Thursday in Epiphany

1Verse 1. Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2Verse 2. He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. 3Verse 3. Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD. 4Verse 4. And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5Verse 5. But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. 6Verse 6. Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her. 7Verse 7. And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat. 8Verse 8. “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” 9Verse 9. So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10Verse 10. In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. 11Verse 11. And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.” 12Verse 12. As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth. 13Verse 13. Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk 14Verse 14. and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!” 15Verse 15. “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16Verse 16. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman, for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.” 17Verse 17. “Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.” 18Verse 18. “May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began to eat, and her face was no longer downcast. 19Verse 19. The next morning they got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then they returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. 20Verse 20. So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

11Verse 11. For I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man. 12Verse 12. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 13Verse 13. For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14Verse 14. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15Verse 15. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased 16Verse 16. to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood, 17Verse 17. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. 18Verse 18. Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19Verse 19. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20Verse 20. I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie. 21Verse 21. Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22Verse 22. I was personally unknown, however, to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23Verse 23. They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24Verse 24. And they glorified God because of me.