’t you ever read how he also gave some of it to his men?”
27 Then he added, “The day of worship was made for people, not people for the day of worship. 28 For this reason the Son of Man has authority over the day of worship.”
Jesus Heals on the Day of Worship(B)
3 Yeshua went into a synagogue again. A man who had a paralyzed hand was there. 2 The people were watching Yeshua closely. They wanted to see whether he would heal the man on the day of worship so that they could accuse him of doing something wrong.
3 So he told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand in the center of the synagogue.” 4 Then he asked them, “Is it right to do good or to do evil on the day of worship, to give a person back his health or to let him die?”
But they were silent. 5 Yeshua was angry as he looked around at them. He was deeply hurt because their minds were closed. Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held it out, and his hand became normal again.
6 The Pharisees left, and with Herod’s followers they immediately plotted to kill Yeshua.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.