Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Lord for His Fidelity to Israel.
99 (A)The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble;
He [a](B)is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
2 The Lord [b]is (C)great in Zion,
And He is (D)exalted above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your (E)great and awesome name;
(F)Holy is [c]He.
4 The [d]strength of the King (G)loves [e]justice;
You have established [f](H)equity;
You have (I)executed [g]justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 [h](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 O 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 holy is the Lord our God.
Eli Rebukes His Sons
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard (A)all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with (B)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 23 He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24 No, my sons; for the report is not good (C)which I hear [a]the Lord’s people circulating. 25 If one man sins against another, (D)God will mediate for him; but (E)if a man 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 [b]was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.
27 Then (H)a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘(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 do you (L)kick at My sacrifice and at My offering (M)which I have commanded in My (N)dwelling, and (O)honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the [c]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 should 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 lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, (S)the days are coming when I will break your [d]strength and the [e]strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 You will see (T)the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that [f]I do for Israel; and an (U)old man will not be in your house forever. 33 Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar [g]so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die [h]in the prime of life. 34 This will be (V)the sign to you which will come concerning 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 in My soul; and (Y)I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before (Z)My anointed always. 36 Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a [i]piece of silver 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 there is in Jerusalem by (B)the sheep gate a pool, which is called (C)in [a]Hebrew [b]Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [[c]waiting for the moving of the waters; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.] 5 A man was there who had been [d]ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He *said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when (D)the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus *said to him, “(E)Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.
(F)Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So (G)the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and (H)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 up your pallet 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 (I)sin anymore, (J)so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away, and told (K)the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason (L)the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
Jesus’ Equality with God
18 For this reason therefore (M)the Jews (N)were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, (O)making Himself equal with God.
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