Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Lord for His Faithfulness to Israel.
99 (A)The Lord reigns, [a]the peoples tremble!
He (B)sits enthroned above the cherubim, [b]the earth quakes!
2 The Lord [c]is (C)great in Zion,
And He is (D)exalted above all the peoples.
3 May they praise Your (E)great and awesome name;
(F)Holy is [d]He.
4 The [e]strength of the King (G)loves [f]justice;
You have established [g](H)order;
You have (I)executed [h]justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 [i](J)Exalt the Lord our God
And (K)worship at His footstool;
(L)Holy is He.
6 (M)Moses and Aaron were among His (N)priests,
And (O)Samuel was among those who (P)called on His name;
They (Q)called upon the Lord and He answered them.
7 He (R)spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They (S)kept His testimonies
And the statute that He gave them.
8 Lord our God, You (T)answered them;
You were a (U)forgiving God to them,
And yet an (V)avenger of their evil deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His holy hill,
For the Lord our God is holy.
Eli Rebukes His Sons
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard about (A)everything that his sons were doing to all Israel, and that they slept with (B)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why are you doing such things as these, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24 No, my sons; for the report is not good (C)which I hear the Lord’s people circulating. 25 If one person sins against another, (D)God will mediate for him; but (E)if a person sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the (F)Lord desired to put them to death.
26 Now the boy (G)Samuel was continuing to grow and to be in favor both with the Lord and with people.
27 Then (H)a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘(I)Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 28 (J)Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me? And did I not (K)give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? 29 Why are you [a](L)showing contempt for My sacrifice and My offering (M)which I have commanded for My (N)dwelling, and why are you (O)honoring your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the [b]choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘(P)I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father was to walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for (Q)those who honor Me I will honor, and those (R)who despise Me will be insignificant. 31 Behold, (S)the days are coming when I will eliminate your [c]strength and the [d]strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will look at (T)the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that [e]I do for Israel; and there will never be an (U)old man in your house. 33 Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar, [f]so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the [g]increase of your house will die [h]in the prime of life. 34 And this will be (V)the sign to you which will come in regard to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: (W)on the same day both of them will die. 35 But (X)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and My soul; and (Y)I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before (Z)My anointed always. 36 And everyone who is left in your house will come to bow down to him for a [i]silver coin or a loaf of bread and say, “Please [j]assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”
The Healing at Bethesda
5 After these things there was (A)a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now in Jerusalem, by (B)the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which (C)in [a]Hebrew is called [b]Bethesda, having five [c]porticoes. 3 In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or [d]paralyzed.[e] 5 Now a man was there who had been [f]ill for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus *said to him, “(D)Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.
(E)Now it was a Sabbath on that day. 10 So (F)the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and (G)it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” 11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not (H)sin anymore, (I)so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away, and informed (J)the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason (K)the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, “My Father [g]is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
Jesus’ Equality with God
18 For this reason therefore (L)the Jews (M)were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, (N)making Himself equal with God.
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