Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Yahweh Is a Holy King
99 Yahweh is king; let the peoples tremble.
He sits enthroned[a] between the cherubim. Let the earth shake.
2 Yahweh is great in Zion,
and he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and fearful name.
He is holy.
4 And the strength of the king loves justice.[b]
You have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt Yahweh our God,
and worship at his footstool.
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They called to Yahweh, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud.
They kept his testimonies and the statute he gave to them.
8 O Yahweh our God, you answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrong deeds.
9 Exalt Yahweh our God,
and worship at his holy mountain,
for Yahweh our God is holy.
11 Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh in the presence of[a] Eli the priest.
The Family of Eli the Priest
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless scoundrels;[b] they did not know[c] Yahweh. 13 And the custom of the priests with the people was this: When any man brought a sacrifice,[d] as the meat was boiling, the servant of the priest would take a three-pronged meat fork in his hand 14 and would thrust it into the pan or into the kettle or into the cauldron or into the cooking pot. All that the meat fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all of the Israelites who came there at Shiloh. 15 Also, before they offered up[e] the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only raw.”[f] 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat completely first,[g] then take for yourself as you[h] desire,” then he would say to him, “No![i] Give it now! If not, I will take it by force!” 17 So the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh, because the men treated the offering of Yahweh with contempt.
19 Therefore you will say to me, “Why then does he still find fault? For who has resisted[a] his will? 20 On the contrary, O man, who are you who answers back to God? Will what is molded say to the one who molded it, “Why did you make me like this”?[b] 21 Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that is for honorable use[c] and one that is for ordinary use[d]? 22 And what if God, wanting to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And he did so[e] in order that he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory, 24 us whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he also says in Hosea,
“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’
and those who were not loved, ‘Loved.’[f]
26 And it will be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”[g]
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
“Even if the number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea,
the remnant will be saved,
28 for the Lord will execute his sentence thoroughly and decisively[h] upon the earth.”[i]
29 And just as Isaiah foretold,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom
and would have resembled Gomorrah.”[j]
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software