Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Lord for His Holiness
99 The Lord reigns;
Let the peoples tremble!
(A)He dwells between the cherubim;
Let the earth be [a]moved!
2 The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name—
[b]He is holy.
4 The King’s strength also loves justice;
You have established equity;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool—
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who (B)called upon His name;
They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;
They kept His testimonies and the [c]ordinance He gave them.
8 You answered them, O Lord our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.
11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child [a]ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.
The Wicked Sons of Eli
12 Now the sons of Eli were (A)corrupt;[b] (B)they did not know the Lord. 13 And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in (C)Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they (D)burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”
16 And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great (E)before the Lord, for men (F)abhorred[c] the offering of the Lord.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For (A)who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? (B)Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the (C)potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make (D)one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering (E)the vessels of wrath (F)prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known (G)the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had (H)prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He (I)called, (J)not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea:
(K)“I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
26 “And(L) it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
‘You are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:
(M)“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
(N)The remnant will be saved.
28 For [a]He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
(O)Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
29 And as Isaiah said before:
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.