Proper 4 (9)

1Verse 1. And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare, and visions were scarce. 2Verse 2. And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room. 3Verse 3. Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located. 4Verse 4. Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5Verse 5. He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6Verse 6. Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” 7Verse 7. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 8Verse 8. Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy. 9Verse 9. “Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10Verse 10. Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 11Verse 11. Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle. 12Verse 12. On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end. 13Verse 13. I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them. 14Verse 14. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’” 15Verse 15. Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16Verse 16. but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel. 17Verse 17. “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.” 18Verse 18. So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.” 19Verse 19. And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20Verse 20. So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.

12Verse 12. Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13Verse 13. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14Verse 14. but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work— neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do. 15Verse 15. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

5Verse 5. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6Verse 6. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7Verse 7. Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us. 8Verse 8. We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9Verse 9. persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 10Verse 10. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11Verse 11. For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12Verse 12. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

23Verse 23. One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along. 24Verse 24. So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25Verse 25. Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26Verse 26. During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.” 27Verse 27. Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28Verse 28. Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 1Verse 1. Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. 2Verse 2. In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. 3Verse 3. Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.” 4Verse 4. And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent. 5Verse 5. Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored. 6Verse 6. At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.