Monday in Advent

46Verse 46. Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47Verse 47. and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48Verse 48. For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. 49Verse 49. For the Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His name. 50Verse 50. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. 51Verse 51. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52Verse 52. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble. 53Verse 53. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. 54Verse 54. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, 55Verse 55. as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

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.

1Verse 1. Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2Verse 2. A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place. 3Verse 3. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4Verse 4. containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5Verse 5. Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. 6Verse 6. When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties. 7Verse 7. But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8Verse 8. By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. 9Verse 9. It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper. 10Verse 10. They consist only in food and drink and special washings — external regulations imposed until the time of reform. 11Verse 11. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation. 12Verse 12. He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption. 13Verse 13. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean, 14Verse 14. how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!