Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord is holy!^[a]

²² Eli was very old now. He heard about everything that his sons were doing to all the Israelites. He knew that his sons had sex with some of the women helpers. Those women worked at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ²³ Eli said to his sons, ‘People have told me about all the evil things that you do. ²⁴ No, my sons, you should not do these terrible things. The Lord's people all complain about you. ²⁵ If you do something bad to another person, God can speak on your behalf. But if you do something bad against the Lord, nobody can speak on your behalf.’

Eli's sons did not listen to their father. The Lord had already decided to kill them.

²⁶ The young boy Samuel continued to grow. The Lord was pleased with him, and so were the people.

God's message to Eli

²⁷ A servant of God came and he spoke to Eli.^[a] This is what he said:

‘The Lord says, “A long time ago, when your ancestors were in Egypt, I showed myself to them. At that time they were slaves of Egypt's king. ²⁸ I chose your ancestor, Aaron, out of all the tribes of Israel. I chose him and his descendants to be my priests. I chose them to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense and to wear the special ephod.^[b] I also gave them authority to eat part of the sacrifices and burnt offerings that the Israelites offered to me. ²⁹ But you and your sons do not respect the sacrifices that I have commanded people to offer in my house. Eli, you give more honour to your sons than you give to me. Your family eat all the best parts of the offerings that the Israelites bring to me. You have all become fat!”

³⁰ Because of what you have done, the Lord, Israel's God, says this to you: “I promised your family and your ancestors that they would serve me as priests for ever.” But now the Lord says, “That will never happen! I will give honour to people who respect me. But I will curse people who insult me. ³¹ So you and your family will soon come to an end. No one in your family will live to become old men. ³² You will see how trouble comes to my home here. Good things will happen to the Israelite people, but there will never be an old man in your family. ³³ One of your descendants may continue to serve me as a priest. But he will be very sad and his eyes will become weak. Anyone who is born in your family will die when they are young.

³⁴ This will show you that what I have said is true: Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will both die on the same day.

³⁵ I will choose another priest to serve me. He will be faithful. He will do everything that I want him to do. I will give him a strong family and he will serve my chosen king for ever. ³⁶ Everyone in your family who continues to live will have to bend down low to this priest. They will ask him for a few coins and a piece of bread. ‘Please let me help the priests so that I can have something to eat,’ they will say.” ’

Jesus makes a man able to walk

5 Some time after that, Jesus went to Jerusalem, because it was time for one of the Jewish festivals.

² There is a pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Its name in the Jewish language is Bethesda. Round the pool, there is a building with five places that have a roof over them. ³ A large number of sick people were lying in these places. Some of them were blind. Some of them could not walk properly. Some of them could not move their legs or their arms. [^[a] They were waiting for when the water started to move. ⁴ An angel would go down into the pool at certain times and move the water about. When that happened, all the sick people tried to get into the pool. The first person who got into the water became well, whatever his illness was.]

⁵ One man who was lying there had been ill for 38 years. ⁶ Jesus saw this man. He knew that the man had been ill like this for a very long time. So he asked the man, ‘Do you want to get well?’ ⁷ The sick man said, ‘Sir, I do not have anyone who will help me. I need somebody who will put me into the pool. When the water starts to move, I try to get in. But someone else always gets in before me.’ ⁸ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ ⁹ The man became well immediately. He picked up his mat and he walked.

The day when this happened was a Jewish day of rest.^{[b] 10} Because of this, the Jewish leaders spoke to the man that Jesus had made well. They said to him, ‘You must not carry your mat on our day of rest. You are not obeying the rules.’ ¹¹ The man replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.” ’ ¹² So they asked him, ‘Who is this man? Who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ ¹³ The man did not know who had made him well. Jesus had gone away and joined the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Some time after that, Jesus found the man in the temple. Jesus said to him, ‘See, you have become well. Stop doing wrong things. If you do not stop, something worse may happen to you.’ ¹⁵ Then the man went to the Jewish leaders. He told them that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶ The Jewish leaders were angry because Jesus had made a man well on their day of rest.^[c] As a result, they began to cause a lot of trouble for Jesus. ¹⁷ But Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is still working, and I too must work.’ ¹⁸ Because Jesus said this, the Jewish leaders became really angry. They wanted even more to kill him. Jesus not only worked on the day of rest. He was also calling God his own Father, so he was making himself equal with God.