Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Samuel at Shiloh

¹⁸ But Samuel served the Lord faithfully, as a young boy. He wore a linen ephod. ¹⁹ Every year, Samuel's mother made a little coat for him. She took it to him when she went to Shiloh. She and her husband went there every year to offer their sacrifice to God. ²⁰ Each year, Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife. He said, ‘I pray that the Lord will give you more children to take the place of Samuel. Hannah has given her son to serve the Lord, so may she give birth to other children too.’

Then they would return to their own home.

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

The 3rd Hallelujah Psalm^[a]

¹² God has chosen you to be his own special people. You belong to him and he loves you very much. So this is how you should live: Be kind to other people and help them. Do not think that you are better than other people. Instead, respect them and be patient with them. ¹³ Do not become angry with each other. If you think that someone has done something wrong against you, forgive them. Remember that the Lord has forgiven you. So you should also forgive other people. ¹⁴ And you must also love each other. That is the most important thing that you should do. Love holds all these good things completely together.

¹⁵ Christ has given you peace in your minds. So let that peace rule your thoughts. God has chosen you to be like one body, as his people. So he wants you to live together in peace. Thank God for everything that he gives to you. ¹⁶ Let Christ's message always be in your thoughts, with all the good things that it brings. Use that message to teach and to warn each other. Be very wise as you do that. And also sing all kinds of spiritual songs to praise God. Sing psalms and Christian songs. As you sing, thank God from inside yourselves. ¹⁷ Show that you belong to the Lord Jesus with everything that you do and with everything that you say. Always thank God the Father in the way that you serve Jesus.

Jesus visits the temple as a young boy

⁴¹ Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.^[a]

⁴² When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the festival. ⁴³ When the week finished, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem to return home. But Jesus stayed behind and his parents did not know this. ⁴⁴ They thought that he was with their group on the way home. They travelled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends.

⁴⁵ They could not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem. They looked for him there. ⁴⁶ After three days, they found him in the temple. He was sitting there among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. His mother said to him, ‘My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of troubles in our mind.’

⁴⁹ Jesus answered them, ‘You should not have needed to look for me. I must be doing what my Father wants me to do. You should have known that.’ ⁵⁰ But his parents did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁵¹ Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with them. He did what they wanted. His mother, Mary, was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot. ⁵² Jesus grew up into a man. He became strong and he could understand more and more things. God was pleased with him, and people were pleased with him too.