Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Hannah’s Prayer(A)
2 And Hannah (B)prayed and said:
(C)“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
(D)My [a]horn is exalted in the Lord.
[b]I smile at my enemies,
Because I (E)rejoice in Your salvation.
2 “No(F) one is holy like the Lord,
For there is (G)none besides You,
Nor is there any (H)rock like our God.
3 “Talk no more so very proudly;
(I)Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of (J)knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.
4 “The(K) bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even (L)the barren has borne seven,
And (M)she who has many children has become feeble.
6 “The(N) Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.
7 The Lord (O)makes poor and makes rich;
(P)He brings low and lifts up.
8 (Q)He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
(R)To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.
(S)“For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He has set the world upon them.
9 (T)He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the (U)wicked shall be silent in darkness.
Samuel’s Childhood Ministry
18 (A)But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, (B)wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she (C)came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli (D)would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the [a]loan that was (E)given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home.
21 And the Lord (F)visited[b] Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel (G)grew before the Lord.
6 (A)As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 (B)rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding [a]in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone [b]cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to (C)the tradition of men, according to the (D)basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For (E)in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead [c]bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the (F)head of all [d]principality and power.
Not Legalism but Christ
11 In Him you were also (G)circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by (H)putting off the body [e]of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 (I)buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through (J)faith in the working of God, (K)who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 (L)having wiped out the [f]handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 (M)Having disarmed (N)principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.