Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Our God Is Holy

¹¹ Then Elkanah went home ^(A)to Ramah. ^(B)And the boy^[a] was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.

Eli's Worthless Sons

¹² Now the sons of Eli were ^(C)worthless men. ^(D)They did not know the Lord. ¹³ The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, ¹⁴ and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Moreover, ^(E)before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” ¹⁶ And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great ^(F)in the sight of the Lord, ^(G)for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(A)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(B)to answer back to God? ^(C)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (D)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(E)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(F)vessels of wrath ^(G)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(H)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(I)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(J)has called, ^(K)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(O)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[a] be as the sand of the sea, ^(P)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,