1 SAMUEL 2:22- 4:22
JOHN 5:24- 47
PSALM 106:1- 12
PROVERBS 14:30- 31
Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 23 Eli said to them, "I have been hearing reports from the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? 24 You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the LORD's people are not good. 25 If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?" But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death. 26 Meanwhile, as young Samuel grew taller, he also continued to gain favor with the LORD and with the people. 27 One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD:"Didn't I reveal myself to your ancestors when the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt? 28 I chose your ancestor Aaron from among all his relatives to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly garments as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. 29 So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you honor your sons more than me-- for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people! 30" Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says:The terrible things you are doing cannot continue! I had promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor only those who honor me, and I will despise those who despise me. 31 I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will live to a ripe old age. 32 You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. 33 Those who are left alive will live in sadness and grief, and their children will die a violent death. 34 And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day! 35 "Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I tell him to do. I will bless his descendants, and his family will be priests to my anointed kings forever. 36 Then all of your descendants will bow before his descendants, begging for money and food. `Please, 'they will say, `give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.'" 3:1 MEANWHILE, the boy Samuel was serving the LORD by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the LORD were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. 2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had just gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly, the LORD called out, "Samuel! Samuel!" "Yes?" Samuel replied. "What is it?" 5 He jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am. What do you need?" "I didn't call you," Eli replied. "Go on back to bed." So he did. 6 Then the LORD called out again, "Samuel!" Again Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "What do you need?" "I didn't call you, my son," Eli said. "Go on back to bed." 7 Samuel did not yet know the LORD because he had never had a message from the LORD before. 8 So now the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "What do you need?" Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, "Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, `Yes, LORD, your servant is listening. '" So Samuel went back to bed. 10 And the LORD came and called as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel replied, "Yes, your servant is listening." 11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, "I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family. 13 I have warned him continually that judgment is coming for his family, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn't disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings." 15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the LORD had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, "Samuel, my son." "Here I am," Samuel replied. 17 "What did the LORD say to you? Tell me everything. And may God punish you if you hide anything from me!" 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn't hold anything back. "It is the LORD's will," Eli replied. "Let him do what he thinks best." 19 As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said was wise and helpful. 20 All the people of Israel from one end of the land to the other knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle. 1 And Samuel's words went out to all the people of Israel. 4:1 AT that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing four thousand men. 3 After the battle was over, the army of Israel retreated to their camp, and their leaders asked, "Why did the LORD allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?" Then they said, "Let's bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies." 4 So they sent men to Shiloh to bring back the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, helped carry the Ark of God to where the battle was being fought. 5 When the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud that it made the ground shake! 6 "What's going on?" the Philistines asked. "What's all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?" When they were told it was because the Ark of the LORD had arrived, 7 they panicked. "The gods have come into their camp!" they cried. "This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! 8 Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 9 Fight as you never have before, Philistines! If you don't, we will become the Hebrews' slaves just as they have been ours!" 10 So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; thirty thousand Israelite men died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed. 12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefront and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town. 14 "What is all the noise about?" Eli asked. The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety- eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, "I have just come from the battlefront-- I was there this very day." "What happened?" Eli demanded. 17 "Israel has been defeated," the messenger replied. "Thousands of Israelite troops are dead on the battlefield. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed, too. And the Ark of God has been captured." 18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and very fat. He had led Israel for forty years. 19 Eli's daughter- in- law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her husband and father- in- law were dead, her labor pains suddenly began. 20 She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. "Don't be afraid," they said. "You have a baby boy!" But she did not answer or respond in any way. 21 She named the child Ichabod-- "Where is the glory?"-- murmuring, "Israel's glory is gone." She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her husband and her father- in- law were dead. 22 Then she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured."
"I [Jesus] assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. 25" And I assure you that the time is coming, in fact it is here, when the dead will hear my voice-- the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted his Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge all mankind because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don't be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's Son, 29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment. 30 But I do nothing without consulting the Father. I judge as I am told. And my judgment is absolutely just, because it is according to the will of God who sent me; it is not merely my own. 31 "If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. 32 But someone else is also testifying about me, and I can assure you that everything he says about me is true. 33 In fact, you sent messengers to listen to John the Baptist, and he preached the truth. 34 But the best testimony about me is not from a man, though I have reminded you about John's testimony so you might be saved. 35 John shone brightly for a while, and you benefited and rejoiced. 36 But I have a greater witness than John-- my teachings and my miracles. They have been assigned to me by the Father, and they testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father himself has also testified about me. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, 38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me-- the one he sent to you. 39" You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40 Yet you refuse to come to me so that I can give you this eternal life. 41 "Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, 42 because I know you don't have God's love within you. 43 For I have come to you representing my Father, and you refuse to welcome me, even though you readily accept others who represent only themselves. 44 No wonder you can't believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don't care about the honor that comes from God alone. 45" Yet it is not I who will accuse you of this before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, on whom you set your hopes. 46 But if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me because he wrote about me. 47 And since you don't believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say? "
Praise the LORD!
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD?
Who can ever praise him half enough?
3 Happy are those who deal justly with others
and always do what is right.
4 Remember me, too, LORD, when you show favor to your people;
come to me with your salvation.
5 Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.
Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;
let me praise you with those who are your heritage.
6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned.
We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
were not impressed by the LORD's miracles.
They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them.
Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.
8 Even so, he saved them--
to defend the honor of his name
and to demonstrate his mighty power.
9 He commanded the Red Sea to divide, and a dry path appeared.
He led Israel across the sea bottom that was as dry as a desert.
10 So he rescued them from their enemies
and redeemed them from their foes.
11 Then the water returned and covered their enemies;
not one of them survived.
12 Then at last his people believed his promises.
Then they finally sang his praise.
A relaxed attitude lengthens life; jealousy rots it away. Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who help the poor honor him
JOHN 5:24- 47
PSALM 106:1- 12
PROVERBS 14:30- 31
Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 23 Eli said to them, "I have been hearing reports from the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? 24 You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the LORD's people are not good. 25 If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?" But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death. 26 Meanwhile, as young Samuel grew taller, he also continued to gain favor with the LORD and with the people. 27 One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD:"Didn't I reveal myself to your ancestors when the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt? 28 I chose your ancestor Aaron from among all his relatives to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly garments as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. 29 So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you honor your sons more than me-- for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people! 30" Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says:The terrible things you are doing cannot continue! I had promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor only those who honor me, and I will despise those who despise me. 31 I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will live to a ripe old age. 32 You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. 33 Those who are left alive will live in sadness and grief, and their children will die a violent death. 34 And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day! 35 "Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I tell him to do. I will bless his descendants, and his family will be priests to my anointed kings forever. 36 Then all of your descendants will bow before his descendants, begging for money and food. `Please, 'they will say, `give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.'" 3:1 MEANWHILE, the boy Samuel was serving the LORD by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the LORD were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. 2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had just gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly, the LORD called out, "Samuel! Samuel!" "Yes?" Samuel replied. "What is it?" 5 He jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am. What do you need?" "I didn't call you," Eli replied. "Go on back to bed." So he did. 6 Then the LORD called out again, "Samuel!" Again Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "What do you need?" "I didn't call you, my son," Eli said. "Go on back to bed." 7 Samuel did not yet know the LORD because he had never had a message from the LORD before. 8 So now the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "What do you need?" Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, "Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, `Yes, LORD, your servant is listening. '" So Samuel went back to bed. 10 And the LORD came and called as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel replied, "Yes, your servant is listening." 11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, "I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family. 13 I have warned him continually that judgment is coming for his family, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn't disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings." 15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the LORD had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, "Samuel, my son." "Here I am," Samuel replied. 17 "What did the LORD say to you? Tell me everything. And may God punish you if you hide anything from me!" 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn't hold anything back. "It is the LORD's will," Eli replied. "Let him do what he thinks best." 19 As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said was wise and helpful. 20 All the people of Israel from one end of the land to the other knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle. 1 And Samuel's words went out to all the people of Israel. 4:1 AT that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing four thousand men. 3 After the battle was over, the army of Israel retreated to their camp, and their leaders asked, "Why did the LORD allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?" Then they said, "Let's bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies." 4 So they sent men to Shiloh to bring back the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, helped carry the Ark of God to where the battle was being fought. 5 When the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud that it made the ground shake! 6 "What's going on?" the Philistines asked. "What's all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?" When they were told it was because the Ark of the LORD had arrived, 7 they panicked. "The gods have come into their camp!" they cried. "This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! 8 Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 9 Fight as you never have before, Philistines! If you don't, we will become the Hebrews' slaves just as they have been ours!" 10 So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; thirty thousand Israelite men died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed. 12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefront and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town. 14 "What is all the noise about?" Eli asked. The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety- eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, "I have just come from the battlefront-- I was there this very day." "What happened?" Eli demanded. 17 "Israel has been defeated," the messenger replied. "Thousands of Israelite troops are dead on the battlefield. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed, too. And the Ark of God has been captured." 18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and very fat. He had led Israel for forty years. 19 Eli's daughter- in- law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her husband and father- in- law were dead, her labor pains suddenly began. 20 She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. "Don't be afraid," they said. "You have a baby boy!" But she did not answer or respond in any way. 21 She named the child Ichabod-- "Where is the glory?"-- murmuring, "Israel's glory is gone." She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her husband and her father- in- law were dead. 22 Then she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured."
"I [Jesus] assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. 25" And I assure you that the time is coming, in fact it is here, when the dead will hear my voice-- the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted his Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge all mankind because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don't be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's Son, 29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment. 30 But I do nothing without consulting the Father. I judge as I am told. And my judgment is absolutely just, because it is according to the will of God who sent me; it is not merely my own. 31 "If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. 32 But someone else is also testifying about me, and I can assure you that everything he says about me is true. 33 In fact, you sent messengers to listen to John the Baptist, and he preached the truth. 34 But the best testimony about me is not from a man, though I have reminded you about John's testimony so you might be saved. 35 John shone brightly for a while, and you benefited and rejoiced. 36 But I have a greater witness than John-- my teachings and my miracles. They have been assigned to me by the Father, and they testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father himself has also testified about me. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, 38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me-- the one he sent to you. 39" You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40 Yet you refuse to come to me so that I can give you this eternal life. 41 "Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, 42 because I know you don't have God's love within you. 43 For I have come to you representing my Father, and you refuse to welcome me, even though you readily accept others who represent only themselves. 44 No wonder you can't believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don't care about the honor that comes from God alone. 45" Yet it is not I who will accuse you of this before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, on whom you set your hopes. 46 But if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me because he wrote about me. 47 And since you don't believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say? "
Praise the LORD!
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD?
Who can ever praise him half enough?
3 Happy are those who deal justly with others
and always do what is right.
4 Remember me, too, LORD, when you show favor to your people;
come to me with your salvation.
5 Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.
Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;
let me praise you with those who are your heritage.
6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned.
We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
were not impressed by the LORD's miracles.
They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them.
Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.
8 Even so, he saved them--
to defend the honor of his name
and to demonstrate his mighty power.
9 He commanded the Red Sea to divide, and a dry path appeared.
He led Israel across the sea bottom that was as dry as a desert.
10 So he rescued them from their enemies
and redeemed them from their foes.
11 Then the water returned and covered their enemies;
not one of them survived.
12 Then at last his people believed his promises.
Then they finally sang his praise.
A relaxed attitude lengthens life; jealousy rots it away. Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who help the poor honor him
