Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
16 Eternal One (to Samuel): How long will you mourn over Saul? I have rejected him as king over My people Israel. Now take your horn, fill it with oil, and depart. I have selected a new king for Me from among the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem.
The Lord has yet another mission for Samuel.
Samuel: 2 How can I do that? If Saul hears I am anointing a new king, he will kill me!
Eternal One: Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Eternal One.” 3 Invite Jesse to that sacrifice, and when he arrives, I will show you what to do. You will anoint for Me the one I show to you.
4 Samuel did as the Eternal One had told him, and he went to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came out to him, unsure of what business he had there.
Elders (trembling): Do you come in peace?
Samuel: 5 Yes, in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the Eternal One. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.
And Samuel consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice as well. 6 When they came, he noticed the eldest son, Eliab.
Samuel (to himself): Surely this is the one the Eternal One will anoint.
Eternal One (to Samuel): 7 Take no notice of his looks or his height. He is not the one, for the Eternal One does not pay attention to what humans value. Humans only care about the external appearance, but the Eternal considers the inner character.
8 Jesse called his son Abinadab and brought him to Samuel. Samuel looked at him.
Samuel: The Eternal has not chosen him either.
9 Then Jesse brought his son Shammah in front of Samuel.
Samuel: The Eternal has not chosen him either.
10 Jesse walked seven of his sons in front of Samuel, and each time, Samuel refused them because the Eternal One had chosen none of them.
Samuel (to Jesse): 11 Are all your sons here?
Jesse: All but the youngest. He is off keeping the sheep.
Samuel: Send for him, and bring him here. We will not sit down until he arrives.
12 Jesse sent for the youngest son, David, and he came in front of Samuel. He was a handsome boy, with a healthy complexion and bright eyes.
Eternal One: Rise and anoint him, because this is the one.
13 Then Samuel took the horn filled with olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Eternal fell strongly on David and remained from that day on. Samuel then left for Ramah.
Psalm 23
A song of David.
Psalm 23 is the best known and most beloved psalm in the collection. Surprisingly, it casts humanity as sheep—stupid, helpless sheep. But the long-lasting appeal of Psalm 23 is a direct result of that casting because the imagery is both soothing and accessible.
When he was a boy, King David was a shepherd watching his father’s flocks in the hills around Bethlehem. In those days, too, it was common to refer to kings in the Near East as shepherds; but not all shepherd-kings cared for their sheep. Though David tried to shepherd his people well, he knew the truth: the Eternal is the true Shepherd.
In John 10:11 Jesus makes a bold claim. He declares that He is the good shepherd. Immediately His disciples detected the resonance of Psalm 23 in His words. Those of us who follow Jesus today come to know Him as that gentle but strong shepherd who guides us through life if we will follow Him.
1 The Eternal is my shepherd, He cares for me always.
2 He provides me rest in rich, green fields
beside streams of refreshing water.
He soothes my fears;
3 He makes me whole again,
steering me off worn, hard paths
to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.
4 Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness,
I am not overcome by fear.
Because You are with me in those dark moments,
near with Your protection and guidance,
I am comforted.
5 You spread out a table before me,
provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies;
You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil,
filling my cup again and again with Your grace.
6 Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me
where I go, always, everywhere.
I will always be with the Eternal,
in Your house forever.
8 because, although you were once the personification of darkness, you are now light in the Lord. So act like children of the light. 9 For the fruit of the light is all that is good, right, and true. 10 Make it your aim to learn what pleases our Lord. 11 Don’t get involved with the fruitless works of darkness; instead, expose them to the light of God. 12 You see, it’s a disgrace to speak of their secrets (so don’t even talk about what they do when no one is looking). 13-14 When the light shines, it exposes even the dark and shadowy things and turns them into pure reflections of light. This is why they sing,
Awake, you sleeper!
Rise from your grave,
And the Anointed One will shine on you.
John and many people in his community are Jews. As a son of Abraham, his criticism of certain Jewish leaders is not a criticism of a whole people. He’s not stereotyping or making generalizations. “The Jews” he remembers in this passage are a corrupt group of power brokers who conspire against Jesus with the Romans to have Him crucified and who later have John’s own followers expelled from the synagogue. Their behavior may be compared to the behavior of those Israelites condemned by Old Testament prophets. Prophets have the duty—Jeremiah said he had “a fire in his bones” (20:9)—to speak for God and condemn hypocrisy and unbelief wherever it is found, especially when it’s found close to home. That’s what John’s doing when recalling this event.
9 While walking along the road, Jesus saw a man who was blind since his birth.
Disciples: 2 Teacher, who sinned? Who is responsible for this man’s blindness? Did he commit sins that merited this punishment? If not his sins, is it the sins of his parents?
Jesus: 3 Neither. His blindness cannot be explained or traced to any particular person’s sins. He is blind so the deeds of God may be put on display. 4 While it is daytime, we must do the works of the One who sent Me. But when the sun sets and night falls, this work is impossible. 5 Whenever I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.
6 After He said these things, He spat on the ground and mixed saliva and dirt to form mud, which He smeared across the blind man’s eyes.
Jesus (to the blind man): 7 Go, wash yourself in the pool of Siloam.
Siloam means “sent,” and its name reminded us that his healing was sent by God. The man went, washed, and returned to Jesus, his eyes now alive with sight. 8 Then neighbors and others who knew him were confused to see a man so closely resembling the blind beggar running about.
Townspeople: Isn’t this the man we see every day sitting and begging in the streets?
Others: 9 This is the same man.
Still Others: This cannot be him. But this fellow bears an uncanny resemblance to the blind man.
Formerly Blind Man: I am the same man. It’s me!
Townspeople: 10 How have your lifeless eyes been opened?
Formerly Blind Man: 11 A man named Jesus approached me and made mud from the ground and applied it to my eyes. He then said to me, “Go, wash yourself in the pool of Siloam.” I went and washed, and suddenly I could see.
Townspeople: 12 Where is this man who healed you?
Formerly Blind Man: I don’t know.
13-14 The townspeople brought the formerly blind beggar to appear before the Pharisees the same day Jesus healed him, which happened to be on the Sabbath Day. 15 The Pharisees began questioning him, looking for some explanation for how he could now see.
Formerly Blind Man: He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed; now I see.
Some Pharisees: 16 God can’t possibly be behind this man because He is breaking the rules of the Sabbath.
Other Pharisees: How can such a lawbreaking scoundrel do something like this?
The Pharisees were at odds with one another about Jesus and could not agree whether His power came from God or the devil.
Pharisees (to the formerly blind man): 17 What do you say about this man, about the fact He opened your eyes so you could see?
Formerly Blind Man: I have no doubt—this man is a prophet.
18 Some of the Jews suspected the whole situation was a charade, that this man was never blind. So they summoned the man’s parents to testify about his condition.
Pharisees: 19 Is this man your son? Do you testify that he has been blind from birth? How therefore does he now see?
Parents: 20 We can tell you this much: he is our son, and he was born blind. 21 But his new sight is a complete mystery to us! We do not know the man who opened his eyes. Why don’t you ask our son? He is old enough to speak for himself.
22 The man’s parents were a bit evasive because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. It had been rumored that anyone who spoke of Jesus as the Anointed One would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 So they deferred the thorny question to their son, 24 and the Pharisees called on him a second time.
Pharisees: Give God the credit. He’s the One who healed you. All glory belongs to God. We are persuaded this man you speak of is a sinner who defies God.
Formerly Blind Man: 25 If this man is a sinner, I don’t know. I am not qualified to say. I only know one thing: I was blind, and now I see.
Pharisees: 26 What did He do to you? How did He give you sight?
Formerly Blind Man: 27 Listen, I’ve already answered all these questions, and you don’t like my answers. Do you really need me to say it all over again? Are you thinking about joining up with Him and becoming His followers?
Pharisees (berating him): 28 You’re one of His followers, but we follow Moses. 29 We have confidence that God spoke to Moses, but this man you speak of is a mystery; we don’t even know where He comes from.
Formerly Blind Man: 30 Isn’t it ironic that you, our religious leaders, don’t even know where He comes from; yet He gave me sight! 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does respond and work through those who worship Him and do His will. 32 No one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of any person blind from birth. 33 This man must come from God; otherwise, this miracle would not be possible. Only God can do such things.
Pharisees: 34 You were born under a cloud of sin. How can you, of all people, lecture us?
The religious leaders banished him from their presence. 35 Jesus heard what had happened and sought out the man.
Jesus: Do you believe in the Son of Man?
Formerly Blind Man: 36 I want to believe, Lord. Who is He?
Jesus: 37 You have seen His face with your new eyes, and you are talking to Him now.
Formerly Blind Man: 38 Lord, I do believe.
The man bowed low to worship Jesus.
Jesus: 39 I have entered this world to announce a verdict that changes everything. Now those without sight may begin to see, and those who see may become blind.
Some Pharisees (who overheard Jesus): 40 Surely we are not blind, are we?
Jesus: 41 If you were blind, you would be without sin. But because you claim you can see, your sin is ever present.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.