Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Hannah’s Triumphant Prayer
2 Hannah prayed:(A)
My heart rejoices in the Lord;(B)
my horn is lifted up by the Lord.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
because I rejoice in Your salvation.(C)
2 There is no one holy like the Lord.(D)
There is no one besides You!(E)
And there is no rock like our God.(F)
3 Do not boast so proudly,
or let arrogant words come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and actions are weighed by Him.(G)
4 The bows of the warriors are broken,(H)
but the feeble are clothed with strength.(I)
5 Those who are full hire themselves out for food,
but those who are starving hunger no more.
The woman who is childless gives birth to seven,(J)
but the woman with many sons pines away.(K)
6 The Lord brings death and gives life;(L)
He sends some to Sheol, and He raises others up.(M)
7 The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth;(N)
He humbles and He exalts.(O)
8 He raises the poor from the dust(P)
and lifts the needy from the garbage pile.(Q)
He seats them with noblemen(R)
and gives them a throne of honor.[a]
For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;(S)
He has set the world on them.(T)
9 He guards the steps[b] of His faithful ones,(U)
but the wicked perish in darkness,(V)
for a man does not prevail by his own strength.(W)
10 Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered;[c](X)
He will thunder in the heavens against them.(Y)
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.(Z)
He will give power to His king;
He will lift up the horn of His anointed.(AA)
Samuel’s Call
3 The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence.(A) In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.(B)
2 One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing,(C) was lying in his room. 3 Before the lamp of God had gone out,(D) Samuel was lying down in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel,[a] and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”
Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If He calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel responded, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about it will shudder.(E) 12 On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end.(F) 13 I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are defiling the sanctuary,[b] and he has not stopped them.(G) 14 Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.”(H)
15 Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” answered Samuel.
17 “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that He told you.”(I) 18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. He will do what He thinks is good.”[c](J)
The Parable of the Vineyard Owner
12 Then(A) He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard,(B) put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 2 At harvest time he sent(C) a slave(D) to the farmers to collect some of the fruit(E) of the vineyard from the farmers. 3 But they took him, beat(F) him, and sent him away empty-handed.(G) 4 Again he sent another slave to them, and they[a] hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.[b] 5 Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; they beat some and they killed some.
6 “He still had one to send, a beloved(H) son. Finally(I) he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But those tenant farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “Therefore, what will the owner[c](J) of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this Scripture:(K)
The(L) stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.[d](M)
11 This came from the Lord(N)
and is wonderful in our eyes?”[e]
12 Because they knew He had said this parable against them, they were looking for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left Him and went away.
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