Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

2 Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exults and triumphs in the Lord; my horn (my strength) is lifted up in the Lord. My mouth is no longer silent, for it is opened wide over my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.

² There is none holy like the Lord, there is none besides You; there is no Rock like our God.

³ Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance go forth from your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.

⁴ The bows of the mighty are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with strength.

⁵ Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children languishes and is forlorn.

⁶ The Lord slays and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

⁷ The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and He lifts up.

⁸ He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts up the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with nobles and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He has set the world upon them.

⁹ He will guard the feet of His godly ones, but the wicked shall be silenced and perish in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

¹⁰ The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them will He thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge [all peoples] to the ends of the earth; and He will give strength to ^[a]His king (King) and exalt the power of His anointed (Anointed ^[b]His Christ).^(A)

3 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; there was no frequent or widely spread vision.

² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had dimmed so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.

³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was lying down

⁴ When the Lord called, Samuel! And he answered, Here I am.

⁵ He ran to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. Eli said, I did not call you; lie down again. So he went and lay down.

⁶ And the Lord called again, Samuel! And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I; you did call me. Eli answered, I did not call, my son; lie down again.

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord was not yet revealed to him.

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel the third time. And he went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you did call me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.

⁹ So Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down. And if He calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel! Samuel! Then Samuel answered, Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.

¹¹ The Lord told Samuel, Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of all who hear it shall tingle.

¹² On that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.

¹³ And I [now] announce to him that I will judge and punish his house forever for the iniquity of which he knew, for his sons were bringing a curse upon themselves [blaspheming God], and he did not restrain them.

¹⁴ Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for or purged with sacrifice or offering forever.

¹⁵ Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. And [he] was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

¹⁶ But Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here I am.

¹⁷ Eli said, What is it He told you? Pray do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that He said to you.

¹⁸ And Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing. And Eli said, It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.

12 And [Jesus] started to speak to them in parables [with comparisons and illustrations]. A man planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower and let it out [for rent] to vinedressers and went into another country.

² When the season came, he sent a bond servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

³ But they took him and beat him and sent him away without anything.

⁴ Again he sent to them another bond servant, and they stoned him and wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully [sending him away with insults].

⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; then many others—some they beat, and some they put to death.

⁶ He had still one left [to send], a beloved son; last of all he sent him to them, saying, They will respect my son.

⁷ But those tenants said to one another, Here is the heir; come on, let us put him to death, and [then] the inheritance will be ours.

⁸ And they took him and killed him, and threw [his body] outside the vineyard.

⁹ Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others.

¹⁰ Have you not even read this [passage of] Scripture: The very Stone which [^[a]after putting It to the test] the builders rejected has become the Head of the corner [Cornerstone];

¹¹ This is from the Lord and is His doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?^(A)

¹² And they were trying to get hold of Him, but they were afraid of the people, for they knew that He spoke this parable with reference to and against them. So they left Him and departed.^(B)