Tuesday 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.”

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.” 21Verse 21. Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, 22Verse 22. but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.” 23Verse 23. “Do what you think is best,” her husband Elkanah replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD confirm His word.” So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24Verse 24. Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 25Verse 25. And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 26Verse 26. “Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 27Verse 27. I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him, 28Verse 28. I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

1Verse 1. The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2Verse 2. and who ministers in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. 3Verse 3. And since every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it was necessary for this One also to have something to offer. 4Verse 4. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5Verse 5. The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6Verse 6. Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises. 7Verse 7. For if that first covenant had been without fault, no place would have been sought for a second. 8Verse 8. But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9Verse 9. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by My covenant, and I disregarded them, 10Verse 10. For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. 11Verse 11. No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12Verse 12. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.” 13Verse 13. By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.